Videos

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You might have heard of CSR, corporate

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social responsibility. Well, we'd like

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to submit that that's of yesterday year.

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I'm the director of RMIT's business and

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human rights center or Bright for short.

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BHR or business and human rights has

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become the paradigm by which companies

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understand their responsibilities to

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society. It's not anchored in the whims

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and the wishes of the CEO, but rather

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the universal declaration of human

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rights. Something that's been

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unanimously endorsed by every country on

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the planet. What's our role? Well, it's

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to provide the research, the education,

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the training, practical tools, as well

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as the theoretical to help build that

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vision. Human rights are universal and

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they do cover a fair bit of terrain from

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gender diversity uh to uh the

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responsibilities in war zones,

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technology companies, regulation of our

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data to the role of businesses in

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addressing climate change and addressing

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the the failure in biodiversity. These

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are all research areas that we focus in

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on. I think the thing that makes me most

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proud of the work that Bright does is

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that real world impact and it's actually

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global impact that we've had. We've

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helped influence and shape United

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Nations policy on specific issues within

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the business and human rights uh

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landscape. We're really proud of that.

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Business and human rights is such a

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crosscutting crossindustry issue. So

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we've partnered with companies big and

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small. Businesses have a huge impact on

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a whole range of human rights issues.

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The way I see it, businesses aren't

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going away, right? I'm not in the

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business of destroying capitalism. So,

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how do we work with it? How do we make

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capitalism better so that it doesn't

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just work for the 1% but for all of us?

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I dare say that regardless of what your

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organization human rights concern is, we

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have a researcher that's working on it.

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So, come partner with us. Uh have a

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conversation and see where that might

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take us.

The cyber center is a research center that's multi-disiplinary uh brings together researchers 
from across the university uh to deal with the complex security problems we face today. The
focus relates to the organizational technology and human aspects of cyber security. I'm director
of the RMIT Center for Cyber Security Research and Innovation. Our aim is to bring people from
different expertise from engineering, computing and mathematics to tackle these complicated
problems of cyber security. I'm also the research director of the cyber security centers at RMIT.
The center is really keen not just to do research but also to have an impact of research. The
industry have problems but they're lacking of developing the new technology. So what we are
doing we are working with the industry to take the technology to another level and to come up with
innovation and new products that can basically make the company very competitive. When you talk
about cyber security you can't consider it just from an Australian perspective. You have to think
of it from a global perspective. An important part of that is having global partners that you trust
around the world that you undertake that research with. RMIT very much is a global university.
We have our two campuses in Vietnam. We have our campus in Barcelona with RMIT Europe. I
think some of the major successes is really to establish collaboration. The engagement
with industry and different stakeholder is the key. The successes of CCRSI. The advantage of
partnering with our research center is the fact that we can bring together multidisciplinary
teams of researchers to solve real life problems. And that multid-disciplinary applied approach to
research is so key especially when you talk about cyber security. So getting funding is
critical because it allows our members to carry our research and to get the support to develop
the new product. It's not just about money but it's really about carrying out research
to the end. Not just from the writing papers like traditionally is done by the researcher but also
to make it to the next stage with high impact research. That's really important. That's why
funding is really important for us. We've uh done a lot in terms of uh cyber security in gender.
Very proud of that because again is research that was not undertaken in an Australian context that
sort of provided meaningful information for government. The research makes a difference.
There was an issue about determining how many people, how many women worked in the cyber
security domain because the government needed that information from a policy perspective on
behalf of uh the Australian government with the Australian women in security network. What we did
uh was uh bring together a research team. The impact of that is the government refers
to that we're able to translate uh a research project directly into government policy and
government policy is then sort of rolling out initiatives based on that research. [Music]

Impact, [music]
impact, impact. We want to ensure that
the work we do is translated into change
to ensure that the justice system can
better meet the needs of its diverse
users. Whether it be courts,
corrections, coppers, they're all coming
to the center uh to look at smarter ways
of doing justice. This old notion that
the one-sizefits-all [music]
adversarial system is all we can offer
in particular victims is a nonsense. Uh
my name's [music] Rob Hulls and I'm the
director of the center for innovative
justice here at RMIT University. We
focus on a whole range of uh areas
whether it be family violence, uh
restorative justice, um first nations
justice, [music] women's decarceration.
There is no area of the justice system
that's out of bounds to the center
because the justice system [music] um is
a very wide beast. We want to ensure
that the justice system can be a
positive influence and intervention in
the life of its diverse users. [music]
We never got into this business because
we were trying to get something out of
it for us as individuals or is even as
an organization. [music] We're there to
achieve the reform or to make the
difference. I'm an associate [music]
director at the Center for Innovative
Justice here at RMIT. We work with
pretty tough content, [music] but people
come in with their eyes open about that.
We're incredibly collaborative and
supportive. So, we don't work in
isolation. [music] We don't work as
individuals. All of our work is as a
team.
We have social workers, we have
counselors, we have Aboriginal people,
we have people with lived experience of
disability and involvement in the
justice system. They all bring unique
insights and perspectives on these
problems. It's those insights and those
ways of [music] working that also enable
us to do our research in a very hopeful
way. My name is Stan Lynford. [music]
I'm associate director of research
practice and innovation at the center
for innovative justice. A lot of our
work involves developing programs that
help respond to justice issues and
respond to the harms of the justice
system. Our objective always at the time
though is to get back to that
fundamental [music] aim of is this piece
of research making a difference. We're
there to get the evidence out so that we
can use those findings [music] to
translate it into reform. We all want to
see the benefit of that work happening
not for us, not for our partners, but
for the clients that they serve. When we
undertake research with victims and
survivors and ask them about what they
need. Often what they need is not what's
on offer from our conventional justice
system really it's about what's needed
[music] to ensure that this type of
option is available to people. How can
we ensure that they can benefit from
this? We started off um [music]
almost 13 years ago. We had the then
prime minister Julia Gillard open the
center and she came back 10 years later
to celebrate our 10th anniversary.
[music]
And we've been going from strength to
strength ever since.

[Music] The RMIT Center for International Development is a multi-disiplinary research center
focused on international development policy. The center has members across RMIT's Melbourne and
Vietnam campuses. The centre's researchers seek to cocreate innovative evidence-based policies that
promote sustainable improvement in the quality of people's lives. I'm a professor of economics and
co-director of the RMIT Center for International Development. The center approaches development
from a multi-dimensional perspective trying to address some of the world's most pressing
problems. Within the center, we have three broad research themes. Firstly, foreign aid, financial
flows, and financial inclusion. Secondly, poverty, inequality, and vulnerability. And thirdly,
improving health and human well-being. I'm a professor of development economics, and I'm a
co-director of RMIT's Center for International Development. One highlight from the center has
been working with Plan International, which is one of the world's largest development organizations,
and it works in over 50 different countries. Plan International wanted us to examine the
impacts of its child sponsorship programs using a variety of different empirical techniques.
Plan international distributed the findings from our research globally and we are currently able
to influence the type of information and data that plan collects in its annual surveys of
sponsored children. As a center we have worked with government departments and various United
Nations agencies. We have also worked with multilateral development institutions such as
the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank and several NGOs including Oxfarm Australia,
Plan International, World Vision International, and the Fred Hollows Foundation. Partnering
with the center ensures academic rigor, demonstrated expertise, we have established
networks and we have practical experience to address international development issues.
across the membership uh within our center there's a strong sense of passion for what we do
uh we believe in international development and we believe that the work that we do goes a long
way to make an impact. We're very keen to undertake collaborations with other
development organizations. If you'd like to work with the center, please do contact us
and we'll be more than happy to discuss any future collaborations. [Music] [Applause]
[Music]

COSC has four key research areas that take a strong diversity, equity and inclusion focus
through and within organizations. We research gender equality, health and well-being,
positive aging and multicultural inclusion. I am an associate professor in the school of economics,
finance and marketing and one of the co-directors for the center for organizations and social
change. Our mission is to focus on examining how social change can be facilitated both within and
through organizations for the well-being and inclusion of all. I'm associate professor in
management at RMIT University and a co-director of center for organizations and social change.
Since we formed as a research center in 2023, we have been awarded over $1.5 million in
research funding and we offer three core value offerings to the college and the university more
broadly around the development of research funding opportunities for our members. The
cultivation of research partnerships both with other universities and beyond the academic
sector and also building a strong research culture within the college for our members.
One of the successful project is a partnership with RMIT's Center for Cyber Security Research
and Innovation on a long-term research program to understand women's experience working in
Australian cyber security sector. This has been a groundbreaking project because it was the first
time that uncovered the gender composition of the Australian cyber security workforce and the
research finding has been widely cited in policy documents and by practitioners across the sector.
The value of partnering with COSC in an environment today where organizations are
grappling with new and challenging questions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion,
particularly in the wake of new and emerging technologies, creating a very different
environment is that we have researchers at the cutting edge with leading evidence-based
expertise and we can help organizations grapple with these questions and move towards new
solutions. Our research is collaborative and impactful and we partner with a wide range of
organizations including policy makers, businesses and the not for profit sectors. Although it's
a very fractious environment uh around the world related to diversity, equity and inclusion at the
moment we know as researchers in this space there's often times of backlash um but also
incredible times of progress too. So the way that we can open up workforce opportunities so
that there can be more efforts to create change in this space benefits all at the end of the day.

At RMIT's College of Business and Law,
our high degrees by research program
combines a multiddisciplinary approach
with strong industry, government, and
community links to equip future leaders
with the skills to solve real world
problems. At the forefront of innovative
research, our program empowers the next
generation of Ford leaders to address
society's most pressing challenges.
During my life of candidature, I have
made major achievements uh including
publishing uh three journal articles in
AMA Starlink journals as well as uh
presenting my uh research at more than
10 conferences across Australia, the
United Kingdom, uh New Zealand and the
Netherlands. Positioned at the
intersection of business, law and
technology, our vibrant research
community benefits from world-class
academic supervision, top tier resources
and structured milestone assessment. We
encourage students to work with their
supervisors because they are the experts
in their disciplines. We also encourage
peer mentoring so that students can
learn from each other, share ideas and
exchange knowledge. Our candidates are
prepared to excel in both academia and
industry driving transformative
innovation and delivering real world
impact for global communities. My PhD at
RMIT have helped me with the necessary
skills to uh excel in any academic or
industry job whether it was national or
on an international basis. Our programs
also enable students to experience
customized industry engagement
placement. We collaborate with industry
partners to ensure the placement of
mutually beneficial. A prime example of
this impactful collaboration is ongoing
partnership between the College of
Business and Law and Frontier Advisers,
Australia's leading investment advisory
firm. It really allows the student to
have a head start in their career and
make the most informed decision on how
they want to progress. The opportunity
to have real life, realtime experience
with client portfolios in the market is
incredibly valuable. Our programs also
include coursework components to ensure
our candidates are upskilled in core
research skill sets. Coursework topics
include research philosophy and design,
research methods and impact, high
degrees by research practice, and
advanced seminar in global business and
law research. So if you would like to
join a dynamic community where PhD
candidates gain their expertise and
industry experience to tackle complex
local and global challenges, please get
in touch with us today and discuss your
options.

A high degree by research industry
placement at RMIT allows PhD and masters
by research candidates to apply their
expertise in an industry setting to help
businesses and organizations solve
complex challenges by leveraging
advanced research capabilities. We aim
to provide flexible tailored placement
to meet both candidates and industry
needs. These can take different forms
including short-term placement of 3 to 9
months focusing on delivering specific
outcomes or long-term industry embedded
projects spanning 2 to four years
forming an integral part of a student's
research phases. This is a win-win
collaboration for the industry. You are
getting a different perspective from the
research student and that allows for you
know opportunities in innovation for
students. The best bit of having a PhD
with industry connection is this
opportunity to contextualize their
research and having that focus around
how their work can actually have real
world impact. I was first introduced to
the industry embedded program when I
joined Frontier 2 years ago. The most
significant benefit that Frontier has
had has been early access to exceptional
talent. And it's not just any old
talent. It's talent that has the very
desirable quantitative skills that are
necessary in the investment industry
today. There's an incredible vibrancy
that students bring, but there's also
the access to the most up-to-date
academic research. You have team members
who are going to be bringing a fresh
perspective. They really bring a robust
discussion to any of the research
projects that we have in the team. The
education I got from RMIT is well suited
in the industry. The best thing about
RMIT's College of Business is about its
people. I got a lot of support for from
my supervisor. It is really turning
point for my career path. I realized
that I could be successful in the
investment industry. Industry should
absolutely be getting involved in this
sort of program. You're adding
resourcing to projects that require
technical skills. We do a lot of project
based work which is very easy to adapt
to a part-time worker. It's something
that's very easy for us to manage from a
resourcing perspective, but it also
allows us to free up capacity for other
team members because we have that
ability to rely on the technical skills
from the PhD candidate. High degrees by
research industry placement at RMIT span
a range of discipline including business
and law, digital economies and
technology, sustainability and
environmental research, policy
development and social impact. If you
are a PhD or masters by research
candidate ready to take the next step,
explore the college of business and law
high degrees research industry
engagement opportunities today. Visit
RMIT's website or reach out to high
degrees by research support team to
learn more.