Student
Student Representative
Student Membership Benefits
Student Meetings
Competitions for Students
Helpful Links for students
The role and responsibilities of the AIPN Student Representative are as follows:
- to represent all matters affecting or of concern to injury prevention students to the AIPN executive
- encourage students to contact the Student Representative with their opinions and ideas and to become members of the AIPN
- provide a recognised means of communication between students and the members of the AIPN executive
- liaise and communication with a number of groups and organisations regarding issues relevant to injury prevention students
- promote the views of injury prevention students and encourage students to become actively involved in AIPN activities
- contribute to the development, maintenance and dissemination of resource materials to injury prevention students, including tertiary courses and seminars, in conjunction with relevant educational authorities and workplaces
- to encourage cooperation with other organisations within Australia which share an interest in student issues
- perform as a team member on the AIPN executive and contribute to discussions, decisions and action planning
- promote, encourage and assist wherever possible in the conducting of the AIPN national injury prevention conference, seminars, workshops and other activities
Have you got anything important to say or do you have an opinion about injury prevention or any other student-related matters. Please email our student representative, Jessica Killian, on jessica.killian@muarc.monash.edu.au.
- Enter for a student bursaries at AIPN conferences
- Participate in student-only meetings held at AIPN conferences to meet other students around Australia
- Get a discounted conference registration fee
- Receive the quarterly AIPN Injury Incidence Newsletter
- Enter student-only competitions with the publication of the winners and their work in Injury Incidence, with the added incentive of a small prize
- Have the chance to make a contribution to injury prevention in Australia
- Learn about research and the subjects being researched around Australia
- Gain knowledge and understanding of the processes of promoting an issue such as injury prevention to local and state government (i.e. gain advocacy experience)
- Gain and improve networking and interpersonal skills with Australian researchers
2006 AIPN Student Meeting – Held at Sydney Injury Prevention Conference (maybe have this heading as a link with the details below on a new page)
The student meeting at the 2006 AIPN Injury Prevention Conference was held after the AIPN Annual General Meeting (AGM). Jessica Killian was appointed as the new AIPN student representative, taking over Maria Romiti, at the AIPN AGM.
The meeting itself was very informal. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce Jessica to the other students and ask them to provide any feedback or ideas of what they would like Jessica to do on the committee for them. It was also an opportunity to exchange email addresses and contact details. Overall this meeting was a great way for students to meet and greet other injury prevention students from around Australia.
2009 AIPN Student Meeting – Held at Melbourne Injury Prevention Conference (maybe have this heading as a link with the details below on a new page)
A slightly different format was decided for the student meeting at the 2009 AIPN Injury Prevention Conference. A careers forum was held, for the first time, at the meeting to give students an idea of potential career paths for injury prevention
Theme: Injury Prevention Career– How Do We Get There?
The purpose was to give prospective and current students the opportunity to listen and discuss available options for gaining a successful career in injury prevention, safety promotion, or other public health related role. The focus was on the possible avenues for gaining a position after study, including academic, industry, government and international options.
The meeting consisted of injury centre representatives from the main injury centre’s around Australia. Panel representatives were those that had either recently completed a PhD or had gained an injury or safety related position after study. The final group of presenters were from international injury centre’s. The meeting was mediated and coordinated by Dr. Lesley day, who ensured that it ran smoothly and helped to facilitate questions from the students.
Injury Centre Representatives: mainly gave a brief outline of their research centre and its higher degree research (HDR) program. Each representative included some information on gaining a post-doctoral position at their centre or suggested other possible options for students wanting to gain a post-doctoral position. The injury centre representatives included:
- Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith - Department of Forensic Medicine - Monash Uni - VIC
- Professor Rod McClure - Monash University Accident Research Centre - VIC
- A/Prof Rebecca Ivers - George Institute for International Health – NSW
- Professor Ann Williamson - University of New South Wales
- Dr. Jenny Blitvich - University of Ballarat – VIC
- A/Prof James Harrison – Research Centre for Injury Studies - Flinders University – SA
- Professor Narelle Haworth & Dr Alexia Lennon - CARRS-Q – QUT – QLD
- Dr. Belinda Gabbe - Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine - Monash Uni - VIC
Panel Members: mainly focused on their own career path into their area of work. Each of the panel members included their experiences and any advice on gaining a post doctoral position or other research position after completion their studies. Some information on advocacy and gaining experience in advocacy was also mentioned. The panel members included:
- Dr. Rebecca Mitchell - Research Fellow - University of NSW
- Dr. Kirsten McKenzie - Research Fellow - National Centre for Classification in Health - QLD
- Dr. Bernadette Matthews – Manager - Research and Health Promotion - Life Saving Victoria
- Dr. Rebbecca Lilley – Early Career researcher - Injury Prevention research Unit – New Zealand
- Dr. Lisa Buckley – Post-Doctoral Fellow - CARRS-Q – QUT
- Ms Debbie Scott - Manager – Queensland Injury Surveillance unit
- Ms Aleksandra Natora – Senior Policy Officer - DHS Victoria
- Dr. Sophie Pointer – Assistant director - Research Centre for Injury Studies – Flinders Uni SA
International Delegates: provided a perspective from an international point of view. They each explained their research centre and the current PhD program. Any available opportunities that may be available for Australian students were also mentioned.
- Professor Gordon Smith - Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine - University of Maryland
- Professor Lois Fingerhut – Consultant - Injury Epidemiology - USA
- Shanthi Ameratunga – Otago University - New Zealand
Positive feedback was received from several students who attended the meeting and overall the meeting ran smoothly. The students heard from a variety of injury, safety and policy researchers about the steps involved in gaining a successful career in the area. Some of the helpful tips for PhD students included:
- Having good mentors
- Having a good workplace environment that supports its students
- Becoming part of a research group within the research centre
- Discussing options with your supervisor/s
- Accepting casual, part-time or even full-time RA positions during or after the PhD as a first step
- Becoming a member on a relevant committee
- Approaching and networking with appropriate people at conferences
- Being in the right place at the right time (or putting yourself in the right place at the right time)
- Talking to senior researchers and letting them know you’re interested in working with them
- Keeping an eye out for grants that you may be able to write or put your name on with other researchers
- Looking for a range of grants including short-term ones
- Looking further afield and not only sticking to academia
- Learning or improving your advocacy skills
- Working out where your passion is and speaking to as many people in that area as you can
It is hoped that the AIPN will be able to hold similar meetings or presentations, for students, in the future.
The AIPN works hard behind the scenes to help improve and entice AIPN memberships and also help to encourage students to join. In 2009 a new initiative was introduced in the form of student competitions.
The APIN believes this is a great way for students to become involved in the AIPN community. Students will gain important recognition in the area of injury prevention and also help with their writing skills.
Watch this space for further details on future AIPN student competitions
2009 AIPN Student Writing Competition (maybe have as a link with details below on the new page)
Details:
First Prize
$500.00
12 months student membership to the APIN
Publication in Injury Incidence
The AIPN is holding a student writing competition to encourage and assist budding injury prevention specialists in every field to hone their writing skills. The winning author will receive $500, enjoy complementary AIPN student membership for 12 months and have their article printed in the AIPNs newsletter ‘Injury Incidence’. In addition, there are 5 APIN memberships to be won by runners up.
The AIPN has a broad remit when it comes to injury prevention covering areas such as health, transport, emergency services, crime prevention, education, planning and industry. Articles will be accepted from any field within the injury prevention sphere.
Closing date: Monday 28 September 2009.
Guidelines:
- By submitting their article to the AIPN Student Writing Competition, entrants agree to be bound by the 2009 AIPN Student Writing Competition Guidelines.
- The Competition closes Monday 28 September 2009 at 5pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). Articles submitted late may or may not be considered, which decision is wholly at the discretion of AIPNs Executive.
- Entrants must submit their articles in Microsoft Word format by email to secretariat@aipn.com.au. The email should detail the entrant’s full name, preferred email address, contact number, current university study (program of study and name of institution), postal address, and the word count of the article.
- The article must be written and submitted by a person currently enrolled in an undergraduate or postgraduate level program at an Australian university.
- Entrants may not submit articles which have previously been published or are currently being considered for publication, or articles which have previously won prizes or awards in academic competitions.
- Entrants may not submit more then one article.
- The submitted article must be between 2000 and 8000 words in length. Word count excludes footnotes, unless footnotes include substantive essay content.
- Entrants must be the original author of their submitted article. All non-original material and sources must be referenced in accordance with general academic standards. Failure to reference or cite non-original material may be considered plagiarism. Entrants may use any generally accepted academic referencing standard, such as the Australian Guide to Legal Citation or Harvard Referencing. The Executive reserves the discretion to report instances of plagiarism to any affected or interested parties.
- Submitted articles will be shortlisted and judged according to the following criteria: Quality of discussion and argument, including knowledge and synthesis of information, innovation and articulation of argument, and structure of analysis; Academic quality, including choice and application of formatting and referencing style, clear and correct spelling and grammar.
- The 2009 AIPN Executive (“the Executive”) will read all submitted articles and determine a shortlist. It is anticipated that entrants will be notified by email of which articles have been shortlisted.
- Shortlisted articles will be judged by the President of the AIPN. It is anticipated that entrants will be notified by email or phone of which article placed first. Runners up will be notified by email.
- First place will win $500, a 12 month student membership to the AIPN, and have their article published in ‘Injury Incidence’. Runners up will each receive a 12 month student membership to the APIN.
- Entrants give the Executive licence over the submitted article as is reasonably necessary for the conduct of the Competition. This licence includes permission to make and distribute copies between members of the Executive for short-listing and judging processes, reproducing entry details and excerpts in AIPN publications, and keeping copies of submitted articles as archival records.
- The Executive may exclude an article from the Competition for a breach of these rules or for conduct deemed contrary to the spirit of the Competition. At their discretion the Executive may notify an entrant by email or phone if their article has been excluded from the Competition.
- All decisions of the AIPN Executive are final. No appeals will be heard. The Competitions Convenor (the AIPN) has discretion to vary the Competition Rules
National Policies
The work of the Australian Government’s National Injury Prevention Program is guided by three national plans:
- The National Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Plan: 2004 – 2014
- The National Falls Prevention for Older People Plan: 2004 Onwards
- The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Safety Promotion Strategy.
These documents share a vision of 'Governments, private sector and communities. These documents can be found at:
http://www.nphp.gov.au/workprog/sipp/nipp.htm
Other information pages on injury in Australia which can be found at
http://www6.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubhlth-strateg-injury-index.htm
http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/topics/Injuries_and_Injury_Prevention
http://www.aihw.gov.au/
http://www.aic.gov.au/
Falls Prevention for Older People
Falls are a major cause of injury for older people and the leading cause of injury-related hospital admissions in people aged 65 years or over, and responsible for substantial morbidity and reduced quality of life through pain and functional impairment. There are many agencies which provide advice information on how to minimise risk of falling and some of these include:
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/
http://www.health.qld.gov.au/fallsprevention/
http://www.stayonyourfeet.com.au/index.php
Transport
The following organisations in Australia publish transport statistics, transport research and information on current advertising campaigns:
http://www.rstf.tas.gov.au/home.html - Road Safety Task Force - TAS
http://www.tac.vic.gov.au/ - Transport Accident Commission - VIC
http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/ - Victorian Roads Authority – VIC
http://www.atsb.gov.au/linking.aspx - Australian Transport Safety Bureau – AUS
Workplace Safety
Workcover websites provide information on subjects around workplace injuries, including legislation, occupational health and safety and rehabilitation:
http://www.workcover.tas.gov.au/node/workcover.htm - WorkCover TAS
http://www.workcover.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/WorkSafe - WorkSafe VIC
http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/default - WorkCover NSW
Farm Safety
Farmsafe provides farmers, rural workers and people in the rural community with access to important rural safety information.
http://www.farmsafe.org.au/
Childhood Injury
Kidsafe was founded in 1979 by a group of professionals and business people focused on the prevention of accidental injuries to children. As a non-profit, non-government charity organisation, Kidsafe is internationally regarded as a leader in injury prevention. Their website has many Fact Sheets available for downloading:
http://www.kidsafe.com.au/
Other resources include:
http://www.kidsfoundation.org.au/?id=injuryrecovery
www.childcomm.tas.gov.au – Childhood Injury Prevention Coalition – TAS
Research
For more information about current research in Injury Prevention, the leading research institutes in Australia include:
http://www.nisu.flinders.edu.au/ - Flinders University SA
http://www.monash.edu.au/muarc/ - Monash University VIC
http://www.thegeorgeinstitute.org/ - The George Institute NSW
http://www.irmrc.unsw.edu.au/ - Injury Risk Management Research Centre NSW
http://www.carrsq.qut.edu.au/ - Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety QLD
http://www.sma.org.au/ - Sports Medicine Australia
http://www.spinal.com.au/ - Spinal Injuries Association
http://www.iccwa.org.au/ - Injury Control Council of WA
International Resources
The World Health Organisation holds extensive resources on research, projects and initiatives from around the world:
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/en/
Other international resources include:
http://www.asph.org/ - the association of school of public health - USA
http://www.cdc.gov/ - centres for disease control and prevention - USA
http://www.cdc.gov/NIOSH/ - National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health USA
http://www.sophe.org/ui/fellowship-main.shtml - Society for public health education
http://www.injuryprevention.org/ - Injury Prevention web - USA
http://www.icehs.org/ - Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section
http://www.cippp.org/ - entre for Injury Prevention Policy and Practice (CIPPP)
Literature Resources
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pmc
http://www.safetylit.org/
Grant and Bursary Resources
http://www.afuwsa-bursaries.com.au/
http://www2.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/funding/
http://www.southaustralia.biz/Funding-Grants.aspx
http://www2.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/funding/
http://www.grantslink.gov.au/
http://www.dvc.vic.gov.au/web14/dvc/dvcmain.nsf/headingpagesdisplay/grants+and+funding
http://www.adrianpiccoli.com/grants.doc
http://www.thegrantinstitute.com/