Business School

Equity diversity & inclusion

Inclusion of students with disability amongst UNSW students

Our equity diversity & inclusion vision

UNSW Business School strives to provide a vibrant, safe, and equitable environment for education, research, and engagement that embraces diversity and treats all people with dignity and respect. We believe equity, diversity, and inclusion are essential to building a globally engaged, high impact, and academically-rigorous business school and achieving the university’s 2025 strategic priories. We are committed to reducing systematic barriers to opportunities available in the faculty, the university, and society and to supporting our students and staff to be the best they can be and contribute to building a better, more sustainable future.

Acknowledgement of Country

UNSW Business School is located on the unceded territory of the Bedegal (Kensington campus) and Gadigal (City Campus) people, who are the Traditional Owners of the lands where each campus of UNSW is situated.

Read about The Uluru Statement and pledge your support.

For more information, go to UNSW Indigenous.

In this section

EDI at UNSW

Visit UNSW EDI for more information regarding staff and student EDI offerings at UNSW.

Read about our past EDI events and register for upcoming events, workshops and programs designed to promote the faculty's and UNSW's equitable and inclusive culture.

Questions or comments?

Find out more

Women in business

Women continue to be under-represented in senior academic and leadership roles, business programs and industry leadership. Diversity is central to our long-term success and the UNSW Business School is focused on prioritising gender equity.

Indigenous engagement

In partnership with Nura Gili, the community and industry leaders, UNSW Business School offers a variety of programs designed to create an environment that welcomes and supports Indigenous students.

Our priorities

  • Our UNSW Business School EDI Committee is responsible for facilitating, supporting, and creating initiatives, programs, guidelines and activities to empower all to feel safe, included and respected. We collaborate with other UNSW EDI groups to ensure that everyone has equitable opportunities to succeed, regardless of background, show leadership and benefit from others' initiatives and best practices. The Faculty representatives are the key point of contact for all EDI-related matters across each School and Unit.

    Committee members

    The EDI Committee currently consists of members who are each passionate about developing an even more diverse and inclusive Business School.

    The EDI Committee Members are as follows:

    Associate Professor Elvira Sojli (Chair)

    School of Banking and Finance

    Courtney Wright

    Director, Career Accelerator

    Professor Nick Wailes, Senior Deputy Dean 

    Senior Deputy Dean (External Engagement) and Director, AGSM
    Mary Teague (standing invitation) Director, Access, Equity and Inclusion

    Seda Cokcetin

    Faculty EDI Officer 
    Associate Professor Veronica Jiang School of Marketing, Academic Disability Advisor
    Melinda Tunbridge HR Faculty Partner
    Alison Brown External Engagement Faculty Partner

    Dr Carmen Leong

    School of Information Systems and Technology Management
    Dr Sarah Walker School of Economics

    Associate Professor Jae Kyung Woo

    School of Risk and Actuarial Studies

    Dr Stuart Taylor

    		 School of Accounting, Audit and Taxation
    Dr Jihwan Moon School of Marketing

    Dr Melodie Cartel

    School of Management and Governance
    Dr Thuy To School of Banking and Finance
    Sylvia Lohrengel-Kuhner Faculty Operations Manager

    Mariana Pierotti

    Senior Program Officer, CA
    Winnie Yip Engagement Officer, CA
    Rebecca Harcourt Indigenous Business Education Manager
    Ashton Chan Student Services Business Partner Representative
    Claudia Crosariol AGSM Representative
    Associate Professor Michele Roberts AGSM Academic Director, SDG Steerco Faculty Representative

    Dr Rachida Ouysse 

    Women in Research Network Faculty Representative (Observer)
    Jason Li Business Student Representative (Undergraduate)

    Jessica Mackay

    Business Student Representative (affiliated society or club)
    Amir Chiti Zadeh Business Student Representative (HDR)

    Alex Sanderson

    Business Student Representative (Postgraduate)
    Saul Brady Business Student Representative (Graduate)

  • As highlighted through our Business School 2021+ strategy, the Business School acknowledges the importance of educating future leaders in responsible business practice and is committed to both the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    As a signatory to the UN PRME since 2010, the Business School submits a Sharing Information on Progress (or SIP) Report every two years. These reports provide a snapshot of our progress against the six PRME themes, across the areas of teaching, research and engagement. The UNSW Business School 2021 PRME SIP Report highlights the tremendous accomplishments of the Business School and broader University in delivering against both the PRME and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    The PRME underpin “a process of continuous improvement among institutions of management education in order to develop a new generation of business leaders capable of managing the complex challenges faced by business and society in the 21st century” (Laasch & Conaway, 2014), in recognition of the role that educational institutions have to play in this regard.

    The umbrella term “responsible management” encompasses three underlying domains – sustainability, responsibility and ethics (Laasch & Conaway, 2014), which in turn draw on distinct but complementary fields of scholarship: 

    • Sustainability is taken to mean those practices, processes and institutions that support the long-term wellbeing of societies, economies and future generations, along with the natural environments within which they are situated
    • Responsibility encompasses corporate and individual responsibility towards a range of stakeholders for the economic, social and environmental impacts of business practices
    • Ethics is underpinned by the discipline of moral philosophy and is concerned with practices judged to be right or good. It hence has a normative component

    Reference: Laasch, O., & Conaway, R. (2014). Principles of Responsible Management: Global Sustainability, Responsibility, and Ethics: Cengage Learning.

    For more information, contact BUSEDI@unsw.edu.au

  • The UNSW Business School guidelines for achievement relative to opportunity (ARO) enable staff to have the impacts of the Australian Bushfires 2019 and COVID-19 considered when discussing achievements that they have made during this time.

    UNSW also provides general guidelines for achievement relative to opportunity and performance evidence (ROPE). 

  • The Business school classroom inclusivity guidelines have been co-designed to inform inclusive classroom practice and reflect current research and best practices across the equity, diversity, and inclusion field. Research indicates that students are more likely to flourish academically and personally in academic settings that acknowledge and respect their personal experiences, identities, and backgrounds.

    The Business School will continue to update these guidelines based on feedback from staff and students.

    The Business School Digital Accessibility Guide for Learning extends the aforementioned Guidelines to enhance accessibility in online and blended learning environments. By providing accessible materials, instructors help create an inclusive and welcoming digital environment for every student, as well as eliminate barriers to student success.

  • The UNSW Business School strives to ensure that every student is empowered to have equal access to education. We believe that everyone has the right to an education, and to reach their academic potential, we want to increase underrepresented students' access to UNSW.

    The UNSW Business School is proud to partner with UNSW Gateway and provides early conditional offers to make University entry more equitable. The UNSW Business School also extends a textbook equity scheme to first-year students experiencing financial hardship and provides additional belonging and transitional support in partnership with UNSW Student Engagement.

    Useful Links

  • The UNSW Business School wants Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Intersex students and staff to fulfill their potential and enjoy being at UNSW without experiencing any sense of alienation ill-treatment from fellow staff or students. Being a safe and inclusive environment is fundamental to who we are as a Business School.

    The Ally@UNSW Network aims to ensure UNSW is a safe and welcoming place for all LGBTIQ+ Staff and Students, and the Business School is well represented in the membership of ALLY@UNSW. The ALLY training program aims to make UNSW an excellent place for everybody by reducing barriers of fear and ignorance that lead to prejudice and discrimination.

    See our list of all Business School & AGSM ALLY contacts. 

    Business School Initiatives include:

    • Pride@AGSM Network 
    • AGSM LGBTQI Leaders Scholarships 
    • Future Business Leaders for Equality (a joint initiative with Sydney University Pride Network) 

    UNSW recently published gender affirmation guidelines for staff and students. 

  • We have a zero-tolerance for sexual harassment and assault at UNSW. The UNSW First Responders are students and staff trained to offer confidential support to individuals experiencing any form of sexual assault or harassment, whether you've been directly affected, are a witness to an incident, or a support person. First Responders are not counsellors but will provide guidance. They understand that reporting sexual misconduct can be difficult; should someone choose to make a formal report, a UNSW First Responder can help, or they can complete a report on someone's behalf.

    For more information, find a First Responder or go to the UNSW Sexual Misconduct Portal.

  • UNSW Business School emphasises the importance of health and wellbeing for all our staff and students. We are committed to sustaining a safe, respectful and inclusive environment where there is access to knowledge, services, and support for health and wellbeing. Our staff and students can and do use a wide range of services offered by the university.

    For staff

    For students

    UNSW support and resources: 

    Support in the community

    Where to access self-help

    For additional community and self-help resources, refer to the Business School classroom inclusivity guidelines.

  • The UNSW Business School is committed to the idea that fairness requires equality of access and opportunity. UNSW provides a range of support to students to manage the demands of university and a health condition, learning disability, mental health issues, or other personal circumstances impacting their studies. Once registered with UNSW Equitable Learning Services students may be eligible for a range of support or educational adjustments.

    UNSW staff also have access to services to address issues with their own disability. Teaching staff can also access a range of resources to assist them to tailor their teaching for students who may have a disability.

    Useful links

  • The UNSW Business School comprises an incredibly diverse group of people. The Faculty is committed to cultural and linguistic diversity and strives to provide a culturally inclusive environment in which students and staff can freely express who they are, their opinions and points of view and fully participate in teaching, learning, work and social activities, and feel safe from abuse, harassment, or unfair criticism. 

    We are creating a culturally inclusive culture in which: students can contribute to creating more inclusive classrooms, achieve better academic results, experience enhanced career prospects; and all staff can interact more fully with other staff and students, and can extend and develop their cultural knowledge, and we benefit from culturally diverse staff and students through experiencing broader perspectives, new knowledge, and understanding. 

    Useful links

    Anti-racism policy 

    UNSW Business School offers a workplace and learning environment that aims to ensure individuals and groups are not disadvantaged due to their background including race, nationality, descent, ethnicity, ethno-religious or national origin. For more information, see UNSW's Anti-racism Policy.