Zoe Nagara

The University of Melbourne Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) has recently been awarded 1st Runner Up at the annual SIFE Australia National Championship held in Sydney this month. The prize is in recognition of the impact that the team has demonstrated over the last 12 months in creating sustainable social and economic opportunity for others.

SIFE is a global network of over 38,000 students, studying at more than 1,500 universities around the world, who use classroom knowledge to address socio-economic problems in their communities. Each team manages a diverse portfolio of projects which operate on the principles of market economics, education and training, entrepreneurialism, financial management, business ethics and sustainability.

The SIFE Australia National Championship is an annual forum in which SIFE teams from universities around the country showcase the impact that their projects are having on the communities in which they operate. The event brings together a large network of student, academic and business leaders and is sponsored by the country’s largest corporations including KPMG, Cadbury, Coca-Cola Amatil, Qantas, Woolworths and HSBC. This year, 20 university teams competed and over 200 business leaders volunteered to serve as judges in the various rounds of competition.

The University of Melbourne has the largest SIFE team in Australia with an active membership of 56 students who this year have spent 22,978 hours on 4 projects that promote community engagement, knowledge transfer and long-term sustainability. Our Think.Act.Green environmental awareness program was awarded the prize for the Best Competitive Skills Training Project, and EnviroSelect, which provides environmental assessment for small businesses, topped the Best Business Ethics category for the third year running. Our investment in team development this year was also acknowledged with the award for the Best Team Sustainability Strategy and Professor Glyn Davis was deemed to be the Most Supportive Vice-Chancellor in recognition of his generous support over many years.

The team would like to extend its thanks to Professor Margaret Abernethy and the Economics and Commerce Faculty, our Business Advisory Board, and each of our partner organisations. We would especially like to acknowledge Ms. Alison Jenkins, our Faculty Advisor, for her invaluable mentorship and unwavering belief in our team.