As universities are slashed, this is what we need more than ever

As Australian universities face ongoing budget pressures, staff cuts, and governance issues, interdisciplinary research and research translation become increasingly difficult for researchers. Despite this, the need for interdisciplinary research is stronger than ever due to the increasing complexity facing our society. Our research project brought together a team of researchers from education, psychology, machine vision technology, communication, sociology, and those with lived and living experience to co-create a personalised program app for service families. Children from first responder, Defence and veteran (service) families face common complex challenges that reduce their ability to thrive in education settings and their personal lives. Our interdisciplinary team co-created a web-based solution to improve access to free, personalised support programs for these children.