Goal #10
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Reduce inequality within and among countries.
UNSW is committed to this goal and demonstrates its commitment through:
- interdisciplinary institutes, teams and research projects that tackle topics relevant to people with disabilities and reducing inequalities.
- courses that tackle addressing inequalities in the economy, health, education, and broader society.
- focus on student access and support activities for equity and diversity cohorts and their communities.
- promoting informed discussion and policy formation dedicated to reducing inequalities in Australia and abroad.
We are all victims or beneficiaries of an unequal system
Inequality means the distribution of wealth and resources is unjust. Those who do the most work are not rewarded and we are not all given the same opportunities to start with. It's not simply a matter of where we're born. Inequality touches every aspect throughout our lives, impacting education, housing and health and results in lower life expectancy, less earnings, increased illness and suffering. In 2015 OECD Secretary General, Angel Gurria, warned "inequality can no longer be an afterthought. We need to focus the debate on how the benefits of growth are distributed". There is another side to inequality; it’s not just on what people are missing out on, but the contribution they can make.
Diversity Festival
UNSW Diversity Festival brings students and staff together to foster a sense of belonging within our community. Each year, the festival works to enrich identity, ignite conversations, and celebrate the diversity of our community.
Beyond Marriage Equality: LGBTQIA+ Rights in 2023
Watch the inaugural event of the Community of Practice for Inclusive Research with Queer, Trans & Intersex people. Chair and one of the CoP's founders Dr Bridget Haire spoke with Alex Greenwich MP, Ash McCullough and Jessica Cunning about recent wins and what more needs to be done to achieve rights for queer, trans and intersex people.
EDI x SDGs Pecha Kucha
Watch Pecha Kucha presentations by 10 UNSW luminaries – ranging from students, postgraduates, academics, professional staff and university leaders – who will demonstrate how their approaches to equity, diversity and inclusion intersect with the SDGs.Â
More than Diversity?
Hear from the experiences of trans man and Olympic gold medallist Ellia Green OAM, followed by a panel discussion chaired by Peta MacGillivray and including UNSW community members Quinton Vea Vea, Osca Monaghan, Jackie Leach Scully and Melissa Golby.
The Power to Welcome: Supporting refugee students in our midst
The challenges for university students who have experienced displacement can be invisible and surprising. At this event, we heard from refugees and others about uni life and how others can show support and solidarity.
Diversity & Disability in the Workplace
This dynamic discussion voices lived experiences of disability in the workplace – unpacking lessons that have been learned, the challenges that remain, and the importance of legal and justice professions working towards promoting inclusivity in the workplace.
3rd Annual Inclusive Education Showcase
The showcase is a unique opportunity for the UNSW teaching community and others to learn about different inclusive technologies and practices and how to incorporate them into their teaching and learning to make them more accessible.
4th Annual Inclusive Education Showcase
Inclusive Education comprises of practices that make teaching and learning more accessible to all students, framed by the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UNSW educators who teach inclusively presented their work at this showcase, followed by a Q&A.
The Institute is central to the University’s profile as a global leader in disability-inclusive research and social justice. It facilitates interdisciplinary disability research and educational pedagogy, collaborating with others to design accessible and inclusive working, living and learning environments, generate innovative technologies and create inclusive and equitable practice and policy.
Deprivation and Exclusion among Young People (DEYP)
This project aims to understand better how young people experience poverty and other forms of social disadvantage. Its focus is on finding out more about how young people in NSW between the ages of 12 and 16 perceive and experience material deprivation and social exclusion. These kinds of studies are often conducted on adults, so this is the first time the approach has been applied to young people in Australia. The results will provide policymakers with better information about the kinds of problems that young people encounter so that they can design better policy responses.
Inclusive Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL guides the creation of learning outcomes, resources and assessments that work for everyone.
UNSOMNIA
ARC Future Fellow Professor Richard Holden is one of Australia's leading economic researchers with a skill for unravelling complex economic issues.
Awards
Human Rights Awards
Kaldor Centre Director Jane McAdam AO was named the winner of the Law award in the 2022 Human Rights Awards. The Australian Human Rights Commission’s annual awards recognise and celebrate human rights work across the nation. Learn more about the award winning work of UNSW's Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law here.
Tax & Business Advisory Clinic
The UNSW Tax & Business Advisory Clinic was named a finalist in the 2023 AFR Higher Education Awards, in the Community Engagement category, for bringing together students and communities across NSW for significant mutual benefit.
The Clinic provides free tax and accounting advice to individuals and small businesses in serious financial hardship, as well as business coaching to small businesses in financial distress. UNSW students run the Clinic under the supervision of registered tax agents, gaining real-life work experience while helping people who would otherwise not have access to this often life-changing tax and business advice.
UNSW Strategy in Action 2025
 The UNSW Strategy in Action 2025 commits to shape and progress a just society by mobilising our community’s expertise to lead debate, sustainably address global challenges and foster equity, diversity and inclusion.
12%
of general and academic staff to be people with a disability.
2%
of general staff to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
$5.8 Million
in scholarship payments paid to 879 scholarship holders in 2019.
The UNSW 2025 Strategy Update celebrates the key achievements of the first phase of the 2025 Strategy, highlighting where we have come from and where we are now. It also updates the framework against which we will assess, track and measure existing and new strategic initiatives over the next five years.
A better conversation: Changing the public discourse about refugees
How can we create a more constructive public conversation about refugees?
Join Barat Ali Batoor, Tom Heshemi, Amanda Ripley and Lauren Martin from the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law for this featured panel discussion from the 2022 Kaldor Centre Conference, 'Turning points: New directions in refugee protection'.
In conversation with The Hon Andrew Giles, Australia’s Minister for Immigration
Lawyer and former refugee Nyadol Nyuon OAM sits down with the Federal Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon. Andrew Giles, for a conversation about protection principles and policies in Australia in this closing session of the 2022 Kaldor Centre Conference.
UNSW Indigenous Strategy
Led by the Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous, the Indigenous Strategy provides an overarching framework for Indigenous education, employment and research. Taking a whole-of-university approach means this strategic vision is implemented across all aspects of the University's operations.
The Access and Participation Plan
The Plan commits to building strong partnerships with both Sydney metro and rural NSW schools identified as being disadvantaged to build social capital within these communities.
UNSW Grand Challenges: Inequality
Income inequality is a critical risk for today’s societies. In both the developed and developing world, inequality has grown dramatically in the past three decades. It challenges our established economic and political structures. It contributes to poverty and deprivation around the world. It threatens to divide us on many levels.
UNSW Gateway Admission Pathway and Program (GAPP)
The UNSW GAPP aims to make university entry more equitable. It offers students traditionally underrepresented in higher education settings an alternative pathway into university, recognising that an ATAR is not the only indicator of potential success and readiness for university.
UNSW UNOVA
A transdisciplinary research and development research lab that brings industry partners, government, and Australia’s global university together in the spirit of collaborative development and targets reduced inequalities.
The UNSW Institute for Global Development
The Institute is underpinned by a commitment to enhancing social justice and inclusion through empowering individuals and their communities. Learn more about the .
Forced Migration Research Network
The Forced Migration Research Network is made up of scholars based predominantly in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture at UNSW, and partner with civil society organisations, service providers, government bodies and international actors to undertake research, policy, training, and advocacy activities.
Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law
The Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW is the world's leading research centre dedicated to the study of international refugee law. The Centre contributes to public policy by promoting legal, sustainable and humane solutions to forced migration.
UNSW Sustainable Development Goals 2022 Report
This report outlines UNSW's performance against the SDGs in 2022.
