In this inaugural episode, we dive into the power of student collectivism and what it actually takes to build genuine advocacy movements within universities. Host Ebe Ganon sits down with Gemma Lucy Smart, a PhD candidate and seasoned disability advocate who serves as both Disability Equity Officer and HDR Equity Officer for the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association, plus represents postgraduate students with disability nationally through the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations.

Gemma shares her experience as a student advocate at the university and national level: we explore how student advocacy works and what drives student advocates, how to balance working within systems versus challenging them directly, and how student collectivism is a deeply valuable source of community and systemic change on campus.

Key topics

• The power of student collectivism vs individual advocacy
• Strategic decision-making: when to work within systems vs challenge them
• Supporting emerging student leaders and preventing burnout
• Building disability communities across undergraduate and postgraduate spaces
• Language politics in disability advocacy
• Co-production and co-design in university settings
• Universal Design for Learning and AI's role in accessible education
• Assumptions about disabled students in higher education

Connecting with student advocacy and networks

• SUPRA (Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association): https://supra.net.au/
• Students with Disability Leadership Collective: https://studentvoiceaustralasia.com/students-with-disability-leadership-collective
• Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations: https://www.capa.edu.au/
• National Union of Students (NUS): https://nus.asn.au/
• National Student Ombudsman: https://www.nso.gov.au/

Professional Networks for Staff

• Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Association: https://www.ephea.org/
• Australian Tertiary Education Network on Disability (ATEND): https://www.atend.com.au/

Universal Design for Learning Resources

• CAST (Centre for Applied Special Technology) UDL Guidelines: https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
• Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET): https://www.adcet.edu.au/

Gemma’s work:

• Writing in Honi Soit, the University of Sydney student paper: https://honisoit.com/author/gemma-lucy-smart/
• Gemma's research: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-5850

Support the show

For students who want to transform their universities. For staff ready to build genuinely inclusive systems. For academics and professionals who think big about what Australian higher education could become.

Ready to raise the bar?

Support the podcast: higherhopespod.com
Follow us: LinkedIn @HigherHopesPod | Instagram @higherhopespod
Full transcript: Available at higherhopespod.com

Produced on the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples.

Welcome to Higher Hopes, the podcast raising the bar for Australian universities. In this trailer episode, host Ebe Ganon introduces a new kind of conversation about systemic change in higher education - one that genuinely centres student voices, lived experience, and solutions to move our sector forward.

Tired of surface-level solutions and feel-good initiatives that don't actually shift the dial? Same. This podcast brings together students, advocates, academics, and progressive leaders for bold conversations about what's possible when universities actually live up to their potential.

From student leadership and governance reform to universal design for learning and genuine First Nations allyship, we're exploring how universities can serve staff and students from traditionally underserved backgrounds - and charting the path to get there.

No institutional BS allowed. We're reimagining higher education or we're not talking at all.

Support the show

For students who want to transform their universities. For staff ready to build genuinely inclusive systems. For academics and professionals who think big about what Australian higher education could become.

Ready to raise the bar?

Support the podcast: higherhopespod.com
Follow us: LinkedIn @HigherHopesPod | Instagram @higherhopespod
Full transcript: Available at higherhopespod.com

Produced on the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples.