Higher Hopes Podcast

Part-time students make up 31% of all Australian university students, yet university policies and systems remain designed for full-time school-leavers. Associate Professor Kelly Linden shares preliminary findings from her research with almost 1,000 part-time students about their experiences, needs and the policy barriers they face. Ebe and Kelly talk about: Research findings on what supports part-...

In this bonus episode, Ebe shares the recording of her November 2025 ADCET webinar on the neurodiversity paradigm, which drew over 500 registrations from across Australia. The session covers the foundations and principles of the neurodiversity paradigm as articulated by Dr Nick Walker and Sonny Jane Wise, contrasting it with the pathology paradigm that currently dominates university support system...

In this episode, Ebe speaks with Associate Professor Amani Bell (University of Sydney) and Lachlan Sibir (classroom teacher and researcher) about placement equity and placement poverty in Australian higher education. The conversation explores what placement equity means and why it matters for students from equity-deserving backgrounds. We discuss the strengths and limitations of the Commonwealth P...

In this special episode recorded at UNSW's Diversity Fest, we examine the rising global threats to diversity and inclusion through a disability lens. Join Ebe Ganon in conversation with Professor Jackie Leach Scully (Director, Disability Innovation Institute UNSW), Professor Alistair McEwan (former Disability Royal Commissioner), and Dr Supriya Subramani (University of Sydney) as they unpack...

In this conversation, Ebe sits down with Dr Tracy Woodroffe, a Warumungu Luritja senior lecturer at Charles Darwin University, to talk about what it really means to embed Indigenous knowledge in Australian universities - and why our current approaches keep falling short. Tracy shares her journey from childhood, to teacher, to academic, explaining why Indigenous perspectives can only be owned and d...

The Disability Discrimination Act review is happening right now - and it could fundamentally change how disability rights work in Australian universities. But only if the sector actually gets involved. In this episode, Ebe unpacks four game-changing reforms proposed in the DDA review and why every person in our sector needs to engage with this once-in-a-generation opportunity for change. What you&...

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 repre...

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...