Through its internship program the McCusker Centre for Citizenship at UWA continues to grow and deliver on its aspiration to contribute to the community, with new partnerships and programs introduced this year.

The program has seen 555 UWA students undertake an internship this year, 38 of which were in regional towns across WA, bringing our total to 1,767 internships undertaken and 190,252 hours contributed to the community since the centre was founded.

Michelle Scott, Director of the McCusker Centre for Citizenship, said the centre had seen many notable achievements in 2021.

“This year we have continued to grow our strong industry partnerships with not-for-profit community organisations, local government and the public sector, which provide students with an increasingly diverse range of opportunities to make a difference in local and regional communities,” Ms Scott said.

“With large numbers of student applicants, it is clear that UWA students are eager to use their skills and knowledge to give back to the community and make a difference.”

The centre’s hundreds of individual partners and ongoing strategic partnerships, including with the WA Public Sector Commission, WA Local Government Association and Local Government Professionals WA, offer students high-quality internship opportunities. 

And a new partnership was established with The Kids Research Institute Australia will allow more students to contribute towards the valuable work being done to improve the health and development of children and young people.

Earlier this year, the centre’s intensive academic unit Approaches to Wicked Problems in partnership with the WA Alliance to End Homelessness, saw students investigate innovative solutions to the problem of homelessness.  The unit feedback was extremely positive with all students saying they would recommend this unit to other students.

In 2021, the centre also launched a new Minor in Active Citizenship, an inter-disciplinary specialisation that develops students' capacities to be positive and active contributors to their communities, connecting our internship program and academic unit offerings.

The Mentoring Program had another successful year after six UWA students with previous involvement in the centre’s programs were matched with mentors from the not-for-profit, corporate and government sectors who are senior leaders in the community.

The McCusker Centre for Citizenship was established, with a generous endowment from the McCusker Charitable Foundation, in late 2015 to foster caring, connected and socially engaged citizens who actively contribute to the wellbeing of their communities.

“We look forward to continuing to grow our community impact in 2022 with even more opportunities for students to make a difference across local and regional WA, and we are excited to work again with our international partners to offer students new opportunities to tackle global issues,” Ms Scott said.

Photo above: Michelle Scott with Malcolm and Tonya McCusker and some interns at the Sir Wallace Kyle Oration event in August 2021.