Murdoch Staff and Students participating in the 2024 PrideWA Pride Parade.
We want you to feel welcome here at Murdoch. Our university is a socially rich and diverse community where all students and staff can thrive and be their best.
It is a place where personal identity, cultural identity, gender, sexuality, faith, disability, and neurodiversity are respected and celebrated as cornerstones of a vibrant and inclusive learning community.;
At Murdoch, we support the LGBTIQA+ community through inclusive policies and practices, offering tailored supports, delivering training, and supporting community events on days of significance, such as IDAHOBIT and Pride Month.
What is the LGBTIQA+ community?
The acronym LGBTIQA+ aims to represent the diverse sexes, genders, and sexualities of the queer community, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual, and agender. The plus ‘+’ symbol recognises that there are more identities and presentations. All these diverse identities make up the LGBTIQA+ community.
Learn about LGBTIQA+ Inclusion at Murdoch
Learn more about how we are supporting the LGBTIQA+ community, guided by our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Sub-Strategy.
Student Support Services at Murdoch
You can expect support and recreational services at Murdoch University to be respectful and inclusive. Many services at Murdoch also have LGBTIQA+ specific supports and services for students.
Student Central is our hub for student support, located in Boola Katitjin, with friendly, supportive, and inclusive staff. Trained staff at Student Central can help you change your name in the university system and get a new student card that properly aligns with your identity and chosen name. They can also direct you to other academic and student success supports.
Visit our contact us page
All Murdoch students can access up to six free counselling sessions per year. The Counselling team prides itself on offering inclusive services, with all counsellors trained to support members of the LGBTIQA+ community.
The Murdoch Counselling Service also runs a LGBTIQA+ Support Group each semester.
Visit the Murdoch University Counselling Service.
Murdoch Psychology Clinic provides students and the broader community with affordable, accessible, and inclusive psychological services, run by Murdoch University Master of Psychology students.
The Caladenia Clinic offers counselling and creative arts therapy to individuals, couples and families. We welcome people of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures and have several student counsellors fluent in non-English languages.
Access bulk-billed or affordable check-ups with Murdoch Medical Service doctors, free walk-in sexual health screenings with our nurses, and workshops covering topics such as mental and sexual health, as well as other services such as first aid and immunisation. The Medical Service also offers a gender-affirming compression garment subsidy and advice sessions for trans and gender-diverse students.
The Den offers daily interactive social and wellbeing events during semester, including LGBTIQA+ awareness events. Find a cup of tea, a wellbeing dog, and support from a friendly Student Wellbeing and Equity Ambassador in the Base (430.1.001) and the Winter Garden (underneath the Student Hub).
View Access, Health and Wellbeing page
Murdoch University has over 100 all-gender bathrooms on the South Street Campus, and more on the Mandurah, Rockingham, and Nambeelup campuses. View their locations as a findable feature on Murdoch Maps.
Murdoch Active is dedicated to creating an environment for everyone to meet their exercise goals. Murdoch Active offers an inclusive gym, team, and e-sports environment, including initiatives such as the One for All Inclusive Exercise Class.
Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre aims to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in higher education. The Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre is committed to supporting all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, including those who identify as LGBTIQA+, through inclusion and visibility initiatives and a supportive and encouraging team.
Murdoch’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Team is dedicated to raising the voice, value, and agency of First Nations people through supporting the First Nations Pillar; Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities; people with disabilities, neurodivergence, or chronic illness; women and underrepresented genders; as well as members of the LGBTIQA+ community, and people who exist at multiple intersections. The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion team also coordinates the Reconciliation Action Plan.
The Murdoch Guild and Guild Student Assist are your voices on campus. They offer advocacy, support, and services as well as a wide range of events and activities. Memberships are free for all students. The Murdoch Guild Council has a dedicated position for an LGBTIQA+ student, the Queer Representative.
The Murdoch Queer Collective (MQC) is a welcoming, autonomous community for LGBTIQA+ identifying folk to meet each other and have fun, through face-to-face engagements and online support groups.
Made up of staff and students, the LGBTIQA+ Advisory Group identifies and recommends solutions to issues affecting LGBTIQA+ staff and students, provides feedback on University initiatives, and advises on the ways in which the University can support, affirm, and celebrate the LGBTIQA+ community.
LGBTIQA+ Allies at Murdoch
At Murdoch, we promote a welcoming environment in which people can be themselves and celebrate all identities and experiences. We support the LGBTIQA+ student and staff community through our Ally program.
Ally Training
Many staff across Murdoch complete Ally training and choose to become part of the visible network of advocates for the LGBTIQA+ community. The training is open to anyone who is interested in increasing their own awareness and fostering a diverse, inclusive, and safe environment for LGBTIQA+ people at Murdoch University.
Ally Network
- The Ally Network is a collective of staff across Murdoch University who are allies of LGBTIQA+ Staff and Students. After training, the group works to create inclusion for people of diverse sex, sexuality, and gender, with a strong understanding of the strength in community. They aim to support the rights of LGBTIQA+ people on and off campus. You can contact a Murdoch Ally to ask about LGBTIQA+ inclusion initiatives, programs and policies on campus, to get support, or for a catch-up and welcoming conversation. There are Murdoch Allies all over the South Street and Mandurah Campuses.
- The Murdoch Ally Representatives List is accessible with a Murdoch login.
External Support for LGBTIQA+ Health, Wellbeing and Advocacy
Murdoch is pleased to acknowledge the following organisations for their expertise and leadership in providing specialist support and advocacy for the LGBTIQA+ community:
- Black Rainbow: Australia’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQA+ service.
- Walkern Katatdjin: Walkern Katatdjin arose directly from the need identified by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQA+ community for data concerning their mental health and wellbeing. The research team has developed a Roadmap for individuals, families, communities, services, and governments to ensure that young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQA+ people are safe, healthy, and thriving.
- Rainbow Futures WA: Rainbow Futures WA is the state LGBTIQA+ peak body, emerging from a consortium of organisations and individuals concerned with the long-term wellbeing of the community.
- TransFolk of WA: Informing, empowering, and advocating for trans and gender diverse people to survive and thrive.
- QLife: Provides anonymous and free LGBTIQA+ peer support and referral for LGBTIQA+ people in Australia.
- LGBTIQA+ Health Australia: Supports the health and diversities of our communities in Australia – check out the Knowledge Hub.
- Freedom Centre: A Leederville-based Community Space offering broad range of support services for LGBTIQA+ young people around WA, including drop-in sessions, community development, counselling and much more.
- GRAI: GRAI (GLBTI+ Rights in Aging) supports LGBTIQA+ people over 50+ in Western Australia