The growing prevalence and severity of mental health difficulties across university student populations is a critical issue for universities and their wider communities. Yet little is known about student perspectives on the stressors in university environments and the steps that universities could take to better support student mental wellbeing. This article reports on a study that collected and analyzed 2776 student responses to the question: What can be done to improve student wellbeing? Students made diverse recommendations that fell into seven categories: Academic teachers and teaching practices; student services and support; environment, culture and communication; course design; program administration; assessment; and student society activities. The findings from our study offer important insight to university educators and administrators about the role they can play in better supporting student wellbeing and preventing the high rates of psychological distress. We argue that the process of seeking and acting on students' suggestions fosters students' sense of inclusion and empowerment, and this is critical given that the goal of improving student mental wellbeing can only be achieved through an effective partnership between students and institutional actors.

2014):Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of psychological distress among students at an Australian university, Studies in Higher Education, This research contributes to the empirical literature on university student mental well-being by investigating the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of severe levels of psychological distress. More than 5000 students at a metropolitan Australian university participated in an anonymous online survey in 2013 that included the short form of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21). Comparisons with published research show that our respondents' DASS results were substantially higher than those observed in studies with general community samples, but comparable to other studies targeting university students. Of the explanatory variables analysed, the student's field of study, the number of hours spent studying per week and the number of hours spent caring for family members were all strongly associated with scores in the severe or extremely severe range for each of the DASS scales. These findings provide guidance for policy development, service delivery and further research in higher education.

Rape conviction rates have fallen to all-time lows in recent years, prompting governments to explore a range of strategies to improve them. This paper argues that, while the current legal impunity for rape cannot be condoned, increasing conviction rates is not in itself a valid objective of law reform. The paper problematises the measure of rape law that conviction rates provide by developing an account of (some) feminist aims for rape law reform. Three feminist aims and associated measures are explained-all of which look beyond conviction rates to qualitative and victim-centred outcomes of criminal justice processes. Applying these measures, I argue that strategies designed solely to increase conviction rates are more likely to work against, rather than in support of, feminist aims. The paper thus underscores the need for continued feminist engagement with rape law reform, broadly conceived, notwithstanding its acute limitations for feminist anti-violence politics.

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This paper critically evaluates the pilot of a Thesis Writers’ Circles program offered to Education PhD and DEd students at the University of Melbourne in semester 2, 2005. The analysis focuses on the needs of those students that were felt to be well-met by this model of support. Broadly, the paper identifies two distinct but inter-related themes: firstly, the challenge of developing writing skills to a level sufficient to meet the demands of preparing a research thesis; secondly, the importance for research higher degree students of building confidence as apprentice academic writers. In relation to the latter theme, the paper identifies the benefits of community participation and peer-collaboration in working towards the aim of consolidating a thesis-writing identity. It is in this capacity, we argue, that thesis writers’ circles have distinct advantages compared with other forms of candidature support, making them a valuable supplement to both conventional supervision practices and generic English language and thesis writing programs. The paper affirms the importance not only of equipping international and non-English speaking background (NESB) students with writing tools and strategies, but also of creating opportunities for all postgraduate research students to receive (and offer) non-judgmental feedback on work-in-progress within a discipline-specific learning and discourse community.

Research on law reform has identified a variety of factors that help or hinder the reform process, but it has not systematically explored the role that empirical research plays and could play in enabling and enhancing law reform. Drawing on a series of qualitative interviews with criminal law reform experts in Victoria, we analyse the current uses and perceived value of empirical research in criminal law reform and explore opportunities for qualitative research methods to be used more systematically or extensively to improve criminal law reform processes and outcomes.