List of hackathons in Australia in 2018

Got some writing to do? Hate sitting down to it all alone?  Join my Writing Hackathon. How does it work? Bring along your writing project, and get your critical writing work done alongside other quiet and purposeful writers. We have four 25-minute writing sprints with five minutes debrief between. We are focused and task orientated. I hope you can make it. There’s enough room for 4 of us. First in, first served. Please be on time.

  Health, Biomedical & Robotics Research Translation: Cutting-Edge Research, Opportunities & Pitches Hear what's happening at the cutting-edge of research and its translation by researchers, innovators, commericalisers, entrepreneurs and startups in this session led by Director of the Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI).   This session offers: An overview of the industry-academia developed and government sponsored BridgeTech program open to Australians interested in developing skills for the commercialisation of medical technology research Presentations and pitches by researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and startup companies developing, commercialising, and bringing cutting-edge research and new to the world medical technologies to market   Presentations include:   - - - - - - - - - - - - - Presentation 1: - - - - - - - - - - - - - BridgeTech MedTech Commercialisation Program - Presented by Prof. Lyn Griffiths Professor Lyn Griffiths, Director of The BridgeTech Program and Executive Director of QUT's Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) will discuss the BridgeTech program offering professional development in medical technology research commercialisation. The BridgeTech program, led by QUT, involves a consortium of partners including medical technology companies, universities and industry associations.  It is supported by MTPConnect - the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Industry Growth Centre - which offers matched funding to run it. Initiated in 2018, the program selects 100 applicants from around Australia to boost knowledge of the scientific, legal, financial, clinical, regulatory and reimbursement disciplines related to taking developed medical technology to market.   - - - - - - - - - - - - - Presentation 2: - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gelomics - 3D cell culture tech - Presented by Dr Christoph Meinert Dr Christoph Meinert is the director and co-founder of Gelomics Pty Ltd and aresearch fellow at the ARC Training Center in Additive Biomanufacturing, Centre for Regenerative Medicine. Gelomics is a biotechnology company developing, manufacturing and distributing advanced biomaterials, including bioinks and kits for 3D cell culture and bioprinting, including bioinks that allow 3D printed cells and fabrication of 3D models for cancer research.      - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Presentation 3: - - - - - - - - - - - - - Integral Scopes - Plentoptoscope - Presented by Dr Anjali Jaiprakash    Dr Anjali Jaiprakash is a core team member of Integral Scopes, the developer of the Plenoptoscope - which harnesses robotic vision to help eliminate preventable blindness.   Anjali is a robobiologist working at the intersection of medicine, engineering and design, with a vision to create a world in which robotics technology enablers affordable healthcare for all. You can watch one of Anjali's inspiring TED talks here.      - - - - - - - - - - - - - Presentation 4: - - - - - - - - - - - - - PACT - Presented by Dr Patrick Dwyer PACT is presented by QUT bluebox senior commercialisation manager Dr Patrick Dwyer. Patrick is a patent attorney with a research background spanning molecular biology, epigenetics, cancer genetics, immunology, proteomics, genotyping, diagnostics, plant and animal physiology and crop science. Prior to joining QUT bluebox in 2015, Patrick also spent over four years in contracts and business development at QIMR Berghofer and the Baker IDI.    - - - - - - - - - - - - - Presentation 5: - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Conpago - Presented by Marley Brown CONPAGO was born from QUT research which sought to reduce social isolation. Conpago is bringing families, loved ones and carers together, and changing the way we connect, with their range of research inspired technical products and robotics solutions.   - - - - - - - - - - - - - Presentation 6: - - - - - - - - - - - - - RER Laboratories - Presented by Dr Chris Jeffrey Dr Chris Jeffrey is a serial innovative entrepreneur, QUT Young Alumnus of the Year, 2018, and Brisbane Lord Mayor Business Awards Young Entrepreneur of the Year, 2017.  Chris is an award-winning engineer, Commissioned Officer of the Australian Army, medical doctor and surgeon, with a graduate certificate in business, who is currently completing a PhD at the Australian Centre for Robotic Engineering ACRV at QUT. Dr Jeffrey has a passion to develop solutions to improve access to medical treatment and is the CEO of RER Laboratories, inventor and founder of Audeara headphones, co-founder and CEO of Field Orthopaedics.  - - - - - - - - - - - - - Guest Panel: - - - - - - - - - - - - - Guest Panelists:  Steve Barsh (MD, Dreamit Ventures) & Dr Alfredo Martinez-Coll MTPConnect   Our panelists have a wealth of experience in relation to the commercialisation of research, development of medical technologies, and growth of new business ventures, which they will share.   - - - - - - - - - - - - - Networking: - - - - - - - - - - - - -   Hosted by QUT foundry & Oracle Following the presentations, enjoy networking with presenters and the Brisbane's wonderful research, innovation, startup and health ecosystem.     - - - - - - - - - - - - - Want More? : - - - - - - - - - - - - - Monday's Entrepreneurship Events     This event is one of many we're hosting on Monday - an opportunity-rich day for those interested in research, innovation, entrepreneurship and startups. Feel free to enjoy any of the following events (scheduled before or after the present one):     Overview of Monday's Events Come for the whole day or select any individual session of interest: Location 1: The Precinct, Fortitude Valley: Morning Sessions: 09:00am-09:20am | Indonesian Market & Healthcare (Opportunities for Startups) 09:20am-09:40am | Telehealth Startup AloDoktor (Growth from Seed to Series B) 09:40am-09:50am | Q&A with Austrade & Startup AloDoktor 09:50am-11:00am | (Break) 11:00am-12:30pm | De-risking your startup idea or business project Lunch: 12:30pm-01:30pm | Designs on Display / Lunch sponsored by QUT IHBI & MTP Connect Afternoon Sessions: 01:30pm-02:10pm | Pitching Session 1: Health Tech Startups 02:10pm-02:30pm | Networking break 02:30pm-03:00pm | Pitching Session 2: Tech Startups (e.g. Urban, Cyber, Social) 03:15pm-04:00pm | QUT IHBI Research Commercialisation & BridgeTech for Medtech  04:00pm-04:15pm | Networking Afternoon tea sponsored by QUT foundry + Oracle Location 2: TRI, Woolloongabba: 05:15pm-07:00pm | Meeting with customers early: Tricks and key questions to ask Registration   About Steve Barsh Steve is a Managing Partner at Dreamit Ventures, a US-based early-stage venture fund. He has over 30 years of experience starting, leading, launching and building multinational companies in the fields of healthcare, real estate/built environment, and security as well as early-stage venture work. Steve has helped launch over 100 companies that have generated over US$1 billion in enterprise value. He is also a special advisor to NASA for its annual NASA Cross Industry Innovation Summit. He has taught in the Wharton MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania and has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Michigan. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children. About the Organisers Steve Barsh has been brought to Australia by MTPConnect. Events at the Precinct are co-hosted by QUT foundry, Hacking Health Queensland, and QUT's Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, with support from QUT bluebox; and the event at the Translational Research Institute (TRI) is supported by TRI, the Queensland Government and Medical Research Commercialisation Fund.    QUT IHBI - The Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) is a multidisciplinary research institute devoted to improving individual and community health. It is based at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).   Hacking Health Queensland is part of a global network, acting locally to share knowledge and enable innovation and entrepreneurship to advance and improve health and healthcare, including through the design and faciliation of hackathons, design jams, innovation and educational events. We connect and collaborate with the health sector, government, academia, research, startups and industry.    QUT foundry is part of Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) entrepreneurship ecosystem, being a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, serving to inspire, enable, and connect current and future innovators, change agents, social entrepreneurs, and founders. It offers co-working space, events, mentoring, an incubator program, and more to benefit the QUT community and wider ecosystem.   MTPConnect is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to accelerate the rate of growth of the medical technologies, biotechnologies and pharmaceuticals sector to increase commercialisation, collaboration, and establish Australia as an Asia-Pacific hub for MTP companies. Formed in December 2015 as part of the Federal Government's Industry Growth Centres Initiative, MTPConnect is an independent and trusted voice, call for change to support the sector.

Entrepreneurs, startups, and companies engaged in innovation and venturing should learn ways to de-risk new ideas and projects to reduce failure and accelerate success. From the very start, smart entrepreneurs (and intrapreneurs) reduce uncertainty and make educated decisions through a process of highly focused and iterative decision-making. In this workshop and Q&A session with seasoned startup investor Steve Barsh (DreamIt Ventures fund and accelerator, USA), participants will learn how Dreamit investors analyse ideas and take companies through an extremely focused de-risking process in a compressed time frame. Learning from this tested approach will allow your startup or organisation to "think and act like a startup" and stay focussed on the most critical assumptions behind a new idea or project. Companies often find that this not only helps them dramatically accelerate their projects, but focus energy and reosurces where they are most needed quickly. In this session, you will learn: The 5 most common mistakes business people, technologists, scientists and entrepreneurs make when first starting - and how to avoid them How to identify critical assumptions that can kill an idea When to start speaking with target customers The top 4 unexpected reasons ideas and projects fail 5 great experiments you can use to de-risk the biggest assumptions 7 critical questions to ask early during meetings Q&A Session This talk will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience, enabling attendees to an opportunity to pick Steve's brain! Who Should Attend  This event is open to the public and is expected to be of particular benefit to the following people: Entrepreneurs, startups & university spin-outs Researchers considering commercialisation or active in Dreamit Ventures' key investment areas (see below) Commercialisation managers Current and future investors interested in (early stage) startups Government representatives interested in innovation and entrepreneurship Startup mentors & advisors Startup coworking spaces, incubators, and accelerators Corporates interested in venturing or investing in startups Those interested in the Dreamit Ventures' key investment areas (see below) Key Investment Areas  Dreamit Ventures is a fund and accelerator focused on startups with  HealthTech: including digital health, medtech, medical devices UrbanTech: Property tech, real estate tech, construction tech, smart buildings, and smart cities SecureTech: logical security, including cybersecurity, physical security (e.g., security of people, places, & things), and  Social Security: focusing on counter-measures to fraud, information warfare, disinformation, fake news, and other social security measures   Stay on for Lunch Networking & Designs on Display Following the presentation and Q&A, you can stay on for lunchtime networking and to view    new and innovative design prototypes on display.   About Steve Barsh Steve is a Managing Partner at Dreamit Ventures, a US-based early-stage venture fund. He has over 30 years of experience starting, leading, launching and building multinational companies in the fields of healthcare, real estate/built environment, and security as well as early-stage venture work. Steve has helped launch over 100 companies that have generated over US$1 billion in enterprise value. He is also a special advisor to NASA for its annual NASA Cross Industry Innovation Summit. He has taught in the Wharton MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania and has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Michigan. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children. About the Organisers Steve Barsh has been brought to Australia by MTPConnect, and this event is hosted by QUT foundry and Hacking Health Queensland.        Hacking Health Queensland is part of a global network, acting locally to share knowledge and enable innovation and entrepreneurship to advance and improve health and healthcare, including through the design and faciliation of hackathons, design jams, innovation and educational events. We connect and collaborate with the health sector, government, academia, research, startups and industry.  QUT foundry is part of Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) entrepreneurship ecosystem, being a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, serving to inspire, enable, and connect current and future innovators, change agents, social entrepreneurs, and founders. It offers co-working space, events, mentoring, an incubator program, and more to benefit the QUT community and wider ecosystem.   MTPConnect is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to accelerate the rate of growth of the medical technologies, biotechnologies and pharmaceuticals sector to increase commercialisation, collaboration, and establish Australia as an Asia-Pacific hub for MTP companies. Formed in December 2015 as part of the Federal Government's Industry Growth Centres Initiative, MTPConnect is an independent and trusted voice, call for change to support the sector.

Entrepreneurship Day for Entrepreneurs, Startups & Companies   For current and future entrepreneurs, startups, & companies engaged in innovation and venturing, November 26 is day of opportunity, with industry & international guests,  startup success stories, investor presentations, pitches to an investor*, designs showcase, ecosystem opportunities, and networking!   Overview   Come for the whole day or select any individual session of interest:   Location 1: The Precinct, Fortitude Valley:   Morning Sessions: 09:00am-09:20am | Indonesian Market & Healthcare (Opportunities for Startups) 09:20am-09:40am | Telehealth Startup AloDoktor (Growth from Seed to Series B) 09:40am-09:50am | Q&A with Austrade & Startup AloDoktor 09:50am-11:00am | (Break) 11:00am-12:30pm | De-risking your startup idea or business project   Lunch: 12:30pm-01:30pm | Designs on Display / Lunch    Afternoon Sessions: 01:30pm-02:10pm | Pitching Session 1: Health Tech Startups 02:10pm-02:30pm | Networking break 02:30pm-03:00pm | Pitching Session 2: Tech Startups (e.g. Urban, Cyber, Social) 03:15pm-04:00pm | Biomedical, Health & Robotics Research Translated: Pitches & MedTech Commercialisation Opportunities 04:00pm-04:15pm | Networking   Location 2: TRI, Woolloongabba: 05:15pm-07:00pm | Meeting with customers early: Tricks and key questions to ask Registration You can register (free) to come along for: the whole day (via this invite); or any of the individual events (via their respective links).    Startups Interested in Pitching *For startup businesses, there are a limited number of spots (& few remaining) to be selected to pitch to Dreamit Ventures’ Steve Barsh for feedback. Startups in these areas are sought:   HealthTech - digital health, medtech, medical devices UrbanTech - prop tech, real estate tech, construction tech, smart buildings, smart cities, etc. SecureTech - logical security including cybersecurity, physical security (security of people, places, and things), and  Social Security - social security (focusing on countermeasures to fraud, information warfare, disinformation, fake news, etc.)     Sign up here if you want to be considered.   About Steve Barsh Steve is a Managing Partner at Dreamit Ventures, a US-based early-stage venture fund. He has over 30 years of experience starting, leading, launching and building multinational companies in the fields of healthcare, real estate/built environment, and security as well as early-stage venture work. Steve has helped launch over 100 companies that have generated over US$1 billion in enterprise value. He is also a special advisor to NASA for its annual NASA Cross Industry Innovation Summit. He has taught in the Wharton MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania and has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Michigan. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children. About the Organisers Steve Barsh has been brought to Australia by MTPConnect. Events at the Precinct are co-hosted by QUT foundry, Hacking Health Queensland and QUT Institute for Health & Biomedical Innovation; and the event at the Translational Research Institute (TRI) is supported by TRI, the Queensland Government and Medical Research Commercialisation Fund.      Hacking Health Queensland is part of a global network, acting locally to share knowledge and enable innovation and entrepreneurship to advance and improve health and healthcare, including through the design and faciliation of hackathons, design jams, innovation and educational events. We connect and collaborate with the health sector, government, academia, research, startups and industry.  QUT foundry is part of Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) entrepreneurship ecosystem, being a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, serving to inspire, enable, and connect current and future innovators, change agents, social entrepreneurs, and founders. It offers co-working space, events, mentoring, an incubator program, and more to benefit the QUT community and wider ecosystem.   MTPConnect is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to accelerate the rate of growth of the medical technologies, biotechnologies and pharmaceuticals sector to increase commercialisation, collaboration, and establish Australia as an Asia-Pacific hub for MTP companies. Formed in December 2015 as part of the Federal Government's Industry Growth Centres Initiative, MTPConnect is an independent and trusted voice, call for change to support the sector.

  Guest Speakers: Feranica Susanto from Austrade and Tantia Dian from AloDoktor   Australian startups and businesses can benefit from consideration of global opportunities - starting with our close neighbour Indonesia.  Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia (GDP (PPP) ~$3.25tn with ~5% growth) and the world's third most populous democracy (with over 260 million people).  It is rapidly urbanising, enjoying rising incomes and a growing digital economy (with over 1700 digital startups) - which opens up new opportunities for digitally enabled startups. There are important opportunities, challenges, and trends that Australian startups should consider regarding business in Indonesia.   Speakers We are pleased to bring you two speakers who can explore these and other topics, in the following sesions:   9:30am-9:50am: Ms Feranica Susanto (Austrade, Indonesia)  Doing Business in Indonesia (with a focus on health startups) Overview of Indonesian health system  Overview of Indonesian health market Healthcare to Indonesia: Trends and opportunities Competitive environment Regulatory environment, tariffs, regulations and customs The latest in digital health transformations in Indonesia  9:50am-10:10am: Ms Tantia Dian (Funded digital (telehealth) startup AlkoDoktor) AloDoktor business overview AloDoktor customers segments Funding history: How did you go from Seed to Series B? Softbank Investment: What does this mean for the organisation? Are you collaborating with other organisations? If yes, who and how?  Future plans, international expansion 10:10am-10:20am Questions Audience Q&A with both presenters   Note: this event is part of a full day of (free) entrepreneurship & startup-related events (in health and other areas) that we are organising.  Please see below for other events you may be intersted in staying for / attending.  About the Speakers Feranica is an experienced Business Development Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the international trade and development industry and has an agenda around health trade between Australia and Indonesia. Tantia is the business development manager for telehealth startup AloDoktor, who has a track record across operations, marketing, and business development, with a current focus on digital start up and e-commere.     Monday 26 November is an opportunity rich day for those interested in entrepreneurship, featuring international & investor guests including seasoned startup investor Steve Barsh (MD, Dreamit Ventures fund & accelerator, USA). We invite you to (stay and) join us for as many of the sessions below as you'd like: Location 1: The Precinct, Fortitude Valley: 09:00am-09:50am | Going Global & Funding Growth: Asia Pacific Opportunity Focus - Indonesia  09:50am-11:00am | [Break] 11:00am-12:30pm | De-risking your startup idea or business project 12:30pm-01:30pm | Designs on Display / Lunch break 01:30pm-02:10pm | Pitching Session 1: Health Tech Startups 02:10pm-02:30pm | Networking break 02:30pm-03:00pm | Pitching Session 2: Tech Startups (e.g. Urban, Cyber, Social) 03:15pm-04:00pm | QUT IHBI Research Commercialisation & BridgeTech for Medtech  04:00pm-04:15pm | Networking Location 2: TRI, Woolloongabba: 05:15pm-07:00pm | Meeting with customers early: Tricks and key questions to ask   You can register here for the whole day's activities.   About Steve Barsh Steve is a Managing Partner at Dreamit Ventures, a US-based early-stage venture fund. He has over 30 years of experience starting, leading, launching and building multinational companies in the fields of healthcare, real estate/built environment, and security as well as early-stage venture work. Steve has helped launch over 100 companies that have generated over US$1 billion in enterprise value. He is also a special advisor to NASA for its annual NASA Cross Industry Innovation Summit. He has taught in the Wharton MBA program at the University of Pennsylvania and has a BS in Computer Science from the University of Michigan. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children. About the Organisers Steve Barsh has been brought to Australia by MTPConnect. Events at the Precinct are co-hosted by QUT foundry, Hacking Health Queensland and QUT Institute for Health & Biomedical Innovation; and the event at the Translational Research Institute (TRI) is supported by TRI, the Queensland Government and Medical Research Commercialisation Fund.   Hacking Health Queensland is part of a global network, acting locally to share knowledge and enable innovation and entrepreneurship to advance and improve health and healthcare, including through the design and faciliation of hackathons, design jams, innovation and educational events. We connect and collaborate with the health sector, government, academia, research, startups and industry.    QUT foundry is part of Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) entrepreneurship ecosystem, being a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, serving to inspire, enable, and connect current and future innovators, change agents, social entrepreneurs, and founders. It offers co-working space, events, mentoring, an incubator program, and more to benefit the QUT community and wider ecosystem.     Austrade - The Australian Trade and Investment Commission - contributes to Australia's economic prosperity by helping Australian businesses, education institutions, tourism operators, governments and citizens as they: develop international markets and promote international education; win productive foreign direct investment; strengthen Australia's tourism industry; and seek consular and passport services.     MTPConnect is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to accelerate the rate of growth of the medical technologies, biotechnologies and pharmaceuticals sector to increase commercialisation, collaboration, and establish Australia as an Asia-Pacific hub for MTP companies. Formed in December 2015 as part of the Federal Government's Industry Growth Centres Initiative, MTPConnect is an independent and trusted voice, call for change to support the sector.

Come and meet the amazing changemakers and see what our hacker community built, changed, solved or developed at the 2018 Summer Hackathon. We'll have spent the weekend working with 6 amazing Changemakers, including Kensington Neighbourhood House DocDir ANIKA Moral Fairground She's A Crowd Onemda This is the best way to come and check out what RHoK is all about. You may be involved with a charity, not-for-profit, or social enterprise and potentially interested in being a changemaker in the future. You might be someone with skills keen to see if they might be useful next time (hint: they will!). Or you might be interested in partnering with RHoK to help us do more good work in more places, more often.  We'll be doing a marketplace style event where you can wonder around all the changemaker teams and hear what they have built directly from the source before voting for who you think is the most changemaking changemaker of them all by nominating them in the peoples choice award.  Arrive at 3pm and then come and grab a drink with us afterwards to celebrate the achievements of the weekend. 

Sydney Data for Democracy and the City of Sydney Present:  Datahackathon for Social Good Sydney Data for Democracy brings the passionate Sydney community together around data-driven projects for the common good, and supports the development of Sydney's future data leaders as a hub for learning and networking. This datahackathon will bring Sydney's passionate Data Heroes together with local charities and social impact startups, to solve real problems with data driven solutions because the "teamwork makes the dream work" This event is part of the Visiting Entrepreneur Program, produced by the City of Sydney in collaboration with Event Partner Sydney Data for Democracy. What is Datahackathon for Social Good? For three hours you will collaborate with data heroes to solve real data-related questions. Charities will present the problems they have and you will need to come up with a solution.  When?  Saturday, 24th of November, from 1pm to 6pm Where? Juanita Nielsen Community Centre, Level 1 What do I need to bring or prepare?  You only need to bring your computer, your brain, and your enthusiasm. You can prepare by joining the D4D Slack channel and ask all your questions on #city-sydney and come to our next meetup to learn more about the datahackathon and how to solve a data challenge. Event Agenda:  1pm: Doors Open 1:30pm: Hackathon Begins  4:30pm: Hackathon Ends 5pm: Prizes  6pm: Event Concludes About Sydney Data For Democracy In the past year, Sydney Data for Democracy has been steadily growing to become a large community of passionate Data Heroes who want to learn more about data for social good and have a better impact. We have collaborated with charities from various areas such as Refugees Welcome, Conviction Health or the Domestic Violence Service Management. These projects are not only a way for our Data Heroes to create a positive impact with their skills - they are also opportunites for our members and the charities to learn from each other and help create the bridge between the social sector and innovation.  About the Visiting Entrepreneur Program The Visiting Entrepreneur Program brings high profile international entrepreneurs to Sydney twice a year to share their expertise and knowledge with the local tech startup community with a range of events, including talks, mentoring sessions and workshops. The program is produced by the City of Sydney in collaboration with partner organisations from the local startup ecosystem. This program is supported by funding from the Australian Government's program for entrepreneurs and its national innovation and science agenda. You may be photographed or videod while attending this event: please approach the organiser if you have questions, concerns, or do not wish this to happen.

Australian Sports Technology Cup 2018 is a 2-day hackathon to celebrate innovation in Sports Analytics, and Sports Data. Hosted at La Trobe University City Campus in Melbourne Victoria, the 80+ person event is a fun, innovative competition for top professionals, academics, and university students to collaborate and showcase creativity, and passion for innovation in sports analytics & data. A maximum of 100 spots. It’s a Free event! **further details on this Hackathons data sets, questions and focus to be announced soon MAJOR SPONSORS & PARTNERS La Trobe University | Champion Data | Fusion Sports | Launch Victoria 

#HACK4REFUGEES: HACKERS, HUSTLERS, HIPSTERS AND HUMANITARIANS BUILDING SOLUTIONS WITH REFUGEES IN BLACKTOWN GET INSPIRED: JOIN A GLOBAL COMMUNITY MAKING A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN REFUGEES’ LIVES AND HAVE A TON OF FUN DOING IT Techfugees was founded in 2015 to bring the tech start-up and NGO communities together with refugees settling into a new life in Australia. Our community of 'Hackers, Hipsters, Hustlers and Humanitarians' has grown to many Hackathons and meetups in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. At our events, businesses have been founded, skills learned and friendships made. The model developed in Australia to ‘co-design’ solutions with refugees is now used in the growing global Techfugees movement. If you’ve never been to a Techfugees event, you’re in for an extraordinary weekend working alongside some of Australia’s most talented and committed tech stars, mentors, designers, business leaders and community people, together with newly arrived and settled refugees. It doesn't matter if you're not a "techie" and you have no idea what a hackathon is: everyone is welcome! We come together as a community of like-minded people and we roll up our sleeves to develop solutions to the challenges faced by refugees when they come to Australia. Techfugees is now a huge global movement with 15,000 members and dozens of chapters around the world. In Australia, many of the solutions developed at our events are now operating as tech start-ups or social ventures in their own right. This means our weekend events have a lasting positive impact. And you can be part of it! BLACKTOWN HACK Our next Hackathon will be held at the end of November in Blacktown, one of the largest and fastest growing local government areas in Australia and the heart of Western Sydney. The city hosts residents from more than 188 different birthplaces with 182 languages spoken. The Top 5 countries of origin include Philippines, India, New Zealand, Fiji and England and the Top 5 languages spoken other than English are Tagalog, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic and Filipino. The Western Sydney suburb is also home to Australia’s largest Sudanese and South Sudanese community. We will learn more about the refugees who have settled in Blacktown at the Hackathon. This will be the fourth hack in Sydney and we will bring together developers, designers, entrepreneurs, community members and mentors to develop creative tech solutions. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never been to a Hackathon everyone is welcome and you’ll have tons of fun while learning new skills and meeting lots of great people.  Hacker Teams will develop tech solutions for the settlement challenges articulated by our partners Settlement Services International (SSI), the largest not-for-profit humanitarian settlement organisation in Australia and STARTTS a service for the rehabilitation of torture and trauma victims. Teams usually form at the event - no one is left out - although you are of course welcome to bring a Hacker Team to the event. Refugees who have already settled in Australia will participate in the event to help teams deeply understand problems and challenges faced by new arrivals. Those who participated in our first events know that hearing from and working alongside refugees is an absolute highlight of our Hackathons. Key Themes:  Access to services beyond settlement eligibility period Cultural Gaps in the Mainstream Services Access to housing Multicultural Justice Program with a focus on Youth Need for disability and aged care support Transport and access to services Mental Health Domestic and Family Violence Education and Training Connecting with South Sudnanese Community More detail on the themes is included at the end of this Eventbrite. PRIZES, SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS - Please contact us if you'd like to contribute a prize or sponsor the Hack! Prizes-to be announced! As we are planning to award sensational prizes including a significant cash prize that help teams complete and launch their solutions/ stay tuned for more info on prizes! Sponsors and Supporters Settlement Services Australia STARTTS Academy XI Devpost Microsoft for Startups Chief Disrupter Spark Festival Blacktown Venue HACKATHON PROGRAM DATES Saturday to Sunday 24-25 November, 9 to 5pm both days. Pitches Sunday Afternoon from around 3pm. Leaders from the Tech Community will mentor teams through the weekend. On Sunday afternoon, teams will pitch their solutions to a Judging Panel of Tech and Community Leaders. There is no cost to participate and wonderful food and snacks will be available all weekend sponsored by our partners. Come make a difference, have some fun, learn a lot and help to welcome refugees to the Australian community. VENUE To be announced - in BLACKTOWN CONNECT WITH US! Twitter: @TechfugeesAust1 #hack4refugees Facebook: facebook.com/techfugeesaustralia Web: Techfugees.com (for the global movement) For questions about the event including media enquiries please email Nicky Williamson at techfugeesaustralia@gmail.com. We are always looking for sponsors to provide in-kind support for the event. We can't wait to see you there! Love Nicky, Annie and Anne-Mariexx Techfugees Australia 2018 – Blacktown Hackathon Themes  1. Access to services beyond settlement eligibility period Many migrant and refugee residents who have been in Australia beyond the five year settlement services program eligibility criterion do present with significant needs that may arise due to change in life circumstances e.g. transition to adulthood, or circumstances that prevented them accessing services when they first arrived e.g. caring for small children. Addressing this would look at initiatives that explore range of options such as building capacity and engaging volunteers to support people outside the settlement target group. 2. Cultural Gaps in the Mainstream Services Many mainstream services lack cultural competency. It is very important to ensure the mainstream sector is well-equipped to support people with their resettlement. This could be done through initiatives that: Ensure mainstream service providers are culturally informed and skilled in client-focused, strengths based and trauma informed approaches Build the capacity of mainstream services to ensure they are effectively responding to the needs of people from refugee and migrant backgrounds. 3. Access to housing Access to affordable and secure rental accommodation is one of the significant issues of challenge to newly arrived communities. This increases the risk of homelessness as people are unable to secure alternative accommodation. 4. Multicultural Justice Program with a focus on Youth Lack of culturally appropriate connections and supports limits the rehabilitative components of incarceration and involvement with the justice system. Engagement with the justice system focuses on the punitive elements which have significant re-traumatising impacts on refugees already suffering from the effects of refugee trauma. Access to tailored justice programs and early intervention supports is needed on release to support re-integration in the community and prevent re-offending. 5. Need for disability and aged care support There is an increase in disability or aged related issues and associated difficulties in accessing Disability Support Pension payments, NDIS and / or MyAged Care. Program that will facilitate easy to these services is needed to personalise support. 6. Transport and access to services Through our work with the newly arrived families we often see access and cost of transport as barrier to people’s access to services. This event could explore options to further develop affordable and accessible transport options, and support services with the associated costs of transport within service delivery. As such, many programs will need to embed the provisions of transport within their service design and delivery. 7. Mental Health Members of newly arrived communities face a number of mental health risk factors in addition to those of the general population. For example: racism, discrimination, and pre-settlement experiences of trauma or torture. Initiatives that explore mental health programs providing targeted supports to newly arrived young people from refugee backgrounds and to support mainstream agencies to better meet the needs of this group would go a long way to increasing access to mental health services by new members of our community. 8. Domestic and Family Violence Domestic and family violence continues to be a significant issue for refugee and migrant families. Specific issues include: Limited knowledge about the family law system and supports available to victims of domestic and family violence Lack of support for women on partner visas experience domestic and family violence who are not eligible for income support services during their initial settlement period Specialised domestic violence supported services overstretched especially in regional areas 9. Education and Training Understanding and navigating the complex education and training system are often challenges for families who have long settled as well as new arrival. Access to information on academic pathways and career choice is a significant issue that has continued to surface are different stages of settlement. Programs that engage parents in co-designing child’s academic/career plan, showcase case studies demonstrating successes and challenges of different academic pathways, etc would work well in this situation. 10. Connecting with South Sudanese Community Blacktown city LGA has the largest Sudanese / South Sudanese communities in Australia in a single LGA, representing more than half of Blacktown LGA’s ‘emerging community’ settlers. Previously, the Sudanese communities have courageously responded to challenges such as finding jobs and work experience opportunities, sourcing rental properties, learning English, building on existing and learning new life, adopting to new parenting styles, settling into school or vocational study, establishing new social networks and relationships and adapt to vastly different cultural attitudes and lifestyles. Still today, there are continued challenges brought about by harmful stereotypes related to African Gang conundrum. Programs that would bring multiple stakeholders to coordinate and bring cultures together and provide work and education opportunities would bring about social participation, community harmony in Blacktown and create sense of belonging for the Sudanese communities. Other ongoing issues include; recognition of overseas qualifications, racism/discrimination, financial strains due to rise in cost of livings, language barrier, need to engage in cultural activities and leadership development.

Vibewire's Hack4Health is a fantastic opportunity to not only create discussion around current issues within the health industry but to work with industry experts to solve some of these issues, with the potential to make a huge impact on the future of Australia's health industry. During this hackathon participants will be provided the resources to contribute to this growing industry where knowledge of health is becoming increasing important with Australia's ageing population and longer life expectancy. But why is Health important? To put it simply, our health is important! With good health we are able to live our lives and contribute and engage in society but when health is bad, it changes the way we feel and interact with others and the world. Whist healthcare is a basic human right, management of the complexities around less commonplace ailments means some individuals may fall between the cracks.In Australia, healthcare providers have solved many of the problems surrounding acute pain and disease. The new struggle is ensuring that those with chronic diseases are cared for and offered services to improve their quality of life.Sounds interesting hey?  We are looking for:  Leading experts in the health industry People with interest & knowledge in the health industry Hackers, Hipsters, Hustlers and Humanitarians.  Prize Pool - TBA.