Swinburne and Medibank have renewed their three-year partnership that provides an integrated health service to the university's community.
The organisations announced their partnership in 2017. It has been renewed for another three years to deliver further industry engagement opportunities, collaboration in teaching and learning, student work placements in areas across the business and funding to support research and Swinburne students.
“The health and wellbeing of all members of the broader Swinburne community remains a priority for Swinburne,” said Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global and Community Engagement) Dr Andrew Smith.
“Our partnership with Medibank allows us to support our community while working on research and projects that can benefit all Australians. I am excited to renew our partnership and look forward to building on the strong connection we have established over the past three years,” he said.
As part of the partnership, Swinburne staff, students and alumni have access to benefits and discounts across Medibank’s insurance range, including health, pet and travel insurance. Medibank will also continue to be the preferred provider of Overseas Health Cover to international students at Swinburne.
Medibank Senior Executive, (Overseas and Corporate Portfolio) Becky Hyde welcomed the extension. ”COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the global economy and the Australian education sector. It is in times such as these that the significance of trusted and collaborative partnerships is crucial for success.”
In the first three years of the partnership, Medibank supported a team of Swinburne researchers who conducted a randomised trial with students testing a mental health and performance improvement solution created by Uprise, an online behavioural health program and service.
Medibank has also supported another team of Swinburne’s researchers examining how people experiencing chronic lower back pain interact with VR in Swinburne’s state-of-the-art Virtual Reality Theatre.
Swinburne’s staff, students and the broader community have also had the opportunity to participate in partnership initiatives.
Highlights include support for Swinburne’s H. Squad, a peer-to-peer health promotion group run by students. H-Squad’s achievements include successful social media engagement on topics such as Sleep and Mental health, a podcast series and collaboration with Medibank clinicians to inform Health and Wellness Webinars for international students.
In addition, as part of the partnership, Swinburne students have completed short-term internships as well as one-year placements with some students already securing full-time positions at Medibank.