News Archive

Emma Stromback catches four different buses every day she commutes to work. Meanwhile, to get from her home in Maylands to work at the UWA Business School in Crawley, Judith Heath travels along two separate train lines and catches a bus.

It was this first-hand experience of public transport which made Emma, Judith and the rest of the Supported Team at the UWA Business School happy to help out with research to help improve public transport and reduce congestion on Perth's roads.

The Supported Team were assisting with a research project being conducted by UWA Business School PhD student Ying Huang, which aims to discover the demand for parking facilities in key train stations, as well as the willingness of commuters to pay for parking bays.

Eventually, the results will contribute to policy makers' understanding of demand for Park and Ride facilities and influence the government's level of investment in parking at train stations.

For Ying, the Supported Team provided invaluable support with the mail-out of a survey to Perth households.

"The supported team helped me to paste the codes on questionnaires and reply paid envelopes, as well as the addresses on mailed out envelopes, then put everything into the outgoing envelope and seal it. It was a complicated process because all the codes on the questionnaires, reply paid envelopes and addresses needed to match," Ying explained.

"Chris Richards, the Team Coordinator for the Supported Team, built up an effective teamwork system and assigned different job tasks to each individual according to their special skills. The supported team completed the job perfectly with high efficiency, fast speed and no errors."

Around the Business School, the Supported Team also provide day-to-day assistance, helping clean and re-stock kitchen areas, ensure printers are filled with paper, and sort mail.

The Supported Team are employees of the UWA Business School, but are provided with individual support to build and develop employment skills and relationships through disability employment services agency Options Employment, which is funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

Options Employment assists each employee to set and achieve workplace goals, which contribute to creating a better whole of life experience.

Like the entire team, Judith enjoys her work at the UWA Business School. "I love meeting friends. My favourite part of the job is every bit," she says.

Fellow Supported Team member Selina Drewett adds that she enjoys more challenging tasks, including helping with administration support. "My favourite part is when we get big jobs - it's more interesting than cleaning!" she says.

Supported Team members who assisted with the Perth Travel and Access Survey were Trevor Morley, Joshua Brown, Kozmas Muriopulos, Judith Heath, Selina Drewett, Maria Lisa Hill, Emma Stromback, and Pauline McMinigal.

Business School staff who would like to learn more about the Supported Team and the assistance they can provide should contact Chris Richards on 6488 1368 or [email protected] .

Ying Huang's research is part of a government-sponsored project being undertaken by UWA, Curtin University, the Department of Transport, Department of Planning and Public Transport Authority of WA.

Media references

Karen Della Torre (UWA Business School)              (+61 8) 6488 8538
Verity Chia (UWA Business School)                       (+61 8) 6488 1346