Justice Collaboration 

Monthly Update 

Edition 10, April 2025

Welcome to the 10th edition of our newsletter - with a fresh new look! 

The University of Sydney's Justice Collaboration aims to improve justice outcomes and to ultimately prevent crime.

The University of Sydney has numerous strengths in this area and has a track record of work across disciplines, faculties and research centres directly and indirectly relevant to justice systems and people in conflict with the law. 

In this edition we highlight recent projects and some exciting upcoming events from across the University of Sydney. Read about Bridges Inside, the AOD Community of Practice, public events with Associate Professor Marietta Martinovic on prison-based education, with the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies, and more! 

The University of Sydney’s central campus sits on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and has campuses as well as teaching and research facilities situated on the ancestral lands of the Wangal, Deerubbin, Tharawal, Ngunnawal, Wiradjuri, Gamilaroi, Bundjulong, Wiljali and Gereng Gureng peoples. We pay our respects to elders, past, present, and emerging who have cared and continue to care for Country.

WellMob: Healing Our Way 

Founded by a collective of organisations that include the University of Sydney and it's University Centre for Rural Health, the WellMob website provides more than 500 mental health and wellbeing resources developed by and for First Nations Australians including websites, apps, videos, fact sheets, podcasts, PDFs, and social media.

WellMob takes a holistic strength-based approach around Indigenous wellbeing. The online resources it links to provide information, stories of lived experience, promote hope, and break down shame or stigma about mental health and wellbeing issues for First Nations Australians.

The website also has training resources for health and wellbeing workers to strengthen cultural understanding and safety in practice. The website is continuously updated as new resources are identified and developed.

For more information on Wellmob please visit their website.

Coming Soon: AOD Community of Practice 

The Matilda Centre’s online Community of Practice for professionals in Australia who work with people experiencing co-occurring alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and mental health conditions will be available soon.

The Community of Practice will provide a platform for those who are employed, affiliated or work with people who use AOD to make connections, access evidence-based resources and engage and collaborate with other professionals to enhance their practice. It will foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing among health and social service professionals to improve the management and outcomes of people experiencing co-occurring AOD use and mental health conditions.

To be notified when the Community of Practice is live, please register your interest. For more information email community@comorbidity.org.au

Bridges Inside Forum Returns for 2025 

Bridges Inside, an initiative of Collaboration members Dr Jedidiah Evans and Dr Sam Shpall—in partnership with HDR students Lily Patchett and Amie Doan—returns for 2025. Bridges Inside is a forum for students, community members, and academics interested in examining prison justice alongside philosophy and literature.

From April to June 2025, Bridges Inside are discussing “Women and Prison.” Although the prison has historically been seen as a male-dominated space, women’s correctional facilities are seing an increasing number of inmates. Together, participants explore the complicated relationship between gender and carcerality by examining the lived experiences of women inside. 

You can find out more and register for the series on the project website - Bridges Inside.

Growing Minds Check-In Tool 

The University of Sydney has launched a new tool to support parents and children/ young people’s mental health and wellbeing. The Growing Minds ‘Check-In’ is an online tool for parents of children aged from birth to 17 years, which allows parents and caregivers to track their child's wellbeing and get recommendations to research-backed programs and resources when needed. The Check-In seeks to transform early intervention by helping parents to identify when children/young people are at risk of mental health problems and increasing access to evidence-based programs.
 
We are currently recruiting parents to test this free and accessible tool in a research study to make sure it is as helpful and user-friendly as possible. All parents are encouraged to participate even if you do not have concerns about your child’s wellbeing.
 
Please see more information here or sign up here

Researcher Focus: Dr Jacob Crouse 

Brain and Mind Centre Member and University of Sydney researcher Dr Jacob Crouse has been awarded a BBRF Young Investigator Grant. Through this grant, the team will track how disruptions in sleep and circadian rhythms, along with genetic predispositions to these disturbances, may trigger mood disorders during young people's formative years.

The study will leverage 3 large, genetically informative, longitudinal, youth-focused cohorts to explore the existence of a sleep-circadian causal pathway to youth-onset mood disorders. One part of the work uses the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study to examine parent-rated measures of sleep and mental health on >10,000 children ages 9–10 over 2 years of follow-up. A powerful technique called joint modelling will be used to examine whether patterns of sleep (and dynamic change in sleep)—in combination with baseline variables including sex and genetic liability to sleep-circadian traits (e.g., chronotype, sleep duration, circadian amplitude)—canpredict the onset of mental disorders over the follow-up. Another part of the study uses the Brisbane Longitudinal Twin Study to examine whether patterns of sleep (and change over time)—alongside sex and genetic indices of sleep-circa- dian traits—are associated with onset of depression, hypo/mania, or psychosis in early adulthood. A third part will examine whether patterns of objective sleep-circadian function (and change over time)—combined with genetic indices of sleep-circadian traits—predict transition from a subthreshold to a full-threshold mental disorder over the follow-up.

6 May: Learning from Prison-based Education Initiatives from Victoria and New South Wales

The University of Sydney Justice Collaboration is proud to be hosting Associate Professor Marietta Martinovic OAM (RMIT) for an in-person seminar. This seminar will explore prison-based education initiatives where university students learn alongside people who are incarcerated. Associate Professor Marietta Martinovic OAM and Dr Jed Evans (University of Sydney) will discuss their work in their respective jurisdictions, highlighting the considerable potential that universities can play in prisons and the very positive outcomes arising from this work. This event is open to the general public. 

Date: 6 May 2025 

Time: 5:30pm - 6:30pm 

You can find out more about the event and register here.

16 May: Looking back - Moving Forward - Tour the former Youth Detention Centre at Haberfield

Youth Justice NSW is providing USYD students and staff with an opportunity to tour a former detention centre and to meet staff working in different parts of the youth justice system. Those attending will see the old cells at Yasmar, which was formerly the Young Women in Custody program, and learn about contemporary features of the youth justice system. This will be valuable for those looking to work in criminal justice or related fields. The tour is free and will take approximately two hours. This event is only open to USYD staff and students. 

Date: Friday 16 May 2025

Time: 12-2pm or 1-3pm

Register for a free tour here.

27 May: Insights from the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies 

The Justice Collaboration is excited to host the Co-Directors of the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies (MCYS). Dr Paul Gray (Co-Director) and Dr Deborah Jump (Co-Director) will talk about the work of the MCYS. Established in 2014 (by Professor Hannah Smithson), the MCYS has established itself as an internationally recognised research centre, known for its innovative methodological approaches to working with young people. MCYS has a particular focus on young people in youth justice systems and young people’s mental health. This event is open to the general public. 

Date: Tuesday 27 May 2025

Time: 5:30 - 6:30pm

You can find out more about the event and register here.

Various Dates: Creating Culturally Safe Workplaces 2025

The National Centre for Cultural Competence, in partnership with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Services and Strategy, and Organisational Development is hosting a series of workshops for USYD staff. 

The program is run as one full day in-person workshop. It is useful for all USYD staff: professional and academics who are interested in creating culturally safe workplaces. These events are only open to USYD staff. 

Dates and times:

Monday 14th July, 9.30am - 4.00pm

Tuesday 23rd September, 9.30am - 4.00pm

Tuesday 11th November, 9.30am - 4.00pm

Find out more here. Register via Workday

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