Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to rise this evening to honour the work and achievements of Professor Janice Reid, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Western Sydney. Having retired in December 2013, she will be sorely missed by the university, her staff, the students and the people of Greater Western Sydney.

The University of Western Sydney is a major urban university spread across six campuses. In completing my bachelor degree in business, I attended three of these campuses at Penrith, Blacktown and Parramatta. Campuses also reside in Bankstown, Campbelltown and the Hawkesbury, with the chancellery residing in my electorate of Lindsay in the suburb of Penrith. The university is a diverse and innovative institution which is proud to provide great opportunities to the people of Western Sydney, the university's 2,500 staff and 40,000 students. Professor Reid has been a critical pillar in the success of the University of Western Sydney and in realising its vision:

Bringing knowledge to life in Greater Western Sydney through community and business engagement with our learning and our research.

As an alumna, I think we should add 'government' to that vision. Professor Reid will be most remembered for her unfailing commitment to making higher education more accessible to the people of Greater Western Sydney. Her leadership has transformed UWS into one of Australia's most progressive and innovative universities, providing opportunities for hundreds of thousands of diverse students in a region that has traditionally been known for social disadvantage and low levels of educational opportunity and participation. In the words of Professor Peter Shergold, Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney:

UWS has for many years enjoyed the leadership of one of Australia's great Vice Chancellors, Janice Reid, one of incredible commitment to providing the most engaging university experiences to students.

Janice has been a tremendous asset to the university with her remarkable experience from serving on the boards of public agencies and non-profit organisations at both state and federal levels in the areas of health, welfare, schools, higher education, energy, pension fund, international relations, arts and heritage funds. You can see why we will miss her. Her services to so many boards and committees are too many to mention, but I am sure it has been this experience that has so greatly helped in her role as vice-chancellor of the University of Western Sydney.

Janice Reid's own research has been in the field of Aboriginal and refugee societies, health and health care, occupational health and mental health. Her authored publications and edited or co-edited volumes include Body, land and spirit: Aboriginal health and healing; Sorcerers and healing spirits: continuity and change in the medical system of an Aboriginal society;Anthropology and primary health care in developing countries, special issue of social science and medicine; The health of immigrant Australia; and, The health of Aboriginal Australia.

In January 1998, Professor Reid was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to cross-cultural public health research and the development of health services for socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in the community. In 1984 she received the Wellcome Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland for research in anthropology as applied to medical problems. In 2003, she was awarded the Centenary Medal for services to Australian society in health and university administration.

The university has been greatly enriched by Janice's intelligence, commitment and vision. She leaves behind a legacy of an education community, nestled in one of the most diverse and dynamic regions of our nation, which is ready to educate the students of the future.