Building a culture of respect and inclusion at UTS is our shared responsibility

Our shared responsibilities

Respect isn’t just a policy or a poster. It’s a practice. As students, each of us plays a part in making UTS a place where people can be their whole selves.

That looks like:

• Respecting others in every space including tutorials, lectures, labs, online forums, group chats and social media
• Being accountable for how our behaviour impacts others
• Speaking out against discrimination, intimidation or exclusion, whether it happens in class, online or around campus
• Supporting classmates who may be feeling unsafe or targeted
• Using UTS support services when you witness or experience harm
• Learning from mistakes and being open to feedback

A lot of university life now happens digitally. Respect applies just as much to the digital spaces we participate in. The culture of UTS is shaped as much by what students say to one another in tutorials as it is by any formal initiative.

Diversity is our strength

We’re a diverse community at UTS. Half of our students were born outside Australia, and half have a language background other than English. One per cent of UTS students are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and our community includes people of many faiths, cultures, identities and lived experiences.

We recognise that this diversity and excellence go hand in hand. Excellence in learning, research and innovation thrives when people feel respected and valued as their whole selves, and when we embrace the different perspectives that different lived experiences bring.

At the same time, UTS acknowledges that we exist within an unequal world. Structural and systemic barriers still shape people’s experiences within our social infrastructure.

Universities have a responsibility not to reproduce those inequalities, but to challenge them.

UTS focuses not only on inclusion, but on proactively addressing inequalities in our own community and building a culture of inclusion.

How UTS supports this work

Building a respectful and inclusive campus culture takes more than good intentions. At UTS, this work is supported through policies, programs and everyday practices that set clear expectations for behaviour and accountability.

This includes:

• Respect at UTS, our initiative to strengthen prevention and response to gender-based violence in all its forms within our community, including Respect.Now.Always a whole-of-institution approach to education and prevention
• the UTS Cultural Diversity and Anti-Racism Action Plan, which guides how UTS confronts racism at interpersonal, institutional and systemic levels
• the UTS Equity, Inclusion and Respect Policy, which outlines the values and behaviours expected of staff and students
• gender equity initiatives with a focus on workplace and academic equality, and STEMM
• the Indigenous Graduate Attribute, ensuring all graduating students have developed professional capabilities to work effectively for and with Indigenous Australians within their profession
• rethinking merit when it comes to university entry, embodied through the UTS Pathways Plan to welcome more people from groups and backgrounds who face barriers to higher education
• a suite of programs, training, networks and events to support LGBTIQA+ inclusion
• disability access and inclusion, to normalise disability, foster an inclusive environment for all, and support access needs

A respectful, inclusive culture doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built every day through individual choices, collective action and a shared commitment to looking out for one another.

When we treat each other with dignity, stay curious about perspectives different from our own, and step in when someone is harmed or excluded, we create a safer, stronger, more connected university.