Scope – University
of Melbourne Partnership
Implementing a program of collaborative research and actions that raises community awareness of the challenges faced by people with disability, and finding effective and empowering solutions
The Scope – University of Melbourne partnership
The Scope – University of Melbourne Partnership is a collaboration that draws upon the interdisciplinary expertise of staff from both University of Melbourne and Scope Australia, and the emerging expertise of University of Melbourne students, to be a leader in disability research, teaching and advocacy, informed by rigorous scholarship and the lived experience of people with disability.
Scope Australia was established in 1948, and is one of the largest providers of disability services in Australia. It supports more than 6000 people with a disability in Victoria, through a range of services including; accommodation, mobility support, communication support, recreation/leisure and specialised therapy services. Scope has a long-standing commitment to implementing evidence-based practice and advocacy and, importantly, to generating the evidence to inform its practice and advocacy.
Together, the University of Melbourne and Scope Australia are collaborating on a range of activities that are improving services to, and the lives of people with disability and their families. These activities are interdisciplinary in their focus, involving multiple schools and faculties of the university. These activities also extend beyond the university, to engage with people with disability and their families in the community, collaborations with other leading service providers, and government agencies.
About Scope Australia
As part of the partnership, Scope Australia and the University of Melbourne work together on research projects, with a commitment to the highest levels of rigour and scholarship. Scope Australia and the University of Melbourne also collaborate in the development and delivery of educational opportunities that are inclusive of people with disability and which are informed by the lived experience of people with disability. These include accredited units of study that are helping to build a professional workforce for our community that understands the needs of people with disability, and which will respond to and work with people with disability in ways that are inclusive and empowering.
Staff
Professor Keith McVilly
Scope-University of Melbourne Professorial Fellow in Disability and Inclusion
Professor Keith McVilly is the Scope-University of Melbourne Professorial Fellow in Disability and Inclusion. Working across the university, he is situated in the School of Social and Political Sciences. Professor McVilly is an internationally renowned clinical psychologist whose work addresses the translation of research into policy and practice, with a focus on promoting the wellbeing and community inclusion of people with multiple and complex disabling experiences. His work reflects the centrality of relationships to wellbeing. Much of Keith’s research is conducted in applied settings, working directly with people with disability, families and services providers.
Dr Carmel Laragy
Dr Carmel Laragy is the Scope-University of Melbourne Senior Research Fellow in Community Partnerships
Dr Laragy has expert knowledge in the fields of disability and aged care regarding the provision of services using individual funding. Carmel has studied the introduction of individual funding programs nationally and internationally since the early 2000s. These include the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and Consumer Directed Care (CDC) in aged care. She has evaluated national programs and published widely nationally and internationally. Carmel is on the committee of management of Action for More Independence & Dignity in Accommodation (AMIDA), a self-advocacy service for people with intellectual disability; and convenes a peer support group for social workers navigating the NDIS and CDC programs.
Dr Susan Hayward
Dr Susan Hayward is a Scope-University of Melbourne Research Fellow.
Dr Hayward has a background in psychology and several years’ expertise examining a range of employment issues for people on the autism spectrum. Her post-doctoral work has included investigation into Australian Disability Employment services and working with international industry partners on a global autism employment research program.
She has worked on a range of other projects aiming to: increase the social inclusion of neurodiverse people, as well as others with disability, into employment, education, and community; plus suicide prevention in autistic people.
Her research interests include the employment and social inclusion of neurodivergent individuals, as well as strengthening the psychological health and wellbeing of these individuals.
Dr Hayward is currently engage in the Home@Scope evaluation project and the Customised Employment project.
Julie Anderson
Scope-University of Melbourne Partnership Coordinator
Julie Anderson is the Scope-University of Melbourne Partnership Coordinator. She provides high level executive support for the Partnership between the University of Melbourne and Scope and is responsible for the administration of the Memorandum of Understanding, the development of research and other collaborations, organising external events and functions and providing support to Professor McVilly. The Partnership Coordinator position was established through the generosity of the Herbert Gordon Emerson bequest.
Engagement
The Partnership pursues a joint program of activities aimed at enriching the Disability sector and the University sector and foster an awareness in the wider community of the contribution of people with disability, their support needs, and the importance and value of social inclusion.
Examples of some of the Partnership engagement activities include:
- The biennial Virtual Disability Conference: Raising Expectations was held on Wednesday 21 September. The conference program offered a wide variety of panels and presentations focused on raising expectations by and for people with disability, as a means of overcoming what Graeme Innes AM as the ‘soft bigotry of low expectations’. All the conference content is available as video on demand so it's not too late to register to view it.
- Delivering free webinars as part of Social Sciences Week on a range of topics of interest to the disability community.
2021 event: Customised Employment: An innovative approach to employment for people with disability - An annual Partnership Event featuring prominent speakers discussing important issues for the disability community. The 2021 event, Innovation for Inclusion , featured a panel of speakers exploring innovative enablers to inclusion for people with disability and how such enablers might be adopted in policy and implemented in practice.
2021 event: Innovation for Inclusion
Collaboration
The Partnership aims to influence and develop the practice and culture of the University of Melbourne and Scope, to maximise inclusion for people with disabilities within those organisations.
Informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) we will:
- Develop the capabilities of both the current and next generation disability workforce
- Improve disability practices and the delivery of services
- Influence government policy
- Strengthen the culture of the partnership organisations and the community more broadly
If you are interested in engaging or collaborating with us, please email Julie Anderson.