You can search for courses, events, people, and anything else.
Measuring impact in Western Sydney
The Centre for Western Sydney has established a stream of work, supporting the monitoring and evaluations of projects and programs of critical importance to Western Sydney. In supporting this work, the Centre seeks to enhance the positive impact of key programs, infrastructure and initiatives on the region. To enquire about our monitoring and evaluation services, email cfws@westernsydney.edu.au
Western Sydney Impact Framework
The Centre for Western Sydney is leading the development of the Western Sydney Impact framework, providing stakeholders with a toolkit for robust monitoring and evaluation of key initiatives in the Western Sydney region.
Cumberland City Council WestInvest projects
Funded by Cumberland City Council.
Researchers: Dr Rhonda Itaoui, Dr Angela Smith.
Cumberland City Council has engaged the Centre for Western Sydney to support the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of its four funded projects:
- Civic Park Pendle Hill Upgrade project
- Lidcombe Town Centre High Street Activation project
- Guildford Pool Modernisation project
- New Hyland Road Sporting Complex project
The Centre is assisting Council by establishing a robust evaluation framework and infrastructure to monitor and assess the impact of each project in the medium and long term.
The Centre is best positioned to provide this service, having conducted the Liveability in Western Sydney study on behalf of the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) – which informed the subsequent criteria for assessing WestInvest projects.
Do you have a project funded by WestInvest? Contact us now to find out how we can support your M&E requirements.
Catholic Mission Interfaith Encounters program
Funded by Catholic Mission.
Researchers: Dr Rhonda Itaoui, Dr Öznur Şahin (School of Social Sciences), Professor Kevin Dunn.
The Centre for Western Sydney is assisting with the monitoring and evaluation of the Catholic Mission Interfaith Encounters program.
The Interfaith Encounters program brings senior students from diverse faith backgrounds together. The program provides the platform for students and staff to develop new friendships, celebrate difference, deepen faith and promote peace and social cohesion.
Current research projects
The Centre for Western Sydney is a collaborative and partner focused organisation. For potential partnership and collaboration opportunities, reach out to our team at cfws@westernsydney.edu.au
Unlimited Potential
Contributors: Professor Jennifer Westacott AO, Professor Andy Marks, Dr Rhonda Itaoui, Professor Neil Perry, Stefanie Balogh, Thomas Nance.
Unlimited Potential outlines a once-in-a-generation strategy to transform Western Sydney’s economy and harness its inherent and emerging strengths.
In November 2024, the Centre for Western Sydney launched ‘Unlimited Potential: Western Sydney’s Economic Strategy.’ The strategy is focused on delivering a ‘Western Sydney Economic Acceleration Zone’ through six targeted and actionable ‘leaps.’
These are:
- Create a 30-Year Infrastructure Funding Compact
- Establish a Western Sydney Infrastructure Advisory Council
- Accelerate Technological Innovation, Digital Skills and Agility
- Strengthen Capability Links to International Supply Chains
- Secure a Fair Share of Creative Industry Funding
- Benchmark and Target Investment and Infrastructure Delivery
Our work is not over.
We welcome any feedback that you may have on the strategy and invite you to stay connected with our team at the Centre for Western Sydney as they deliver an implementation plan that will see Unlimited Potential presented to local and state government, policy makers and key community, industry and advocacy groups.
Unlocking Women’s Potential: Labour force participation in Western Sydney
Researchers: Dr Rhonda Itaoui, Dr Angela Smith, Professor Kate Huppatz (School of Social Sciences).
On International Women’s Day in March 2024, Western Sydney University Chancellor, Professor Jennifer Westacott AO, launched the Centre for Western Sydney’s groundbreaking report ‘Unlocking Women’s Potential: Labour force participation in Western Sydney.’
The report highlighted a significant spatial gap in the income levels between women in Western Sydney and the rest of Sydney. For more information, visit Gender equity: “It’s where you live that counts”
The Centre’s work on this important topic continues, with the Centre committing to release an annual report card on women’s labour force participation each year in time for International Women’s Day.
Creating a vibrant future for NSW creative industries
Funded by the Western Sydney University Research Partnership program (RPP) and City of Parramatta Council.
Researchers: Dr Rhonda Itaoui, Dr Angela Smith, Vera Xia, Dolla Merrillees (Western Sydney Creative), Associate Professor Katrina Sandbach (School of Humanities and Communication Arts).
Partners: Western Sydney Creative, City of Parramatta Council.
As an important extension of our landmark 2023 report, State of the Arts in Western Sydney, the Centre for Western Sydney has partnered with Western Sydney Creative, City of Parramatta, and a range of local artists and creative industries practitioners on the ‘Creating a vibrant future for NSW Creative Industries’ project.
The project aimed to identify the cities and suburbs within Western Sydney that are current hotspots for arts and cultural activity as well as sites with potential for future investment, development, and growth.
In November 2024, the report ‘Unleashing Creativity: Strategies for Growing Western Sydney’s Creative Industries’ was launched. The report revealed that, with the right investment, Western Sydney’s creative industries could quadruple in size, contributing an additional $6.4 billion per annum in economic output, creating over 24,000 new jobs and further enhancing the region’s position as a leading creative hub.
First Nations Digital Inclusion in Western Sydney
Funded in the 2023 round of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) Independent Grants Program.
Researchers: Professor Azadeh Dastyari (Whitlam Institute), Associate Professor Corrinne Sullivan (School of Social Sciences), Dr Rhonda Itaoui.
Partners: BlaQ Aboriginal Corporation, Jesuit Social Services, Bidwill Uniting, Digital Literacy Foundation, Salvation Army, Blacktown City Council, My Skills Australia, Baptist Care and Think and Do Tank.
First Nations peoples are experiencing high levels of digital exclusion, however little is known about the extent of the digital divide in Western Sydney – the home of the largest population of Indigenous people in Australia.
This project:
- Explores the barriers, causes and consequences of digital exclusion for First Nations people in the region in Western Sydney.
- Provides vital data to inform culturally appropriate solutions to address digital exclusion.
- Through an intersectional approach, considers how disability, age, gender, LGBTQIA+SB status and socio-economic class contributes to the access and use of digital technologies.
The project is overseen by an Indigenous Research Governance Committee.
Digital poverty and the right to education in NSW schools
Funded by the Whitlam Institute, Western Sydney University.
Researchers: Professor Azadeh Dastyari (Whitlam Institute), Dr Rhonda Itaoui, Dr Gina Hawkes, Associate Professor Tanya Notley (School of Humanities and Communication Arts and Institute for Culture and Society).
The Centre for Western Sydney proudly partnered with the Whitlam Institute and Wester’ly on the Digital poverty and the right to education in NSW schools project.
445 NSW school staff were surveyed between April and June 2023, finding alarming levels of digital exclusion among certain groups and a significant disparity in digital equity based on location.
The findings indicate:
- In Western Sydney and regional New South Wales, there were higher rates of students relying on only their mobile phones for completing educational activities at home, compared to the rest of Sydney.
- Asylum seeker and refugee students and students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are particularly vulnerable to digital exclusion.
- Some students, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, are more digitally excluded today than they were prior to the pandemic.
The findings are detailed in the new report ‘Digital Equity and Education: A NSW Case Study.’
2023 Vice-Chancellor’s Centre for Western Sydney Fellowship projects
Three impactful, community-focused Western Sydney University research projects will be supported through the Vice-Chancellor’s Centre for Western Sydney Fellowship Fund in 2023. For more information, visit ‘2023 Vice-Chancellor’s Centre for Western Sydney Fellows announced’.
Understanding the power of place: Creative expression and belonging in Western Sydney
Researcher: Dr Katrina Sandbach (School of Humanities and Communication Arts)
This project will build on the findings of ‘State of the Arts in Western Sydney’ by providing a rich evidence-base of how, where, and why people in Western Sydney engage with the arts.
This evidence can be used to inform strategies, plans, and targeted investments for the arts in Western Sydney. The funding will be used to commence a new research project centred on a digital tool called “Creative Place” and participatory workshops that capture how creative places make people feel, and what kinds of places inspire people in Western Sydney.
Creative Place will collect qualitative data that can be used by organisations, institutions, place developers, and local government to gain insights that can inform future programming/ funding/ infrastructure/ spaces as needed in direct response to their communities and audiences.
Creative collaborations for new visions of extreme heat
Researcher: Dr Rachael Jacobs (School of Education)
Partner: Sweltering Cities
Most of west and south-western Sydney is a large urban heat island that can be 10° or more hotter than suburbs closer to the eastern seaboard (Sweltering Cities, 2022). This means that the effects of global warming are exacerbated and experienced through hot homes, sweltering workplaces and classrooms.
This project will investigate ways to communicate new visions of heat and the threat of rising surface temperatures in Western Sydney.
Using dance and video mediums, shared on social media, it aims to tell local stories of living through baking hot summers in creative ways that connect with new audiences.
Exploring digital learning with recently arrived culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) parents in Western Sydney
Researchers: Dr Lynde Tan (School of Education), Professor Loshini Naidoo (School of Education)
Despite Australia’s success in supporting the resettlement of people from CALD backgrounds and providing for their specific needs, the evidence of digital exclusion highlights gaps in the system.
It is important to recognise this interplay of factors to address the unique and often complex challenges of the recently arrived Western Sydney CALD community and to facilitate successful integration in Western Sydney. As digital environments become more important in contemporary society, the extent to which individuals can participate in digital life will shape access to opportunities and benefits, including full participation in civic life.
This project addresses digital inclusion with a specific focus on recently arrived CALD communities in Western Sydney. The objective is to determine how effective this access is in ensuring that CALD students can continue to learn with support from their parents.
