The University of Melbourne is a global leader in higher education. Across our campuses we convene brilliant minds from different disciplines and sectors to come together to address important questions and tackle grand challenges. In a disrupted world, that capacity has never been more important.
Our vision is to equip our students with a distinctive, future-facing education personalised around their ambitions and needs, enriched by global perspectives and embedded in a richly collaborative research culture. As active citizens and future leaders, our students represent our greatest contribution to the world, and are at the heart of everything we do.
We serve society by engaging with our communities and ensuring education and research are inspired from the outset by need and for the benefit of society, while remaining committed to allowing academic freedom to flourish. In this, we remain true to our purpose and fulfil our mission as a public-spirited organisation, dedicated to the principles of fairness, equality and excellence in everything we do.
We strive for an environment that is inclusive and celebrates diversity.
Beyond our campuses we imagine an Australia that is ambitious, forward thinking and increasing its reputation and influence globally. We are committed to playing a part in achieving this – building on our advantageous location in one of the world’s most exciting cities and across the state of Victoria, in a region rapidly becoming a hub for innovative education, research and collaboration.
Iron ore piles at Dampier, Western Australia. Australia could convert iron oxide to metal for export, producing it with no emissions.
CHRISTIAN SPROGOE/ Rio Tinto
Eminent economist Ross Garnaut says if climate action fails, he fears the consequences ‘would be beyond contemporary Australia’. But zero-emissions iron and aluminium could be the way forward.
Scott Morrison has heavily promoted his government’s ‘Pacific Step Up’, but it hasn’t invested the requisite funds to support the initiative diplomatically.
Darren England/AAP
New research shows that funding for DFAT has hit a new low of 1.3% of the federal budget. Scaling back has a real effect on Australia’s influence around the world.
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe (right) says he needs government help to boost the economy. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is yet to provide it.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Every one of the 13 economists surveyed by The Conversation thinks more stimulus is needed. None think it should all come from the Reserve Bank. Most think the budget surplus can wait.
Coming to a community near you.
Sabrina Roy with her baby Xena at the Milingimbi general store in the Northern Territory in 2015.
Dean Lewins/AAP
The government wants to triple the number of Australians on the Cashless Debit Card in the face of scant evidence it does them any good.
As our worlds are become increasingly digitised, we’re starting to rely more on machines and devices for everyday tasks. But in an age when even pacemakers can be hacked, how do we know when and who to trust?
SHUTTERSTOCK
Research shows we’re pretty gullible as it is. And our increasing reliance on machines for completing everyday tasks makes us all-the-more vulnerable to being exploited.
About 75% of adult mental health disorders emerge by the time a person turns 25.
From shutterstock.com
The Productivity Commission has highlighted the growing burden of mental illness in Australia. But to really change things, its final recommendations should have a sharper focus on prevention.
Detecting human fingerprints on complex events like droughts is not straightforward.
AAP Image/Dan Peled
Ben Henley, The University of Melbourne; Andrew King, The University of Melbourne; Anna Ukkola, Australian National University; Murray Peel, The University of Melbourne; Q J Wang, The University of Melbourne, and Rory Nathan, The University of Melbourne
Drought has both natural and human causes, but deep cuts in our greenhouse gas emissions are urgently needed, regardless.
Most of the headlines derive from a single study. Over the past six years its predictions have been anything but accurate.
Collage
The ‘contexual-binding theory’ suggests memories are easier to retrieve when your brain is in a similar context to when the memory was first formed. Food for thought if you’re cramming for an exam.
The “blackout” campaign by media outlets attracted much attention, but the government’s mindset appears to be fixed.
Kelly Barnes/AAP
Even if the government was willing to bend on media freedom, the mindset within the public service remains fixed on secrecy and the control of information.
Tak lama setelah wafatnya BJ Habibie, presiden yang turut membidani proses reformasi setelah 1998, pemerintah Indonesia memberlakukan undang-undang yang anti-demokrasi.
The Portal uses individual stories of meditative transformation to suggest a bigger change is possible.
Supplied
Women are swinging elections in the US and Australia in ways analysts have struggled to predict. Two recent studies can help explain.
Thousands of students staged protests across the country against proposed changes to the criminal code and a new law that weakened the country’s anti-corruption commission.
EPA/Dedi Sinuhaji
Indonesia passes a regressive anti-democratic law – with more to come – just as BJ Habibie dies, the president who championed the dramatic reform process that transformed Indonesia after 1998.
The push to ‘drought-proof’ Australia is dangerous nonsense.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas