Equity and diversity

UC aspires to be a university that values equity and diversity, and seeks to embody these values in its staff, students, academic programs and relations with the community. In particular, the University will:

recognise, encourage and celebrate students from all sections of society;
promote an environment that fosters fairness, equity and respect for social and cultural diversity;
support students and staff to reach their full potential through the promotion of reasonable expectations and provision of an inclusive learning climate;
offer programs that aim to overcome disadvantage for student and staff equity groups; and
ensure that staff and students are aware of their rights and responsibilities as members of the University community

Our behaviours, internally and as an institution, will continue to reflect the principle that as a community we should be an exemplar of the way that societies around us must act if the world is to be a just place

University of Canberra vision statement
Breakthrough Strategic Plan: 2013 - 2017

Our values serve to guide our actions and describe how we behave in the world. The University's Charter of Conduct and Values commits the University to inclusion and calls on us to demonstrate our "commitment to equity, diversity and social justice through [our] actions."

Employee Equity

Further, our Charter of Conduct and Values articulates the University's commitment to Diversity (clause B3) in the following terms:

The university is committed to building a diverse community which reflects the diversity of the broader society in which we live. It is essential to the achievement of this aim that all employees commit themselves to the creation of a workplace environment that is not only free from discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, religion, disability, age, political persuasion, sexual preference or caring responsibility, but one which openly embraces such diversity.

The University of Canberra (UC) has a number of objectives in place to continually work towards this vision. These include:

Improve employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander's at the University of Canberra, aiming to reach population parity with the ACT
Continue to improve our gender equity statistics at all levels of the organisation
Improve our academic promotions rates for women
Champion employment opportunities for employees with disabilities
Recognise, encourage and celebrate students from all sections of society
Promote an environment that fosters fairness, equity and respect for social and cultural diversity
Support students and staff to reach their full potential through the promotion of reasonable expectations and provision of an inclusive learning climate
Provide a range of flexible working arrangements committed to supporting all employees and embracing the differences within our workforce.

The University will from time-to-time target specific areas aimed at achieving the objectives above.

Current diversity and inclusion initiatives at UC include: