With a rise of refugee entrants in the Illawarra, Shellharbour and Shoalhaven regions after accepting 463 re-settlers in 2016, you would expected support would increase. Since the year 2006, local regions have welcomed 2,293 refugees, the majority of which fled from Syria Iraq, Burma and the Congo. The Adult Migrant English Programs (AMEP) and the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) program are the main support programs available to these families. However, the government has made a decision to cut TAFE funding to these contracts, instead they are being passed on to private training providers Navitas and MAX solutions. Federal Member…
Author: Bernadette Clarke
Australia’s seabird numbers are declining. Local artist and UOW academic Dr Madeleine Kelly is raising awareness on the threats pushing pelagic birds towards extinction. Dr Kelly has created paintings and sculptures of 24 pelagic birds constructed from used plasticised cardboard milk or drink cartons. The exhibition is titled ‘Encounters with Pelagic Birds and Sub-Linguistic Form’ and is on show at the Wollongong Art Gallery. The exhibition transforms consumer trash into art to remind the community of the aesthetic and ecological treasure of avian species. The environmental effects of long-line fishing, and oceanic climate change have been evaluated as potentially devastating to sea…
A University of Wollongong athlete has secured a scholarship to train with one of the world’s leading triathlon teams. Erin Macdonald will join the Dimensione Dello Sport (DDS) triathlon team in Milano, Italy, between June and August. “I want to be able to experience the professional lifestyle, so solely just waking up in the morning to train and prepare for races and not having to worry about much else,” Macdonald said. Macdonald will train in a professional environment under the guidance of high performance coaches. DDS General Manager Luca Sacchi and DDS High Performance Head Coach Simone Diamantini hope the…
Featured image source The Syrian civil war has entered its seventh year with the death toll rising. There are numerous multi-dimensional factors that have contributed to the civil war. Here are five major factors that led the country to the brink of destruction. History Religious and political differences date as far back as 656AD, when the conflict between Sunni’s and Shi’ites began. The quarrel grew in the seventh century after the Sunni’s killed Husayn – the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, who was a Shi’ite. Sunni are the dominant sect of Islam, roughly making up 85 per cent of the world’s Muslims. Rewinding to…
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Earth Hour on Saturday, 25 March. What started as a small initiative in Sydney is now known as a global phenomenon, with 172 countries set to take part in the ‘switch off’ from 8.30 – 9.30pm. Earth Hour is designed to raise climate change awareness. Climate Change researcher, Professor, Adam Lucas said global temperatures had reached the highest levels on record in recent years. Earth Hour coordinators said while the event only runs for one hour, they hope it makes a long-term impact on the environment. https://youtu.be/cZpnJkWtvho https://twitter.com/cbernadette96/status/844400417626828801
The University of Wollongong will hold its tenth ‘Welcome to Wollongong’ at the University Hall tomorrow night. The welcome evening has taken four months to organise, and coordinators expect 400 community members and students to attend. Hosted in partnership with Wollongong City Council, the event is designed to make international students feel welcome at university, and in the region. Centre for Student Engagement and Event Coordinator and Manager Andrea Kornhoff said Welcome to Wollongong is a major first step for international students. “It is important to acknowledge they bring a lot of contributions to the university and to the city which are long…