The specialist training unit at NSW Police Force Headquarters in Parramatta has opened to university students for the first time. University of Sydney undergraduates took part in a realistic, high-pressure exercise based on the kind of simulation training used to prepare police for critical situations.
Guided by police and staff from the Department of Communities and Justice, the students faced a fictional scenario: a 13-year-old boy caught with a bag of weapons on school grounds. The situation unfolded in real time via simulated phone calls, emails, social media posts and police radio updates, revealing the child might be facing neglect, drug use and violence at home. Students worked together to weigh the facts, decide how to respond and defend their decisions in a group exercise.
The simulation involved 35 students from a range of disciplines, including law, social work, psychology, medicine, arts and data science. A collaboration between the University of Sydney, the NSW Police Force and the Department of Communities and Justice, the experience capped off a semester-long Industry and Community Project Unit about decision-making in human service systems, with a focus on child protection. Open to students from all degrees, it combined lectures from industry experts with practical experience through realistic scenarios.
Dr Lyn Stevenson from the University’s Division of Curriculum Futures was one of the project’s academic leads. She said the simulation was a valuable learning experience for students, regardless of their area of study.
“Students studying law, social work or psychology will face this kind of complex and ethically challenging situation when they move into the workforce,” said Dr Stevenson.
“For others, the simulation built transferrable skills such as critical thinking, communication, juggling competing priorities and decision-making under pressure.”
Employers are telling us they want graduates with the human skills AI lacks: curiosity, creativity, judgement and resilience in the face of uncertainty.
Professor Adam Bridgeman
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning)
Building workplace skills through simulation-based learning
Simulation-based learning is established in areas such as health, where students practise clinical skills before working with patients. The University is exploring how to give students across disciplines more opportunities to apply their knowledge to real-world situations.
The University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning), Professor Adam Bridgeman, said industry experience was increasingly important at a time when AI is reshaping education and the workforce.
“We’re working closely with industry to ensure our graduates have the skills that will matter most in a changing world,” Professor Bridgeman said. “Employers are telling us they want graduates with the human skills AI lacks: curiosity, creativity, judgement and resilience in the face of uncertainty. There’s no better way to cultivate those skills than through exposure to real-world industry scenarios.”
Twenty-year-old Freja Salt, in her final year studying media and history, said the simulation required “deep collaboration and communication” as she worked through the scenario with a team of students from different faculties.
“It’s been unlike any unit I’ve studied so far,” she said. “Students studying things like science and medicine do hands-on work all the time, through labs and interactions with patients. As an arts student, the hands-on workplace simulation was so helpful in translating what we learn in the classroom to real life – showing us what working life can look like.”
The program will continue next year and the University aims to expand on the pilot, offering simulation experiences across different fields for more students.
NSW Police officers observe University of Sydney students as they work through a simulated child protection scenario at NSW Police Headquarters. Photo credit: The University of Sydney/Stefanie Zingsheim
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