Invitation for Expression of Interest (EOI) for participation in the proposed Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS) Mentorship Program. The program is free for members and its purpose is to improve the skills and capabilities of early career members and broaden their networks.
Run by the Early Career Network, the Mentorship Program will primarily involve web meetings (suggested to be monthly), which will enable the Mentor to provide career advice to the Mentee. Mentorship may involve, but is not limited to, discussions about career progression, support with research paper writing, policy development and analysis, application for grants writing, presentation skills, or ways to cultivate road safety partnerships and broaden professional networks. The scope and objectives of each mentorship will be discussed between the Mentor and the Mentee and will be clearly specified in an agreement.
Please note that we cannot guarantee that all EOIs will be selected, nor that you would be matched to a Mentee/Mentor, as this would greatly depend on the number of responses we receive. EOIs will be prioritised on a first come, first served basis. Mentees in the current round are welcome to re-apply; however, new Mentees will be prioritised. Mentors in the current round are encouraged to re-apply. The Mentorship Program is expected to last approximately 1 year. However, this considers time from signing up to completion, meaning the length of time allocated to meetings with your Mentee/Mentor will be for approximately 9 months.
See below for some of the benefits experienced by both Mentors and Mentees in the 2023 Mentorship Program:
“It was really enlightening to get a perspective from somebody who is just starting out in road safety. This helps to provide an understanding of what knowledge is being provided or discovered by new road safety professionals and, arguably more importantly, what is not.” Mentor
“Seeing my Mentee discover, though our discussions, new ways of thinking about her work in road safety: ways that will help her grow professionally and enhance her impact in road safety.” Mentor
“My Mentor had all the necessary requirements to provide me with the mentorship I needed at this stage of my career. By understanding the plans for the future, we implemented strategies to achieve short term, mid term and long term goals. This has been quite interesting and fulfilling.” Mentee
Time Commitment:
You must be willing to commit to regularly meeting with your Mentee/Mentor. It is anticipated that this will be around an hour a month for web meetings. However, the time commitment can be negotiated between you and your Mentee/Mentor.
For Mentors:
Anyone who has more than 5 years of experience working in road safety (e.g., industry, government, or academia) is welcome to volunteer as a Mentor! Some of the benefits of becoming a Mentor are:
- Get the opportunity to know and support early career professionals.
- Nurture long lasting relationships with talented minds willing to make a difference in the road safety sector.
- Be recognised as a senior professional in the field, with the skills to support early career professionals’ development.
For Mentees:
Anyone can apply to be a Mentee. You will need to be clear on your goals, be willing to actively work towards them and drive the mentoring process. Some of the benefits of becoming a Mentee are:
- The opportunity to learn from someone experienced in their road safety career and map/discuss your career.
- The opportunity to refine and/or expand your knowledge and learn more about a specific field.
- Receive a ‘Certificate of Participation’ signed by the ACRS CEO, ACRS President, and ECN Chair.
Privacy Policy
The ACRS is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information as part of the ACRS Mentorship Program.
We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The APPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.
A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at https://www.oaic.gov.au/.
Personal Information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. Examples of Personal Information we collect includes names, email addresses, and phone numbers.
This Personal Information is obtained in many ways including via online forms, telephone, and email.
We collect your Personal Information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you. We may also use your Personal Information for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure. You may unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time by contacting us in writing to admin@acrs.org.au.
When we collect Personal Information we will, where appropriate and where possible, explain to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it.
Sensitive Information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record, or health information. The ACRS Mentorship Program will not collect Sensitive Information.
Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.
Your Personal Information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including the following:
- Third parties where you consent to the use or disclosure (such as Mentors/Mentees); and
- Where required or authorised by law.
Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure. Control of your Personal Information will be maintained by the ACRS Data Systems Manager, with access provided to Early Career Network Committee Members (excluding contact details) where necessary.
When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to permanently de-identify your Personal Information. However, where you have been successfully paired with a Mentor/Mentee, that Mentor/Mentee will retain the Personal Information that was shared with them as part of the ACRS Mentorship Program. The ACRS is not responsible for any misuse of Personal Information by third parties where the Personal Information was shared with consent as part of a Mentor/Mentee relationship.
You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us in writing to admin@acrs.org.au.
ACRS will not charge any fee for your access request, but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information.
In order to protect your Personal Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.
It is important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete, and up to date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.
If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy please contact us at:
Australasian College of Road Safety
admin@acrs.org.au
02 6290 2509