Welcome and what this session covers

G'day, and welcome to the Choosing Your Uni National Virtual Expo. My name's Rob Malicki. Welcome to this session on Murdoch University. I'm on Gadigal land in Sydney, and I'd like to pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging, as well as other traditional custodians.

If you're joining me on the live stream, any questions or comments you've got, regardless of where you are watching -- Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, you name it -- you can drop your comments in the chat and they will come through, and we'll try to get to those later in the session.

Here's what we're going to be covering in the next 20 minutes or so. Firstly, we're going to be talking about Murdoch University: what it's known for and who would do well studying there. We're going to hear from some students who've studied there, and we're also going to find out about its academic strengths. After that, we're going to get into some of the hard data that will help you understand student satisfaction, employer satisfaction, graduate starting salaries, and global rankings, and we're going to talk about what these actually mean for you. Finally, at the end, I'm going to tell you about some institutions I would normally compare Murdoch with, to help you create your shortlist when it comes to choosing a university.

If we don't get to all of your questions as part of this session, or if you've got more questions after we've finished, we have the Choosing Your Uni Discord, which is active not only throughout this expo but also into the future. You can get in there and ask anything you want about any institution. And if you are a parent, we have a Facebook community just for you -- Discord for the students, Facebook for the parents -- and you'll find the details of both right down below in the session description.

Who Murdoch University is and isn't for

Here's a number that should make you pay attention. Murdoch University has around 81% of its research areas rated at or above world standard. That's a genuinely strong result for a university that most people in Sydney or Melbourne have probably never heard of. So let's get honest about who Murdoch is for and who it isn't for.

This institution probably isn't for you if you're a prestige hunter, chasing a famous degree from a big-name, research-intensive, Group of Eight university. Murdoch doesn't have that brand recognition, and it doesn't play in the top tier of global rankings. If that's most important to you, you will find other options, even in Perth.

It's also probably not for you if you're really hankering for that city vibe, that inner-campus experience. Murdoch is about 15km south of the Perth CBD. The campus is a big bushland site, and it's got a quiet, chilled-out feel, much greener than you'd find at places like UWA or Curtin. If you're looking for that inner-city experience, you're looking at places like UTS in Sydney, RMIT in Melbourne, QUT in Brisbane, and even ECU's brand-new Perth city centre campus.

And if you feel like you need the highest possible graduate employment rate in order to feel confident about your degree, I do need to flag that Murdoch's numbers on that front actually sit below the national average. There are reasons for that, and I'm going to get into those shortly.

But here's the important thing. If you're someone who's interested in veterinary science or agriculture, if you're into environmental conservation or health research, Murdoch has genuine depth in those areas that most universities can't match. And if you value a university that takes social equity seriously, and not just in the brochures but in how it actually admits and supports students, then this institution is definitely worth a look.

What students say about studying at Murdoch

Before we get into all of the details, the stats, and everything, let's hear from some students who've actually studied at Murdoch.

"It's really chilled out. You can do a lot of the stuff from home. I'm studying terrorism and counter-terrorism -- it's a pretty interesting topic. Murdoch has a specialty in that sort of thing. It was originally a Bachelor of Arts, but next year they're changing it to its own thing, kind of a Bachelor of Global Security. So it's getting more specific now, with its own dedicated course."

"I'm studying marketing and economics. There are a lot of different ways to study -- you can do it externally or go to lectures. There are a lot of options that suit your style of learning. For me, it's a bit of a mix. I'll watch lectures online, but I still enjoy that real contact with tutors and things like that."

Those are a couple of perspectives on studying at Murdoch. I've got more to share with you a little bit later in the session. And once again, if you've got any questions or comments as we're going, make sure you drop them into the chat wherever you are watching.

Three things that define Murdoch University

There are three things that really define Murdoch University for me. The first is that genuine specialisation in agriculture, veterinary science, and environmental research. This isn't a university that offers those degrees as an afterthought. Murdoch has dedicated research farms, animal health facilities, and laboratories that are integrated directly with teaching. It's one of only a handful of Australian universities where you can study veterinary medicine, and the agricultural and environmental research is connected to real problems: biosecurity, crop genetics, livestock health, and conservation biology. If you're drawn to those fields, Murdoch is a serious contender -- and I mean that nationally, regardless of its overall ranking.

Secondly, there's the equity and access focus, which is embedded in Murdoch's DNA. It's not something bolted on and splashed up in the brochure. Murdoch was founded in the 1970s with a deliberate emphasis on flexible entry and alternative pathways, and that's still the case today. A significant portion of the students who go to Murdoch are the first in their family to go to university. There are pathway and enabling programmes for students who don't meet standard entry requirements, and the university strategy explicitly sets targets around increasing participation from students from regional, remote, and low-socioeconomic backgrounds. For some students, this is exactly the kind of environment where they'll thrive. If you're wondering whether university is even possible for you, Murdoch wants to make it possible.

I want to take a brief aside here. If you are the first in your family to consider university, coming from a low-socioeconomic background, and you're wondering if this whole university thing is even worth it, let me say this: going to university is one of the things that opens more doors for you in your life than almost anything else. The research on outcomes for university graduates is unequivocal. Over their lifetime, a university graduate will earn 50% more than someone without a degree. On that metric alone, I would be considering going to uni. But it's more than that. University is an amazing opportunity to try different subject areas, to experience things outside your normal world, and it's through those different experiences and that trial and error that we actually begin to find things that we love. Access to opportunities outside of your day-to-day life comes from going to uni, and that's another reason why it is such an exceptional experience.

The third thing that stands out for Murdoch is the campus itself, which is a bit unusual for a city university. It's big, it's green, it's covered in trees and bushland. The centrepiece is a magnificent building, the Boola Katitjin, which is around 16,000 square metres of teaching and learning space built from mass-engineered timber. It's light and airy, it's a striking building that houses a lot of day-to-day teaching as well as informal student study areas, services, and a couple of good cafes. One of the important things about this building is that it's built around sustainability. Sustainability isn't just talked about at Murdoch -- the university is walking the talk. It's committed to carbon neutrality and to achieving zero waste to landfill by 2030. That's an extraordinary commitment.

Campus life, location, and the Fremantle connection

There's a flip side to all of this. Murdoch is not a university you're going to choose because of nightlife or an inner-city buzz. It's a campus that you either drive to or take the train to, study on, and probably then leave. Yes, there's on-campus accommodation -- Murdoch has more than 800 beds, so living on campus is definitely an option. But it's not the same as living in a university precinct in the middle of a city where you've got students coming and going day and night and it's always kind of humming. For some people, that's going to suit them perfectly. Others might find it a little isolating. You really have to know yourself and what you're looking for.

The other thing worth knowing about the location south of Perth is that it's not far from Fremantle, which is a beautiful city in its own right -- a great place with cafes, nightlife, restaurants, bars, cultural organisations, music, and some magnificent beaches. If you want access to that kind of life as well, it's not that far from Murdoch. There's public transport, buses that run to Fremantle from the South Street campus, and there you can find some of the elements that might be missing on campus itself.

Academic and research strengths

Murdoch structures its teaching through two main colleges. There's the College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, which covers everything from environmental science to nursing, IT, and more. And then there's the College of Arts, Business, Law and Social Sciences, which handles business, law, criminology, creative arts, media, and humanities. Within those two broad colleges there are a number of separate schools, and these are probably more relevant to you than the broad college structure. Veterinary Medicine and Agricultural Sciences each have their own dedicated schools, and that tells you something about how seriously the university takes those disciplines.

The standout research area for the university is something you might not have heard of before: phenomics. Murdoch is home to the Australian National Phenome Centre. It's essentially the large-scale analysis of biological samples in order to understand how diseases, environmental factors, and genetics all interact. The centre has one of the largest collections of high-end mass spectrometers in Australia and works across health, agriculture, and environmental projects. It's connected to an international network of similar centres. For a mid-sized university, this is a significant piece of research infrastructure.

Beyond that, Murdoch's research strengths cluster around a few clear areas. In health, there's work on infectious diseases, medical microbiology, precision medicine, and importantly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Through its Institute for Agriculture and Food, the focus is on crop genetics, livestock health, and food security -- something that has become only more relevant in recent times. In environmental science, researchers work on marine megafauna, conservation biology, and climate adaptation. These aren't obscure academic exercises. They're connected to real industries and real problems, particularly in the West Australian landscape and in the broader Indo-Pacific region.

Teaching approach, degree structure, and pathways

On the teaching side, Murdoch emphasises work-integrated learning, which means practical placements and industry projects are built into degrees. This is particularly strong in areas like nursing, vet science, counselling, psychology, education, and communications. Creative media students, for instance, work on real briefs with actual organisations. Clinical programmes in nursing and psychology include supervised placements in hospitals and clinical settings, so you learn by doing rather than just sitting in lectures.

The degree structure at Murdoch is standard for Australia. Most undergraduate degrees last three years for a standard bachelor's degree. There are also double degrees and specialist programmes like vet science, which run longer. Murdoch also offers pathway and enabling programmes if you don't have the ATAR needed to get into the programme you want. If you're coming through TAFE, there are well-established pathways from the vocational education sector into Murdoch.

One thing worth flagging specifically around veterinary medicine: it's one of the very few programmes in Australia and the only one in Western Australia. That means it has purpose-built facilities and the associated research is incredibly strong. If vet science is your goal and you're based in WA, Murdoch has to be on your shortlist. In fact, if you're anywhere else in Australia and you really want to get into veterinary medicine, Murdoch should still be on your list.

Student satisfaction, teaching quality, and what the data shows

I'm going to take you through Murdoch's performance data: student satisfaction, graduate employment, graduate salaries, and the rankings. There's a number in here on graduate salaries that I think you might find surprising, given where you'd expect a mid-sized Perth university to land. And there's a graduate employment figure that we need to talk about honestly, because it's kind of the elephant in the room for this institution.

The data we're about to look at comes from the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching surveys -- the QILT data. It's an Australian Government dataset collected annually from real students who've actually studied at every institution. It's broken down by broad fields of study as well as by institution. So as opposed to the big global rankings, this data is Australian, and it's about student experience and graduate outcomes.

Murdoch's student satisfaction sits at 77.4%, which is right around the middle of the pack in Australia. It's not a standout, but it's also not a concern. What it suggests is that most students are having a reasonable experience, but Murdoch isn't generating the kind of enthusiasm that a small, personal institution like Bond or the University of Notre Dame generates -- those institutions sit up in the high 80s for student satisfaction.

Teaching quality tracks similarly, around the national average -- competent but not exceptional. The university has been investing significantly in teaching spaces, with the Boola Katitjin being a big part of that, and the work-integrated learning focus is a genuine plus. But what the data says is that Murdoch is doing a solid, if not spectacular, job in the classroom.

When it comes to this data, remember that you can go to the ComparED website and check out different fields of study at every institution. Don't just take the top-line figure as the most important one for you. Look into the detail. You can also do that through the Choosing Your Uni platform -- you can go in there and compare any two institutions for student satisfaction and get that data side by side.

Graduate employment rate: the honest conversation

I mentioned there was a statistic we needed to dig into, and that's the graduate employment rate. At 67.7% -- meaning graduates who have a job within four months of finishing their degree -- it's actually one of the lowest figures amongst Australian universities. The national average sits well above this. So what does it mean?

Partly it reflects the mix of disciplines at Murdoch. Universities with more generalist humanities and social science disciplines tend to have lower headline employment rates than those dominated by nursing, engineering, and teaching. If you think about a teaching degree, you pretty much have a job lined up. Nursing is the same. Engineering is the same. Of course, Murdoch's professional programmes -- vet science, nursing, and education -- do perform better individually, but the overall number is something you should factor in if you're looking to do other kinds of degrees. It may also reflect how long it takes some graduates to move into full-time employment in certain fields.

Graduate salaries and global rankings

If we move on to the next stat, it's quite interesting. The median graduate starting salary at Murdoch is $71,100. That's actually a reasonable result -- it sits above several more highly ranked Australian universities. What it suggests is that when Murdoch graduates do get jobs, they're getting reasonably well paid. This is largely driven by graduates in health, agriculture, and some of those other applied fields that are genuinely in demand in Western Australia. For graduates in other disciplines, full-time employment may come a little later, but when it does, the salaries are competitive.

Let's talk about global rankings. Murdoch sits at 423rd in the world on the QS World University Rankings, which places it at around 24th in Australia. In the Times Higher Education rankings, it's in the 401 to 500 range, which puts it at roughly mid-pack for Australian universities.

Now, you've got to remember that these big global rankings measure things that aren't necessarily relevant to every university. Research output, research citations, and institutional reputation are heavily weighted. Has someone in the Netherlands heard of Murdoch University? Probably not, and that flows through into the reputational side of those rankings. Those rankings favour large, research-intensive, famous universities. Murdoch's strengths are in niche areas like vet science and phenomics, and those don't show up well in systems designed to rank generalist research powerhouses. So as far as global rankings go, they're not a decision-making factor for me -- honestly, not at all.

Institutions to compare Murdoch with

So you're thinking about Murdoch. There are some really great areas of study, the campus vibe is relaxed, and the equity and access focus is genuine. Which institutions should you compare it with?

Of course, it depends on your field of study, but let's start with the obvious choices. Curtin University is also located to the east of the Perth city centre, so it's geographically one of the closest alternatives. Curtin is bigger, ranks higher -- 183rd in the world -- and has stronger graduate employment numbers, around 81%. It's also very technology-focused and has a very different feel. If you're weighing up Perth options and you don't have a specific reason to choose Murdoch, like vet science, agriculture, or environment, Curtin is possibly the first place to go and compare. We've got a whole deep-dive on Curtin University as part of this expo as well.

But let me throw you a couple of curveballs. If you're thinking about some of those specialist areas -- vet science, agriculture, marine biology -- there are institutions on the east coast worth considering. James Cook University in Cairns is one to look at on the marine side of things. Southern Cross University also has real strengths in marine biology and a whole range of areas that overlap with Murdoch. For agriculture, I'd be looking at the University of Southern Queensland and Charles Sturt University, which has a footprint across New South Wales.

If you're looking for an institution that has a bit of a prestige factor but still has a more relaxed, lower-pressure vibe, and you don't want to be in a big city, then Adelaide University is worth a look. It's the merger of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia, and it has an amazing footprint across research, agriculture, wine sciences, food science, environment, and much more. It's a real institution to keep your eye on.

Final thoughts on Murdoch

Within those options, you're going to find institutions that have similarities with Murdoch but also their own unique flavour. The campus at Murdoch has the kind of vibe of being in a regional area while still being incredibly close to the city. While some of the stats might not stack up against the bigger institutions, it has some genuinely niche areas of expertise. And that focus on equity and access is so important -- Murdoch has been empowering people who would benefit from going to university for decades, and it's focused on getting those people not only into uni but through uni as well.

I'm going to answer all the questions that came in -- including ones that came in advance -- over on the Choosing Your Uni Discord. Details are in the session description below. And for parents, the same in the Facebook community. If you're still trying to work out what direction you're even heading in, we've got a great session called How to Figure Out Your Next Career Move -- it's a keynote and a genuinely useful session to help you narrow things down. And of course the Choosing Your Uni platform is all configured around helping to guide you to the fields of study and universities that align with you.

It's been awesome chatting with you this evening. My name is Rob Malicki. Have yourself a lovely evening.