Free event
02 Jul, 2026
11.30am–1.00pm AEST
Online via Zoom
When student engagement is meaningful, impactful, intersectional, evidence based and trauma-informed, it creates powerful opportunities for change and trust building.
This webinar brings together Our Watch experts, student leaders and university staff for a panel discussion on what effective engagement with students really looks like in practice. Grounded in the Student Life domain of Our Watch’s Educating for Equality framework, the session will explore how universities can build genuine partnerships with students to shape, implement and strengthen prevention work.
As required under the National Code, student collaboration and engagement is an ongoing responsibility embedded across multiple standards. This session will highlight how universities can engage students as active contributors and leaders in prevention efforts, drawing on their knowledge, experiences, and influence within their communities.
Panellists will share insights on their experiences and practical approaches to embedding student voice, through to implementation and evaluation.
This is also an opportunity to hear directly from students about what meaningful engagement looks like from their perspective, and what they want to see from universities to support safer, more equitable campus environments.
This webinar will be recorded.
For support, please email training@ourwatch.org.au.
Melanie Fineberg (she/her) – Social Marketing Expert (presenter)
Melanie has more than two decades of global experience in marketing and communications and is passionate about using her skills to have a positive impact on people’s lives.
She has held senior strategic and leadership positions and has delivered campaigns on a range of issues - including road safety, workplace safety, health promotion and gendered violence prevention.
These days she finds career fulfilment working as a consultant, helping others to plan, create, deliver, and measure work that works.
Brad Cowan (he/they) – The Line, Campaigns Advisor (co-presenter)
Brad is a campaigns advisor for The Line, working closely with young people to ensure the campaign’s direction and messaging remain relevant, authentic, and grounded in the issues that matter most to them. He leads the Youth Advisory Panel, centring youth voices in every stage of the campaign’s development.
Jess Strickland (she/her) – The Line, Campaign Strategist (co-presenter)
Jess Strickland is a social marketing strategist with more than 20 years of experience and for the past decade, she has worked at Our Watch, leading the development of evidence-based campaigns to prevent violence against women and promote healthier attitudes, behaviours and relationships. Jess provides strategic leadership on national prevention campaigns, with a particular focus on engaging young people online through digital platforms, audience insights and innovative social marketing approaches.
Natrydd Sigurthur (they/them) – CAPA National Queer Officer (panellist)
Natrydd Sigurthur is a part-time postgraduate student of Master of Urban and Regional Planning at Adelaide University. Born to Hungarian refugees in Adelaide, Natrydd is passionate about ending inequality. Based in Kaurna Country, they are a student leader whose work centres on creating positive pragmatic change. Through their leadership within queer student-run clubs, Natrydd successfully collaborated with university staff to establish an Ally Network which supports queer staff and students. In 2025 as CAPA National Queer Officer, Natrydd investigated the impact of funding cuts on Australian queer research and researchers. In their spare time, Natrydd enjoys hand-sewing, reading political biographies, and growing native plants in their garden.
Charley Ellwood (he/him) – ANU Students’ Association President (panellist)
Charley Ellwood is an undergraduate student from the ANU studying a double degree Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, and Public Policy, where he is also the President of the ANU Students' Association. Previously a CAS Hawker Scholar, Charley is a strong advocate for higher-education funding and equality, and is passionate about youth-led public policy development; particularly in the areas of health and education. Charley believes strongly in the power of primary prevention and its implementation in educational settings.
Gemma Lucy Smart (she/they) – Postgraduate advocate, researcher, and voice for structural change in Australia's universities (panellist)
Gemma Lucy Smart is a PhD scholar at the University of Sydney researching critical perspectives in psychiatry and disability ethics, and serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA). Drawing on her own experience navigating university systems, she works at the intersection of postgraduate student welfare, institutional accountability, and disability inclusion. She has been a consistent advocate for structural reform in higher education, with a particular focus on the conditions that shape safety, equity, and belonging for postgraduate students across Australia.
Katie Jakab van Dooren (they/them) – ANU Students’ Association Women’s Officer (panellist)
Katie is an environmental studies student and the ANU Women’s Officer, leading the ANU Women’s Department, an advocacy and representation group for women, trans, non-binary, intersex, and gender-diverse students at the Australian National University. With a focus on intersectional feminism, our Department advocates for the rights and safety of students, particularly through our annual ‘August 1st Campaign’ protesting ANU’s rates of sexual violence, demanding accountability and meaningful prevention efforts, and pushing for trauma-informed and victim-survivor centred policies.