Welcoming Universities Summit 2025
The 2025 Welcoming Universities Summit brought together more than 80 university leaders and staff, students, community partners, local government representatives, and sector organisations for a full day of conversation, reflection, and practical learning. Together, participants explored both the grounded, everyday ways universities are already building belonging, and the bigger possibilities for what belonging could look like across the sector.
Hosted by the University of Melbourne, with the City of Melbourne as Gold Partner, the Summit centred on the theme Belonging in Practice: Reimagining Universities as Inclusive Communities. Through keynote presentations, panels, and case studies, participants examined belonging from multiple angles: structural, cultural, relational, and in the lived experience of students and staff.
From First Nations truth-telling to youth mental health, from social cohesion research to student storytelling, from food and place-making to accountability and complaints systems, the day offered a rich set of insights into how belonging is built, sustained, and sometimes unintentionally undermined.
The Summit affirmed that belonging is not an abstract aspiration but it is measurable, it shapes student wellbeing, success, trust, and public confidence, and it is essential to building strong, resilient universities. Instead of focusing on the sector’s existential, financial, or structural pressures, the Summit turned deliberately toward what can be done now: the concrete actions, partnerships, and practices that create belonging and community.
Short summary of the day:
Plenary: Tiriki Onus from University of Melbourne grounded the day with an exploration of First Nations truth-telling at University of Melbourne, and the lessons we can all take from this process. His guidance to “Find a story that straightens your spine, lifts up your head”, urged participants to hold space for truth, and to amplify narratives of strength, resilience, and collective responsibility.
Keynote: Sarah Bendall from the National Student Ombudsman, then drew on early data since the NSO’s launch in February 2025, highlighting clear messages from students:
- they often feel unheard,
- systems feel confusing or unfair,
- poor processes can undermine wellbeing and trust.
Students told the NSO their universities “weren’t listening,” were “too focused on money,” or that navigating administrative processes made them feel invisible. Bendall underscored that complaint systems are not problems to be managed but opportunities for institutional learning and inclusion.
Conversation: Dr Rouven Link from the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute shared insights from the Mapping Social Cohesion Report, contextualising how these ideas can be reflected on within universities, and the role universities could look to play in strengthening community connection, trust, and visibility and social cohesion for all students and staff but also for the wider community.
Panel: Universities as Communities, Universities in Communities panel with Councillor Andrew Rowse from City of Melbourne, Sonya Stanford from University of Tasmania, Paul Clayton from Student Experience Network, Peter Muzariri from African Professionals of Australia, and moderated by Carol Corzo from Victoria University, explored how universities can foster belonging on campus while acting as civic partners in their wider communities. Speakers highlighted practical examples such as regional campuses building a role as community hubs; the vital role of student associations, clubs and societies; the importance of partnering with professional organisations and community groups; and the ways universities can work effectively with local government. The discussion emphasised moving beyond good intentions to embed collaboration and truly embrace universities’ public purpose through relationships, community engagement, and inclusive practices.
Panel: What Belonging Looks Like to Us panel with Lani Evalu from Victoria University and The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, Bao Chau Pham from University of Melbourne, Weihong Liang from University of Sydney and Kai Wondwossen Kassie from Deakin University, moderated by Gary Lee, shared their lived realities of navigating identity, support systems, workload, culture, and representation. Their reflections emphasised that belonging is shaped in the everyday: classroom interactions, flexible systems, warm welcomes, and culturally responsive support.
Lightning Talks
Dr Sarthak Gandhi from headspace outlined the mental health landscape for young people, and the importance of centring and valuing young people. He also emphasised that belonging is a protective factor linked to wellbeing, persistence, and positive academic outcomes. He showcased the kinds of headspace programs supporting universities to build supportive systems and environments.
Nataly Castellanos presented on the University of Melbourne’s Campus Canteen initiative as a powerful example of multi-layered community building on campus. She highlighted compelling data on student food insecurity and explained how the canteen provides affordable, inclusive meals while also serving as a safe, welcoming space for students to connect, eat together, and feel a sense of belonging, plus it’s a great student employment initiative too. Beyond food, the initiative creates student employment opportunities, fosters social interaction, and integrates student voices in its design, demonstrating how a simple campus service can advance inclusion, connection, and belonging in tangible, measurable ways.
Harika Potnuru highlighted how Future Forte has created industry-community-university collaborations to support student success, workforce pathways, and inclusion to support international student inclusion, and to empower female international students through support networks, and opportunities. She showed how connecting students with real-world opportunities and mentorships fosters belonging and helps international students feel more connected and supported. George Osborne (Manager of Economic Development at Hume City Council) highlighted the mission of the Hume Multiversity partnership, bringing together education providers, industry and council – to boost access to training, internships and employment for a highly diverse local population. He drew attention to how the initiative helps embed learning locally, supports non‑traditional students and links tertiary education to community and business needs.
What Belonging in Practice Looks Like
Across the day, common threads emerged:
Belonging is collective — everyone, in every role, contributes to the conditions that help people feel they can thrive.
Belonging is relational — built through trust, fairness, and systems that recognise individual journeys.
Belonging is cultural — campus norms, values, and expectations shape who feels able to participate.
Belonging is structural — policies, complaints processes, food affordability, and community partnerships matter.
Belonging is practical — it shows up in the way staff listen, the way universities respond, and the care taken in shared spaces.
Cate Gilpin is coordinator of Welcoming Universities, a network that aims to build inclusion and belonging in the higher education sector.
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