Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

Life-saving blood pressure project boosts healthcare access in regional Australia

UOW researchers are contributing to a 5-year, $4.8 million program to decrease hypertension rates and prevent heart disease, stroke and other conditions in regional communities.

Australians living in rural and remote areas face a significantly higher risk of hypertension and are less likely to receive effective treatment. The research project – funded by the Australian Government's Medical Research Future Fund and led by the University of Sydney – aims to close this gap for seven million Australians living outside major cities.

Professor Elizabeth Halcomb and Dr Catherine Stephen from UOW's School of Nursing are collaborators on the multidisciplinary project, with a focus on Western NSW where hypertension rates are 10% higher than the national average. The team partner with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, local pharmacies and general practices to identify people at risk and strengthen community-based primary care.

Effectively managing blood pressure has the potential to reduce a range of health conditions, including dementia, stroke, renal failure and cardiovascular disease,’ Professor Halcomb said. ‘This program offers a sustainable strategy to improve the health, and reduce the inequities, of those Australians living in rural areas.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Woolyungah partners with the Australian Electoral Commission

In 2025, UOW's Woolyungah Indigenous Centre (WIC) partnered with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to help build electoral awareness and increase voter participation within Indigenous communities. The partnership aims to help close the enrolment gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and strengthen engagement with local organisations, ensuring services are accessible and culturally appropriate.

Both WIC and the AEC focus on working closely with communities and organisations, with training sessions delivered to WIC student ambassadors to enable them to confidently engage with community members. Ambassadors promoted AEC initiatives and yarned with community at events such as career expos, O-Week and local gatherings, actively promoting electoral participation both for Indigenous students and the broader UOW student community.

The AEC partnership supports WIC's commitment to increasing participation, engagement and support for Indigenous students at UOW, from degree success to career readiness and beyond.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

New guide tackles age discrimination to build stronger communities

To mark Intergenerational Month in September 2025, researchers from UOW's Early Start launched a free evidence-based resource to help break down age barriers and create stronger community connections.

Being and Becoming Intergenerationally Inclusive: A Practical Guide to Age-Inclusive Language and Practices (PDF) was developed by Research Fellow Dr Lois Peach and Professor Lisa Kervin AM, in collaboration with public libraries, Kids’ Uni, Illawarra Multicultural Services, the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Catholic Care Wollongong, and local schools, councils and organisations.

‘Language matters,’ Dr Peach said, describing age-related discrimination as an often-overlooked pattern normalised in everyday language. ‘This is about fostering belonging, respect and connection across ages. A small change in language can make a big difference in how people feel included and valued.’

The free guide provides practical tools and reflective questions to help organisations and communities adopt more thoughtful and inclusive approaches and embrace diversity across all stages of life.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Children inform autism inclusivity at Early Start Discovery Space

To mark World Autism Understanding Day in April 2025, UOW's Early Start Discovery Space held a special after-hours event for children with autism or sensory sensitivities, with reduced noise, staggered entry and select play experiences adjusted to lower sensory input.

To coincide with the event, the Early Start Discovery Space also launched 2 new resources for families and educators: the Discovery Space Social Story (PDF) to help children know what to expect during their visit, and the Discovery Space Sensory Map (PDF) to identify high and low sensory areas. The resources were developed by Early Start's Community Partnership Team in collaboration with Aspect (Autism Spectrum Australia), one of Australia’s leading providers of autism-specific services and education.

Stef Hawker, Leader of Learning and Wellbeing at Aspect South Coast School, said the collaboration was driven by the lived experiences of the children from Aspect and their families, with the partnership exemplifying how ‘co-designing resources with the autism community can create lasting, inclusive practices’.

The Discovery Space has since been listed as an official sunflower-friendly location under the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme, with both resources available to all visitors.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

AI competence courses build future-ready skills

Two open-access UOW short courses are helping learners build the skills needed to use artificial intelligence responsibly, ethically and effectively.

Funded by the NSW Government and UOW’s Faculty of Arts, Society and Business, the AI for Learning and Future Careers and Introduction to AI Image Generation courses aim to strengthen AI literacy and capability. Alongside building AI fluency, participants develop strategies to maintain human agency while amplifying learning, critical and ethical reasoning, creative thinking, and professional judgement.

The free courses have been designed by Associate Professor Dr Christopher Moore and team as part of a response to the growing divide between those with access to augmentation technologies and those without. By promoting ethical, critical and creative engagement with AI, the initiative helps equip learners and educators from all backgrounds with the skills to thrive in an AI-enabled world, while highlighting the importance of equitable AI education.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

Designing for Action builds teacher capability for climate education

Discovering new knowledge about Australia’s Indigenous and environmental history was a centrepiece research program for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) in 2025, with UOW researchers translating findings into tangible learning opportunities for students and teachers.

Led by Professor Shirley Agostinho from UOW’s School of Education, the CABAH team partnered with the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to produce a professional resource that helps teachers design action-oriented learning experiences about climate change. Entitled ‘Designing for Action’, the module offers teachers a design framework and examples of learning activities based on CABAH research.

Designing for Action aims to build teacher capacity to design learning experiences that meet the requirements of the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration, a national vision to improve education outcomes for all. A particular focus of the resource is supporting goal 2 of the declaration – supporting all young Australians to become confident and creative individuals, successful lifelong learners, and active and informed members of the community.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Goal 13: Climate Action
• Goal 15: Life on Land
• Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

New tax clinic offers vital services to underserved communities

The UOW Tax Clinic is a free service that helps individuals and small businesses from the Illawarra and South Coast regions who are experiencing hardship and unable to access professional tax advice.

Staffed by students from UOW's School of Business, under the supervision of qualified tax professionals, the clinic provides friendly and professional guidance about debt management, tax returns, tax obligations and related accounting advice. Since opening in 2025, the Tax Clinic has provided valuable work integrated learning and internship opportunities for students, while improving access for local underserved communities.

The clinic receives funding from the Australian Government as part of the National Tax Clinic Program, and offers face-to-face advice at UOW’s Wollongong, and Innovation campuses. Students and members of the public can also access support via phone or online.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

UOW delivering on the Australian Universities Accord’s equity agenda

In 2024, UOW's commitment to educational equity continued to position the University as a sector leader in delivering the Australian Universities Accord's reform agenda. Around 40 per cent of UOW students come from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education, demonstrating the University's longstanding dedication to expanding access.

UOW is already exceeding expectations in participation rates among First Nations people, people from low socio-economic status backgrounds, and regional and remote students. This success proves that inclusion and diversity does not come at the price of excellence, innovation or scale, evidenced by UOW's position in the top one per cent of the QS World University Rankings 2024.

The University's pathway programs and network of regional campuses create vital opportunities for students to access world-class education close to home, supporting both individual aspirations and community economic development across NSW.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

UOW hosts 28th Indigenous Nationals

The University of Wollongong hosted the 28th Indigenous Nationals in June 2024, bringing together more than 500 Indigenous student-athletes from 33 Australian universities to compete in touch football, basketball, netball and volleyball. With support from Squadron Energy as Official Team Sponsor, UOW fielded two teams.

The annual event celebrates the rich sporting culture of Indigenous Australia and acknowledges the heritage and history of the participants.

The artwork for the 2024 Indigenous Nationals was created by Wiradjuri and Ngunnawal graphic designer and UOW graduate Brittney Angus. The design featured meeting place symbols reflecting communities from every corner of Australia, with journey lines depicting collective travels to UOW, and dots representing Australia's vast landscape connecting present to past.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Students collaborate with non-profit to enhance disability employment pathways

A work-integrated learning partnership between UOW and local social enterprise Flagstaff Group provided students with the opportunity to develop a pioneering program to enhance employment pathways for people living with disability.

Through site visits and direct engagement with Flagstaff Group, postgraduate business students undertaking a research capstone subject gained firsthand insight into the challenges and opportunities surrounding inclusive employment. The collaboration encouraged students to explore how meaningful work can be created within community-focused, values-driven organisations, beyond traditional corporate landscapes.

Students applied academic knowledge in practical settings, creating strategic proposals shaped by Flagstaff’s principles of equity, wellbeing and workplace diversity. The partnership proved mutually enriching, with Flagstaff gaining fresh perspectives and innovative recommendations, while students experienced real-world application of their knowledge to address genuine social challenges.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

UOW students develop assistive device to secure employment for quadruple amputee

In an inspiring collaboration between a Wagga Wagga-based employment agency and UOW, two students designed and created an assistive horse grooming device for Grace, a 26-year-old quadruple amputee and a dedicated animal lover.
 
Grace, who contracted meningococcal as a baby, experienced difficulties pursuing her passion for grooming horses due to her unique needs. To help her find employment, the local agency contacted the UOW Maker Space program to enquire whether there were ways of creating a tailored, assistive horse grooming device for the young woman.

The UOW Maker Space is a workshop for students to explore their creative side using technology, with access to tools, equipment, and regular events and training on 3D printing, Virtual Reality and other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities.

The device has not only transformed Grace's life but helped her secure a job at a local Wagga Wagga Veterinary Hospital, where she now works with horses. The experience was rewarding for the students who were instrumental in improving Grace’s quality of life by implementing their engineering skills gained at UOW.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

Unlocking sporting opportunities for kids living with disabilities

Frame Running Wollongong (FRW) provides valuable sporting opportunities for kids who rely on wheelchairs and walkers. Operating out of UOW’s Sports Hub, this non-profit community service in the Illawarra region, offers children with disabilities or impaired balance the chance to experience the exhilaration of 'free to run' – through frame running.

The frame runner is a three-wheeled frame, similar to a trike, but with no pedals – which supports the athlete as they walk or run. It can be used by people of all ages for recreation and sport at a variety of levels, including children with a disability or impaired movement or balance.

FRW aims to enrich the lives of children with a disability by participating in the sport of Frame Running and is the only provider of Frame Running in the Illawarra Region.

This initiative is supporting:

• Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities