Goal 10 - Reduced Inequalities

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Initiatives

In 2024, RMIT marked the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by hosting two panel sessions featuring internal and guest speakers. One session addressed the effects of racism on students, while the other focused on driving cultural inclusion and racial equity in tertiary education. These discussions highlighted the university's commitment to fostering a more inclusive environment.

Following the publication of the Universities Accord, RMIT initiated community engagement to develop an anti-racism strategy. Workshops with staff and students explored the impacts of racism at RMIT and identified ways to address these challenges on campus. Further engagement and workshops are planned for 2025 to deepen this understanding.

RMIT's Courageous Conversations program continued with 50 staff participating in two days of deep discussions and reflections on race, racism, and privilege. This initiative aimed to enhance awareness and understanding of how these issues affect staff, students, and society.

Additionally, RMIT secured funding for its award-winning program supporting students seeking asylum. Over the next seven years, life-changing opportunities will be provided through fee-waiver places, living allowance scholarships, and student services. In 2024, twelve students were awarded these scholarships, reinforcing RMIT's commitment to equity and inclusion.

Learn more about the inclusion, diversity, equity and access initiatives

Removing Barriers to Aboriginal Employment

RMIT University collaborated with Woor-Dungin and other Aboriginal organisations to break down barriers to Aboriginal employment. Our partnerships have successfully advocated against criminal record discrimination in Victoria, leading to the Spent Conviction Scheme, which removes certain offences from records to improve employment opportunities.

The Rethinking Criminal Records project, led by Bronwyn Naylor, aims to enhance employment prospects for Aboriginal people by educating employers and job seekers about criminal history disclosure rights. Partnering with Woor-Dungin, Winda Mara Aboriginal Corporation, and VACCHO, the project works with employers to identify best practices for risk management and support.

Naylor notes that while many employers are willing to help, they often lack guidance. Due to COVID, Treaty negotiations, and the Voice referendum, the project extends into 2025, focusing on delivering Aboriginal-led resources for job seekers and employers. The project is funded by the Victorian Legal Services Board.

Learn more about removing barriers to Aboriginal employment

Metropolis: We Belong - Beyond Accessibility Art Project

As part of RMIT’s We Belong – Beyond Accessibility initiative, the Metropolis art project engaged students and staff in a unique collaborative effort to create a public artwork, co-creation of signature artwork by Disabled artists Rachel Shugg with students. This art project is the third in a series of collaborations with RUSU for Art for Social Change program.

During Semester 2 Orientation, students were invited to ‘make their mark’ on Metropolis by participating in an interactive art experience. Suited up and armed with paint, students followed a map and navigated a series of obstacles, working together to track their experiences and contribute to the artwork. This collaborative journey allowed participants to reflect on their personal experiences while building a sense of connection with their peers. For d/Deaf and Disabled students it was a space of ‘Freedom’. For the wider student community, it was a challenge to try and follow a map that did not reflect the room. Finally, performer Caitlin Dear explored time and brought each stage together. Afterwards the students wrote reflections of their experience on a glass window nearby.

Rachel Shugg meticulously transformed the painted canvas into a beautiful, framed masterpiece. This process involved numerous hours of sewing and pleating fabric, turning the students’ contributions into a stunning public artwork. In early 2025 the final piece was unveiled, offering a powerful representation of the collective effort and shared identity of the RMIT community.

Through Metropolis, RMIT has fostered an environment of inclusion and accessibility, providing a platform for diverse voices to be heard and celebrated. The project highlights the importance of belonging and visibility, reinforcing RMIT’s commitment to sustainability, community engagement, and the ongoing support of students with diverse abilities.

This initiative was deeply engaging with belonging as a factor in social sustainability by bringing together students who are d/Deaf, Disabled and living with disability to build community on campus and celebrate disabled pride, lived experience, and freedom to move, and giving future allies an immersive and embodied experience of barriers, highlighting of the hidden costs of inaccessibility – social, physical and emotional. It raised awareness of this ‘next frontier’: sustainability in regard to people who are Deaf, Disabled and living with disability.

The work also drew from RMIT’s Sustainable Development Goals, relating to goals 3, 4, 10, 11 and 16 through exploring how our built urban fabric impacts Deaf and Disabled communities.

Learn more about the Metropolis: We Belong - Beyond Accessibility art project

Australian Urban Observatory

The Australian Urban Observatory (AUO) is a new digital liveability planning tool, developed by our team from RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research, which has been specifically designed to support decision makers prioritise actions to promote health and wellbeing in their communities.

Creating Liveable Cities in Australia

Creating Liveable Cities in Australia is the first “baseline” measure of liveability in Australia’s state and territory capitals.

City Partnerships Challenge

The City Partnerships Challenge is a United Nations Global Compact contribution to the Multi-Partner Implementation Facility for Sustainable Urban Development (IFSUD) to catalyse effective, coordinated and results based implementation of integrated sustainable urban development solutions.

Climate action plans for five informal settlements in Honiara, Solomon Islands

This project involves participatory action research and close collaboration with five informal settlements to identify climate vulnerabilities, their priority needs, and then to co-design potential climate actions with local stakeholders (including the identification of local implementation partners).

Goal 10 - Reduced Inequalities