About Equal Opportunity and Social Justice at Murdoch

Equal opportunity and social justice in teaching and learning is informed by the requirements of the Equal Opportunity legislation covering the grounds of race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, family responsibility or family status, marital status, religious or political conviction, disability, pregnancy, age, gender history, sexual harassment and racial harassment.

Murdoch University recognises the need to coordinate initiatives that would enable Divisions to contribute to the Equity and Social Justice objectives stipulated in the University's Strategic Plan.

The equal opportunity Act requires organizations to meet their obligations in relation to unlawful discrimination. Application of the Act in the higher education sector thus far has focused primarily on equal access to education.

While the Australian higher education sector has demonstrated an increased awareness of equal opportunity legislation and has made significant progress in providing access to education further progress needs to be made in the area of delivery of inclusive educational services.

Murdoch University endeavors to ensure that educational services are not only accessible to students but also responsive to the needs and aspirations of the diverse student body.

Social justice in education provides a more comprehensive view of equal opportunity based on substantive equality and a recognition that it is no longer sufficient to provide equal access to educational services without ensuring that these services adequately meet the needs of the diverse members of the learning community.