Why September is UNSW's month of inclusion and diversity

So what kind of events and experiences can I expect at Diversity Festival?

Think art exhibitions, thought-provoking speakers and workshops, and installations that will get your brain ticking. Let's run through some of the experiences that are scheduled for the 2026 edition so you can get a good idea of what Diversity Festival has to offer:

1. Do Disabled People Really Belong In Our Community? — As cuts to NDIS funding are debated nationally, former Disability Commissioner Professor Alastair McEwin hosts a panel exploring belonging and disability at a time of significant change to the disability landscape.
2. Disability-led film screening of Deaf President Now! — Experience the story behind one of the most significant disability rights movements in modern history. Deaf President Now! celebrates the student campaign that transformed a university and helped reshape disability rights around the world.
3. Bridging the Education Divide: Building Teacher Training That Works for All — Join representatives from the NSW Department of Education, universities, schools and student communities for a timely exploration of how teacher education and professional learning can better meet the needs of diverse communities across metropolitan, regional, rural and remote Australia.
4. Our Voices, Our Community — An uplifting celebration of music, culture and community. This interactive event brings people together through live performances and inclusive group singing to foster belonging, wellbeing and meaningful social connection. By creating a welcoming space where everyone can participate - regardless of musical experience - it celebrates the diverse voices of the UNSW community while inspiring connection, self-expression and collective joy.

Cool, what is SEXtember then?

It's about SEX! No, really.

SEXtember is UNSW's annual festival of sexual health, education and inclusion. It's all about breaking down all the taboos about sex, and celebrating everything that makes sex and identity empowering. 

Taking place in September every year since 2019, SEXtember has helped bring the UNSW community together through important deep dives into safe sex, sexuality, and healthy and respectful relationships. By taking this open-minded approach, we can all help break down stigma, boost confidence to make informed choices and make space for sex-positive conversations, particularly within our UNSW student community.

Think of all the questions you might have had about sex, but never dared to ask. SEXtember not only empowers you to ask those questions, but you'll be encouraged to have some real fun alongside all the real talk about sex, sexual health and identity.

So it's a lot of sex stuff and talk, but in a good way?

Yep, it's all going to be fun and informative in the best way possible.

What kind of experiences and events can I expect at SEXtember?

Like the Diversity Festival, SEXtember has its own program of experiences, installations, workshops and conversations for you to partake in. To give you a good idea of what kind of informative fun that's in store, here are some of the events that have taken place in previous years:

1. Trans Bodies, Informed Choices: A Conversation on Consent and Care — A dynamic conversation between UNSW Medicine & Health’s Dr Kalli Spencer with Specialist General Practitioner Dr Atari Metcalf that went beyond pathologising frameworks that affect the lives of transgender people and covered topics such as the intersection between consent, autonomy and access to gender-affirming care, moving from medical gatekeeping to informed choice.
2. The Living Poetry Project — A collaboration between UNSW’s Music Performance Unit, Health Promotion Unit and Media and Immersive Technology team. Following a call-out for students to share their experience of dating and relationships through poetry and music, four students wrote a composition to be shared with the UNSW community during SEXtember. 
3. Slice of Consent — A student-led panel and conversation on consent, masculinity and accountability with Teach Us Consent.

So come into SEXtember with an open mind and take part in the many experiences that'll help broaden your horizons while still having plenty of fun. The event is all about making the conversation about sex more inclusive than ever, all you need to do is participate.