Sydney University

The birth of the University of Sydney in 1850 broke with the traditions of Britain’s ancient universities by admitting students on academic merit rather than on the basis of religion or social class. Fierce debate about university reform among academic and national leaders in Britain and North America had led to calls for tertiary education institutions to respond to social change and meet the demands of modern society.

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Sydney was one of the first of this new breed of institution, the first university in Australia and the model that universities in other Australian colonies would soon follow. In 1881 the University decided to open its doors to women, admitting them on the same basis as men, among the earliest in the world to do so, and many decades before either the University of Oxford or Cambridge.

Although the University’s Senate resolved to "admit women to all University privileges, and to place them in all respects as regards University matters on an equal footing with men," the path was not always smooth. In particular, there was resistance to the University’s decision to let women study medicine (justified on the grounds that intimate discussion of the human body was not fit for the ears of young ladies). Even so, some women braved disapproval to study medicine, the first being Dagmar Berne, who in 1886 enrolled in the recently established medical school.

During the second half of the 20th century, Sydney researchers and graduates included medical pioneers, prime ministers, Aboriginal community leaders, Oscar winners – and even Australia's first astronaut. Their work has affected the lives of people across the world, from the invention of the bionic ear, to breakthroughs in modern ecology, to the development of the 'black box' now carried by aeroplanes across the world. In coming months, this website will include stories about the people behind these changes. The University of Sydney has a network of different teaching campuses spread throughout the Sydney area. The main Camperdown/Darlington campus is well known as the home of historic sandstone buildings, gargoyles and cloisters, lawns and courtyards.

But this is just one part of the picture. Across our campuses the University has lecture theatres, teaching spaces and studios with state-of-the-art facilities, laboratories with the latest technology, clinical schools to support professional development and experimental farms and research stations to put theory into practice.

Campuses

• Camperdown/Darlington Campuses
• Cumberland Campus
• Mallett Street Campus
• Sydney Conservatorium of Music Campus
• Rozelle Campus
• Surry Hills Campus
• Camden Campus
• Burren Street Campus
• Sydney Medical School Campuses

Sydney University 2014 Study Abroad