Suites to make campus life more comfortable
Multi-access
suites will open on each campus this month to provide a dignified,
private and appropriate space that supports the needs of parents,
breastfeeding mothers and people with disabilities.
The suites will be made available to male and female members of the campus community who can demonstrate that they would benefit from access to this area.
Justene Knight from the human resources unit said that the project had been planned over a long period of time and had involved people from numerous areas across UniSA.
“A few years ago it was identified that there was nowhere for staff members returning from maternity leave to breastfeed on campus,” she said. “At the same time we recognised that the University also lacked facilities for parents to look after the needs of babies and that staff or students with disabilities had nowhere to rest or undertake any medication needs. From this starting point we came up with idea of a multi-access suite.”
Each suite will provide, a quiet place to breastfeed, bottle feed, or express milk; a quiet place to attend to disability related cares, a partitioned off area for those requiring extra privacy, comfortable seating, a baby change table in each section, a height adjustable hydraulic table in the main room, hot and cold water, microwave, waste disposal and reading material.
The multipurpose nature of the suites makes them cutting edge and is another example of UniSA’s commitment to providing world-class equitable facilities for both staff and students. Information on the process to gain permission to use the multi-access suites will be distributed via email to all staff and students once the facilities are completed later this month.