Community engagement

Since 2011, University of Sydney Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery staff, students, alumni and friends have joined together each year to assemble health kits to address basic health needs. We have assembled care packages with the aim to:

• support those affected by family violence
• improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• provide people who are homeless with items for basic health, hygiene and comfort
• provide birthing kits to women in Papua New Guinea and Africa.

Our Community and Primary Health Care Network (CPHCN) is building strong partnerships between the University of Sydney, primary health care organisations and people in the community..

CPHCN's aim is to promote and embed a primary health care approach centred on meeting people’s health needs throughout their whole life.

The Communication Disorders Treatment and Research Clinic offers speech pathology and hearing services to a wide range of clients. Assessments and therapy are provided by qualified speech pathologists supervising second, third and fourth year students doing aspects of their clinical or fieldwork training. Find out more.

FitAbility provides physical activity and exercise programs for people with spinal cord injury, acquired brain injury and other disabilities. The purpose-built clinic contains specialised equipment and is extremely accessible for clients with disabilities. 

Each exercise program is designed specifically to suit each individual with most programs consisting of a range of progressive resistance training, aerobic exercise and functional activities. For more information about FitAbility, please contact FitAbility coordinator on fhs.fitability@sydney.edu.au or 9351 9886.

Our Bachelor of Oral Health students provide dental assistance to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness at the Sydney Homeless Connect event each year. Students dispense vital oral hygiene information and patients are assessed by Sydney Dental School Alumni, who attend with a team in their mobile dental clinic. 

Through a partnership arrangement which embeds community-based service delivery into teaching and research, the Sydney School of Health Sciences hosts the Sydney Spinal Cord Injuries Australia Locomotor Training.

The program provides a vital exercise rehabilitation service for the community and an avenue for transformative research in this area.

The Poche Centre is focused on delivering world class research by working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, health care institutions and providers. The Poche Centre values research partnerships and actively seek to achieve health equality and solutions to complex health and wellbeing challenges in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander landscape. 

 Learn more at the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health.

Sun Smiles is an oral health promotion and caries prevention program that our Bachelor of Oral Health students volunteer in. They provide free dental screening and fluoride varnish application to primary school students. The program gives students an opportunity to engage with the community, provide preventive care and increasing oral health awareness.

The University of Sydney Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery has a long-standing relationship with Tonga. Thanks to a generous donation from Lenity Australia, eight nurses from Tonga will undertake further education in the Advanced Learning Masters program.

19 students have been selected under the Australian New Colombo Plan Scholarship Program to undertake part of their study in community health in Tonga.

Learn more about our long history with the Kingdom of Tonga, including the ongoing Advanced Nursing Diploma program that addresses non-communicable diseases at a community level in Tonga.

The University of Sydney Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery is involved with the Widening Participation and Outreach program that seeks to address the under-representation of students from low socio-economic backgrounds, rural communities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Our Voice Clinic is a teaching and research facility that provides voice assessments. It is part of the Voice Research Laboratory, a fully equipped voice analysis facility, within the Communication Disorders Treatment and Research Clinic (CDTRC).

Voice intensive clinics offer 1.5 to 2-hour voice therapy sessions based on the needs of the client. The sessions take place three days a week over four consecutive weeks during the semester breaks.

To find out more about our clinic services or how you can make a booking via our intake officer, please visit our Voice Research Laboratory website. 

The Wingara Mura – Bunga Barrabugu strategy outlines our commitment to creating higher education and leadership opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

We are involved in the summer and winter programs that give high school students the opportunity to visit the University to learn more about their career and study options in medicine and health.