Goal 1: No Poverty - University of 天美传媒鈥� UOW

The University of 天美传媒 is committed to working towards the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through its governance, teaching and learning, community engagement, partnerships and research. The following initiatives are by UOW staff and students working towards SDG 1: No Poverty.

Indigenous students take lead in tutoring program
A path from poverty
Bringing safety, hygiene and hope to Tanzania

Spearheaded by an international team, including from UOW's School of Business, the annual initiative made Easter 2024 a little less sweet, but a little more meaningful.

The international initiative evaluates retailers and chocolate companies against seven sustainability markers, including traceability, living income, child labour and deforestation. A traffic light system is used to rank retailers and manufacturers, in descending order, green, yellow, orange, red or grey for their overall progress towards these categories.

The 2024 scorecard revealed concerning practices, with Australian retailers Coles, David Jones and Kmart receiving red ratings for their own branded chocolate, while Woolworths scored orange. German supermarket chain Aldi, which accounts for 10 per cent of the national grocery market in Australia, emerged as the leader in the national retailer field, with a yellow rating for progressing in policy and practice. Globally, no retailer scored a green rating.

The project objective is to encourage companies to improve transparency and social and environmental practices each year. Chocolate manufacturers report that the scorecard influences their strategic direction, demonstrating how academic research can drive change in global supply chains.

Steph Perkiss stands in front of some trees, holding an armful of Easter chocolates. She wears a red shirt and black pants and is smiling. Photo: Michael Gray _{Steph Perkiss}

SDG 1 – No Poverty
SDG 4 – Quality Education
SDG 5 – Gender Equality
SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation
SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities
SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 13 – Climate Action
SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals

Unwrap the truth behind your Easter treats

Indigenous students from UOW are making a difference to the lives of local indigenous high school students through a new tutoring program being run by Woolyungah Indigenous Centre (WIC).

The tutoring program is a joint initiative between Woolyungah and Indigenous education organisation, the .

Already achieving positive outcomes in other locations, UOW and Woolyungah have now implemented the tutoring program which aims to Redefine Indigenous Success in Education (RISE) through long-term, Indigenous-led programs that enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students to define and pursue their own version of success. RISE aims to address critical gaps in knowledge about what works in Indigenous education.

The UOW students provide weekly or fortnightly face-to-face tutoring sessions for students from Years 8 to 12 at UOW’s 天美传媒 campus during the school term.

SDG 1 - No Poverty
SDG 4 - Quality Education
SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

Making a difference in the lives of local Indigenous high school students

A group of people sitting on chairs outdoors in Sri Lanka

_{Born into a life of poverty, Sri Lankan engineer Dr Sinniah K Navaratnarajah (front row, blue shirt, blue pants) changed the course of his life and his home country through education.}

After achieving multiple international engineering qualifications, including a PhD in Engineering from UOW, Dr Navaratnarajah returned to the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka as a senior lecturer and researcher. He was able to secure a 40-million-rupee World Bank-funded AHEAD grant and embarked on a three-year research collaboration to improve the performance of higher-speed rail and utilise waste materials to reduce maintenance costs.

The project has already produced more than 40 publications, and Dr Navaratnarajah has received numerous awards including the prestigious Sri Lankan President’s Award for Scientific Research and an Institution of Civil Engineers (United Kingdom) award for best paper published by overseas researchers.

Dr Navaratnarajah has also actively helped children in his community escape the cycle of poverty and, in doing so, advance his nation’s potential through education. He ensured students had access to teaching materials when internet and phone services weren’t available during the pandemic.

With the support of international NGOs and colleagues, he has helped distribute 60 smart classrooms for digital and online learning, built a library for the community and has also provided scholarships to more than 70 disadvantaged students. In recognition of his work, Dr Navaratnarajah was a finalist in the Social Impact category of the 2023 UOW Alumni Awards.

SDG 1 - No Poverty
SDG 4 - Quality Education
SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

Follow the path of Dr Navaratnarajah

As part of an educational immersion project, UOW staff and students from various disciplines including social work, psychology, primary education, PDHPE, international studies and electrical engineering, travelled to Tanzania to help renovate a girls’ dormitory. They worked with local staff at So They Can, an Australian NGO, and the Manyara Primary School community.

Approximately 120 girls were sharing a space that had capacity for 50 beds where up to four girls would share one bed – some of them not equipped with a mattress. Also, less than a third of the beds had access to mosquito net coverage despite malaria in the area.

After eight days on the project, the team helped repair the roofing structure, removed and replaced old ceiling sheeting, added new guttering and connected this to a water tank for the first time. Three new water tanks were installed, including a solar powered pump, and a new fence was installed around the dormitory protecting the girls from dangerous wildlife previously roaming the school grounds.

Additional works included repairs to broken windows, laying an outdoor concrete foundation, procurement of mattresses and mosquito nets and the relocation of a shipping container to provide onsite storage and a future study area.

_{The experience was life changing for the UOW participants, who provided their skills and time to deliver real and lasting impact.}

SDG 1 – No Poverty
SDG 2 – Zero Hunger
SDG 4 – Quality Education
SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities
SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities

Explore how UOW students are creating change in Tanzania

Latest news for SDG 1

Community, Research

3 November 2025

Sustainability report shows real-world impact on climate, equity and education

From Antarctica to India, UOW research and partnerships are driving global progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Community, Research

18 June 2025

UOW recognised among world’s top universities for sustainability impact

UOW's sustainability efforts recognised as it rises to 31st place globally and 7th in Australia in times higher education impact rankings 2025

Health and Medicine

13 May 2025

Community-run food co-ops can reduce food insecurity and boost healthy diets

Food co-ops are local groups where people join together to buy food in bulk, usually straight from farmers or wholesalers

Community, Education

Groundbreaking new fund empowers students through placements

Placement poverty is a silent crisis affecting thousands of students who complete unpaid placements as part of their degrees.

Health and Medicine, Research

Feeding the future

If you were struggling to feed your family, would you know how to access support?

Education

From humble beginnings

For 35 years, UOW College has been providing pathways to university and employment.

UOW provides free support services available to all students, including counselling, career development, disability services, and academic or learning development. Student Support Coordinators (SSCs) offer a free and confidential service and are available to all students.

Contact the team at Campus Health

The Federal Government's Higher Education Participation and Partnership Program (HEPPP) aims to ensure that Australians from low Socio-Economic-Status (SES) backgrounds, Regional, Rural or Remote areas (RRR) or those who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander have equitable opportunity to study at university if they choose to do so. UOW has a proud history of working closely with its communities to drive increased participation and attainment among underrepresented groups in higher education.

An has been developed and provided to the Federal Government to detail how HEPPP will be implemented at UOW.

We are committed to ensuring the access and success of students from diverse backgrounds at our institution.

Discover how we're breaking down barriers to higher education

Completions by Equity Groups

IRGR (Institutional Research and Government Reporting Unit) is responsible for providing the most recent figures to be included in the SDG website for completions by Equity Groups. This is used as evidence for 1.3.2 Bottom financial quintile student success - Graduation/completion targets for students who fall into the bottom 20% of household income group (or a more tightly defined target) in the country.

Completions by Indigenous students

Year	Non-Indigenous	Indigenous
2022	97.38%	2.62%
2023	97.29%	2.71%
2024	96.91%	3.09%

Completions by students with disability

Year	Non-disability	Disability
2022	88.74%	11.26%
2023	90.87%	9.13%
2024	91.54%	8.46%

Completions by students from low-SES

Year	Non-Low SES	Low SES
2022	84.69%	15.31%
2023	84.93%	15.07%
2024	85.96%	14.04%

Completions by remote or regional students

Year	Non remote or regional	Remote or regional
2022	72.07%	27.93%
2023	71.08%	28.92%
2024	68.58%	30.42%

_{*Equity data presented is for domestic undergraduates}

The percentage of completions from students coming from under-represented groups and low socio-economic backgrounds show consistency with the commencing percentages of the same groups at UOW. Increases have been observed in the number of completions from Indigenous students (2.62% in 2022 to 3.09% in 2024) and completions from regional and remote students (27.93% in 2022 to 30.42 % in 2024).

Explore UOW's impact and commitment to each of the goals

No Poverty

Zero Hunger

Good Health and Well-Being

Quality Education

Gender Equality

Clean Water and Sanitation

Affordable and Clean Energy

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Reduced Inequalities

Sustainable Cities and Communities

Responsible Consumption and Production

Climate Action

Life Below Water

Life on Land

Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

Partnerships for the Goals