University representatives from across Australia came together on Tuesday 28 July for the latest UniSport Healthy Campus Community of Practice, exploring practical approaches to advancing mental health and wellbeing through the FISU Healthy Campus program.
The online session focused on FISU Healthy Campus Criteria #82–89, with presentations highlighting innovative initiatives, whole-of-university approaches and practical implementation strategies that support the wellbeing of students and staff.
The session opened with a keynote presentation from Ms Rohenna Young, Director of the thrive* Program at Victoria University, who shared how the university has successfully embedded wellbeing into everyday campus life through innovative, non-clinical approaches to student engagement.
Attendees also heard from Central Queensland University (CQU), where Cindy Wheatley, Healthy Campus Project Officer, alongside Anna Farmer and Paige Cole, presented the University’s Mindwaves 2.0 Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan 2024–2028. The presentation explored how a whole-of-university approach has fostered a culture of connection, belonging and support, while contributing to CQU’s achievement of FISU Healthy Campus certification.
Together, the presentations provided practical examples of how universities are implementing initiatives aligned with the FISU Healthy Campus Mental Health & Wellbeing criteria, with discussions covering prevention, early intervention, mental health promotion and strategies to create healthier, more connected campus communities.
The Community of Practice concluded with a practical implementation session from Ashleigh Apps of Curtin University, one of the newest institutions to join the FISU Healthy Campus program. Ashleigh shared Curtin’s experience of introducing Healthy Campus across a large university, including securing executive endorsement, developing an implementation plan, establishing governance structures, engaging stakeholders and building university-wide awareness. The presentation also highlighted key learnings from the early stages of implementation and how Healthy Campus strategy is being translated into action across the institution.
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