Alumni

“You quickly realise that this is an experience you simply can’t get elsewhere at university and that your small contribution can help make a big difference.”

McCusker Centre Student Intern

At the end of 2015, following a generous donation from the McCusker Charitable Foundation, the McCusker Centre for Citizenship at UWA opened its doors.

Malcolm McCusker AC CVO QC is the Chair of the McCusker Charitable Foundation, a leading barrister in WA, a philanthropist and an alumnus of UWA.

This is a unique initiative - the first in Australia.

When you have the word ‘citizenship’ in your organisation’s name, it sometimes raises a few eyebrows. What exactly does it mean and what exactly are you trying to promote?

The common view about citizenship is that it’s something you either have by birthright or have been awarded after you migrate to Australia. It’s the thing that enables you to carry an Australian passport when you travel overseas and it’s the reason you’re entitled to vote.

But our work at the McCusker Centre for Citizenship at UWA is about something more: what responsibility do we have as citizens in contributing to the shape of our community? This is the question we are posing to students and the broader community.

We call it ‘active citizenship’. Active citizenship, in our view, is the business of engaging with your community, with a particular focus on building a much greater understanding of those citizens who are on the margins of our society. It is our responsibility to contribute towards a more socially inclusive society. Active citizenship is a mindset, an attitude and, above all, we want it to involve action.

Our focus is on how we can build greater capacity for active citizenship among our students at UWA and also in the community.

One of our key aims is to expose UWA students to some of the complex challenges in our community and to provide them with structured opportunities to make a contribution – to make a difference.

In an Australian-first, we offer undergraduates and postgraduates credit towards their courses by participating in structured internships with more than 200 not-for-profit, community and government organisations.

“The most important thing I took away from the internship was the awareness that, as citizens, we can have a much broader impact than we think. One small action has a snowball effect and seeing that happen really motivated me and showed me I’m capable of more than I thought.

Student Intern

To date, over 240 UWA students have contributed more than 30,000 hours to making a difference in the community. They have worked alongside organisations in areas such as migrant and refugee support, assisting families who have children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, writing submissions to government on the over-representation of Aboriginal people in our prisons system and running social media campaigns on poverty. They have travelled widely with organisations in regional Western Australia, interstate, New York and London.

The response from students has been overwhelming. Young people are stepping forward. They don’t just want a great education. They are not solely motivated by money or their future careers. They are looking for something else - how to be a good citizen, an active citizen in a contemporary world.

And young people have a lot to offer. They bring fresh eyes to the big issues. They are saying ‘how can we meet these challenges in a different way?’

“I can’t imagine not having had this amazing experience. It’s literally changed my life.
It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Student Intern

It’s not just through our internships that we’re seeing young people come forward with an appetite to make a difference. The Centre regularly organises events, open to the wider community, as a platform to engage in vital discussions for Australians on issues such as mental health, disability, ending world poverty, leadership and citizenship, to reinforce to everyone the importance of getting involved. In partnership with Bloom and the Centre for Social Impact at UWA, the Centre supports The Big Idea, run by The Big Issue, to conceive and develop social enterprises designed to address homelessness and disadvantage in the community. More than 120 UWA students took part in 2016 and our winning entry, the Community Umpiring Agency, was a finalist in Melbourne.

At the McCusker Centre for Citizenship, we’re confident and we’re committed. We want to build our number of internships, and forge partnerships with more organisations, locally, nationally and globally. As we grow, it’s this notion of active citizenship that underpins our vision: to foster caring, connected and socially engaged citizens who actively contribute to the wellbeing of their communities.