University of Notre Dame Australia

The University of Notre Dame Australia (known simply as Notre Dame; NOT-rə-DAHM; French for 'Our Lady') is a private Catholic university with campuses in Perth, Sydney and Broome. It was established in 1989 by the Parliament of Western Australia with early support from its founding partner and namesake, the University of Notre Dame (NDUS) in the United States. It was originally conceived as a means to train teachers and nurses for the Archdiocese of Perth's Catholic education and healthcare network, but has since expanded into other disciplines. Its campuses include heritage places, mostly built in the mid-19th to early-20th centuries.

Its founding campus is in Perth, where it expanded into colonial-era maritime buildings in the Fremantle West End heritage area, later becoming ubiquitous with the precinct as a university town. Its restoration work and the influx of students has formed a symbiotic relationship with the local economy, culture and tourism industry. It also has a campus in Sydney, divided between two sites in the city's Inner West. The main Blackfriars site on Broadway is located between the University of Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney. The smaller Darlinghurst site is focused on medicine and is affiliated with the wider St Vincent's Integrated Healthcare Campus. It also has a regional campus in Broome and seven clinical schools across New South Wales and Victoria.

Notre Dame's academic activities are organised into three faculties, which are subdivided into constituent schools and research divisions. The faculties comprise disciplines including commerce, education, healthcare, information technology, law and various fields in the arts and sciences. In 2024, it enrolled 11,990 students with a total revenue of A$259.26 million and a total expenditure of A$258.86 million. Although founded as a non-profit private university, it progressively entered the public funding system until 2021, when it attained full Table A status under HESA. It is also a de facto Global Gateway for the University of Notre Dame, with which it has maintained staff and student exchanges since its inception, but remains independent.

The university crest displays an open Bible at its core with the opening verse from the Gospel of John inscribed in Latin. The verse was chosen as its motto to symbolise everything that exists beginning as an idea. The waves below and the Commonwealth Star represent the port city of Fremantle, where the university was founded, and Australia as a nation surrounded by water. The symbols are affixed to an Oxford Blue badge over a Cambridge Blue Greek cross. Notre Dame is affiliated with the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, the International Council of Universities of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the International Federation of Catholic Universities and St John of God Health Care.

History

Early discussions

Following the end of World War II in 1945, a Congregation of Holy Cross priest serving as a U.S. Navy chaplain at Naval Base Sydney was travelling between parishes to provide lectures and sermons. Cardinal Norman Gilroy, then the Archbishop of Sydney and a sceptic of secular universities, befriended the Holy Cross chaplain Father Patrick Duffy and they discussed the idea of the University of Notre Dame in the United States (NDUS) and the Congregation of Holy Cross being involved in the establishment of the first Catholic university in Australia. Father Duffy in the same year wrote a letter to the superior general of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Father Albert Cousineau, outlining its feasibility and reasons supporting it.

At the time, a fifth of the Australian population was Catholic and there was an established network of Catholic primary and secondary schools. Cardinal Gilroy believed that there was a strong appetite for a Catholic university and that it would enable the education of an "elite Catholic laity that had been the glory of the church in the United States". The archdiocese also expressed openness in providing financial support and land should the proposal be successful. In a report, Father Duffy included that almost all of the federal cabinet members were Catholic and noted the influence of Irish Australians in the governing structure of the country, resembling it with the Irish history of NDUS.

Father Cousineau and the Holy Cross' assistant provincial, Father Chris O'Toole, visited Sydney in 1946 to investigate the viability of the institution, including its opportunities and possible setbacks. While their report highlighted Australia's existing Catholic school system and potential to increase opportunities for the Catholic faith and its members, the report had also found possible obstacles. These included the lack of universal support or enthusiasm between interstate bishops, the distance between major cities, perceived competition from existing institutions and the substantial government lobbying required for support or funding. There was also the limitations of technology and the issue of distance between the American institutions and Sydney, a future cause for stagnation of progress in the university's establishment.

The Holy Cross order sent additional personnel in the following years to evaluate its plans. This included the name University of St. Mary, faculties, locations and fundraising options. The project was pursued for a few more years and 81 hectares (200 acres) was purchased in 1948 on behalf of the Holy Cross for a future campus. Ultimately, opposition from the press and the further stretching of Holy Cross resources due to the Korean War led to the required charter to establish the university not being acquired. Existing commitments in the development of educational institutions elsewhere by the Holy Cross and NDUS also limited the personnel and funding available to support the project. Despite positive reception from Pope Pius XII and the then dominance of Catholics in the governing Labor Party's hierarchy, non-Catholics were more sceptical of the plans. This included concerns from other religious denominations over the level of academic freedom at a denominational institution and the endeavour was later abandoned.

Campuses and buildings

Notre Dame has three campuses. Its largest campus is located in Fremantle, the port city for the Greater Perth region meanwhile its Sydney campus is split across two sites in the Inner West of the city. It also has a regional campus in Broome, far north in Western Australia in the Kimberley region. It is the only university in Australia to have major campuses on both the east and west coasts and students can apply to switch between campuses during their studies. The School of Medicine in Sydney also has seven clinical schools located across New South Wales and Victoria. Notre Dame also offers a range of online courses and programs available through Open Universities Australia.

Since its inception, the university has had handmade jarrah crosses hung in every room across its campuses and clinical schools. The crosses, which are also handed to students during graduation Mass, were intended to serve as a reminder of Notre Dame's Catholic identity and are based on a cross at its Holy Spirit Chapel in Fremantle.

Fremantle

The Fremantle campus is the founding campus of Notre Dame and comprises some of Perth's oldest buildings. The campus is omnipresent in the Fremantle West End heritage area and includes colonial-era maritime buildings that were restored and converted for university use. The wider precinct is surrounded in clockwise by several harbours, Bathers Beach facing the Indian Ocean and the Fremantle Ports along the mouth of the Swan River.

The campus architect Marcus Collins, campus director Terry Craig, interior designer Angela Chaney and builder Bill Fairweather were largely responsible for renovating much of the early campus. Collins, in particular, played an outsized role in re-developing all university buildings in Perth, Sydney and Broome until 2015 when he died. His early work may have been influenced by the 1987 Black Tuesday global stock market crash and the subsequent insolvency of Denis Horgan, who had purchased property for the university to use.

Collins took a frugal and minimalist approach in his building conversions with a unified interior design inspired by the Western Australian environment. This included interiors with exposed elements from the original structures, the use of jarrah timber furniture, brick red carpetting and the incorporation of Catholic and Aboriginal designs and symbols. Collins' design philosophy, which he self-described as "touching the building lightly" due to its economic nature, was intended to be a temporary solution until financial conditions improve and the university has since started modernising interiors during re-development phases.

Organisation and administration

Governance and structure

The university is bound by its governing legislation consisting of the University of Notre Dame Australia Act 1989, the University Statutes, and the Canonical Statutes. The two main bodies in Notre Dame's governance structure are the Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors, both of which were established by the Act and with powers defined by the statutes. The Act provides that the Board of Trustees: "are the custodians of the University and are responsible for ensuring that there is compliance with [the Catholic objects of the university]".

Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor

The founding president and vice-chancellor of the university was David Link, who served as the dean of NDUS' law school prior to taking up the position, and the founding chancellor was former footballer, coach and legal professional Terry O'Connor. The vice-chancellor is the principal academic and administrative officer and is appointed by the Board of Directors on the nomination of the Trustees. The chancellor, on the other hand, plays a ceremonial role and is appointed by the Trustees for "a period, which must not exceed 8 years, that is determined by the Trustees, or until he or she resigns from that office or ceases to be a Trustee". The boards also appoint the deputy and pro vice chancellors to assist and advise the vice-chancellor, as required. The executive management includes four deputy vice chancellors, five pro vice chancellors, the university secretary, several chiefs and deputies, and the executive deans of the three faculties who are appointed directly by the vice-chancellor. The vice-chancellor is required to identify as a Catholic.

The incumbent chancellor is Paul McClintock, who was appointed in succession to Christopher Ellison and took office in January 2026. Since February 2020, the vice-chancellor has been Francis Campbell, succeeding Celia Hammond who retired to run for parliament. The chancellery is located in Foley Hall, designated ND1 as Notre Dame's first building, which was built in 1889 as an office building. It is located opposite the Strelitz Buildings, home to a former office and workshop of Herbert Hoover who later became the 31st President of the United States. There is also a vice chancellery in Sydney close to the Blackfriars site on City Road.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is the overseer of the university. In addition to 12 representatives from the university, it includes two members appointed by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Perth, two members appointed by Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Sydney, and the vice-chancellor ex officio. The reserve seats aim to conserve Notre Dame's Catholic identity. Its powers include electing a chancellor, who presides over the three boards, nominating a vice-chancellor, and appointing members of the Board of Directors and the Board of Governors. The Trustees report to the Bishops of Perth, Broome and Sydney who are visitors to the university.

Academic profile

Notre Dame is a publicly funded university and a member of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, International Council of Universities of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the International Federation of Catholic Universities. It functions on a semester system, operating year-round on academic semesters, summer and winter schools. It is also affiliated with several Catholic organisations in Australia including St John of God Health Care and the National Catholic Education Commission.

In the 2024 academic year, it employed 1,028 staff, 559 of whom were academic staff and the remaining 469 non-academic staff. The recognised trade union at Notre Dame is the National Tertiary Education Union which has a branch at its Fremantle campus and a branch committee in Sydney. It is responsible for negotiating the Enterprise Agreement with the university. The university also has international staff exchange agreements with universities outside Australia, including NDUS and its Global Gateways.

Study programs

Notre Dame offers study programs in the fields of commerce, healthcare, education, information technology, psychology, law, medicine, sports science and several fields in the arts and sciences. Some programs can be combined into "double degrees" or include additional majors. The university also offers a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) among other research programs.

Research institutes

Notre Dame operates three discipline-specific research institutes in partnership with other research institutions and private enterprises. These include:

Institute for Ethics and Society

The Institute for Ethics and Society is a research institute in ethics, philosophy and social sciences based at the Sydney campus on Broadway. Its key research themes are: Moral Philosophy and Ethics Education; Bioethics and Healthcare Ethics; and Religion, Culture and Society. It also runs lecture series and events including the Scholarship at the Cathedral lectures at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney and hosts visiting scholars from overseas universities.

In 2024, Notre Dame launched the Centre for the History of Philosophy in partnership with NDUS' History of Philosophy Forum. Its research areas broadly involve the history of philosophy, with a stated aim of "exploring the deepest and oldest questions". The inaugural lecture was given by NDUS associate professor Therese Scarpelli Cory. The university has also jointly operated the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society with St Mary's University, Twickenham since 2015.

Institute for Health Research

The Institute for Health Research is Notre Dame's research institute in health and biomedical science. Its stated aim is to "[improve] the health and quality of life of vulnerable persons". Its research themes include areas of bone health, cancer research, cardiology, chronic conditions, developmental disorders, disability, homelessness, motor disorders, musculoskeletal injuries, psychiatry, ageing and palliative care among others. The university is also one of the partners of the Raine Study, one of the largest cohorts in the world examining pregnancy, childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. It also runs the National Echo Database Australia, the largest database of echocardiograms to date.

Student life

Religious atmosphere

While having a religious affiliation is not a criterion for admission, Notre Dame identifies as a Roman Catholic university with a Catholic core curriculum and religious extracurricular activities outside of academic studies. It also follows the Ex corde Ecclesiae, an apostolic constitution for Catholic universities.

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