15-09-2023
Welcome to our second edition of MonashMinds for September. As we come to the close of our first round of panel interviews for 2024 scholarships, we would like to congratulate the applicants and thank the many outstanding panellists (including alumni Scholars) who have supported the process so far. This week we congratulate Scholars on prestigious awards and commend those delivering cutting-edge innovation and research within their field.
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Award winner Dr Brett Parkinson.
Dr Brett Parkinson (2017 Woodside John Monash Scholar) has received the 2023 Global Australian Award for Emerging Leader.
The virtual award ceremony was held on Wednesday 13 September, celebrating a wide variety of outstanding Australians with international careers across science, business, art and media.
Hosted by Advance, the organisation aims to inspire and support international career paths for the benefit of Australia’s leadership capacity and growth.
Read more on our website or listen to our 2021 podcast with Brett here.
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Peter Clark (2021 Judith Neilson Foundation John Monash Scholar) and 2023 Art Music Awards night host Monica Trapaga.
Peter (left) and The Omega Ensemble’s winning performance.
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Dr Bridget Vincent.
Dr Bridget Vincent (2006 John Monash Scholar) has published an article with The Conversation exploring the ethics of AI audiobooks.
As is the trend across many industries, AI advancement makes distinguishing between a human and a computer increasingly challenging. Apple’s new AI audiobooks are being developed quickly, but Bridget warns that the technology may soon resemble what she refers to as platform capitalism – enabling big companies to benefit while forcing out small actors.
Critiquing the idea that this technology could support small publishers unable to afford voice actors, Bridget explains that “. . . eroding the livelihood of another kind of small operator (the voice artist), the new digital narration technology doesn’t so much stand up for the little guy as set the interests of two different little guys against each other”.
Bridget completed her PhD in Literature at Cambridge University and is passionate about promoting writers as agents for social and political change.
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Iwan Walters MP.
Iwan Walters (2012 John Monash Scholar), Member for Greenvale in Victoria, has helped launch a new community cricket development made possible under a $1.5million Community Cricket Program.
Construction of the Hume Community Cricket Hub, located at Greenvale Recreation Reserve, is part of a $213million Victorian budget commitment to deliver new and improved community sports infrastructure and support local participation. Iwan says: “These new facilities are exactly what we need to take things to the next level and get more people involved in cricket, and I can’t wait to see them put to good use.”
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Emma Garlett.
Dr Arjuna Dibley.
Dr Arjuna Dibley (2016 Woodside John Monash Scholar) and Emma Garlett (2022 Wesfarmers John Monash Scholar) have both been announced as speakers at the upcoming Australian Sustainable Finance Summit next month.
This year’s summit will take stock of Australia's sustainable finance achievements during the past 12 months and explore ways to better promote public-interest outcomes.
Both Emma and Arjuna combine their cross-sector experiences in law, policy and sustainability to provide specialist finance insights. Emma is a Nyungar-Nyiyaparli-Yamatji woman from Geraldton, a legal academic and an Industry Fellow at the Sustainable Minerals Institute at The University of Queensland. Arjuna is the Head of the Sustainable Finance Hub at the University of Melbourne and has a decade of experience working on climate change and sustainable finance.
The Australian Sustainable Finance Summit will take place on 24 October at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney.
PODCAST: Leading Change and Shaping Victoria’s Future - A Conversation with Jim Round, CEO of VicReturn
In our latest episode, we speak with Jim Round (2014 Australian Universities' John Monash Scholar) who coordinates the new Victorian Container Deposit Scheme.
Jim formerly worked as the Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister, the Hon Julia Gillard MP, Chief of Staff to the Attorney General (Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP) and Director of Planning and Development to Premier Andrews.
Jim has a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science and Philosophy) and a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) from the University of Melbourne and completed a Masters degree in Economic History at the London School of Economics as a John Monash Scholar.
In the media
Andrew Hudson (2005 John Monash Scholar) has been featured in an ABC article regarding the Federal Government’s plans to boost Australia's trade and investment ties with South-East Asia. Andrew told the ABC that while Australian businesses have previously been hesitant to invest in South-East Asia, opportunities would rapidly increase as Indonesia pushes toward an energy transition. Read here.
Chris Raine (2023 Roth/Segal John Monash Harvard Scholar) has been mentioned in an article from Refinery29 exploring the benefits of choosing to stay sober. Chris is the Founder and CEO of Hello Sunday Morning, a non-profit that supports people who wish to change their relationship with alcohol. He explains that, after he stopped drinking, he was able to enhance his creativity and find more time to write. Read here.