Notre Dame is a private, Catholic university committed to ensuring that students receive a personalised, high quality and affordable education. It offers a caring and friendly learning environment, providing courses which are challenging, relevant and responsive to the student, employer and community needs.

Campuses

The university was founded by an Act of Parliament in Western Australia in 1989. Notre Dame has a campus in the historic port city of Fremantle, another one in the beautiful coastal town of Broome in the north-west of Western Australia and two sites in Sydney.

The Fremantle and Sydney campuses are located in historic precincts and feature beautifully restored buildings with leafy courtyard settings. As part of each town’s vibrant community, students enjoy walking distance access to
the beach, shops, markets, sporting facilities, a myriad of cosmopolitan cafes and lively nightlife options of theatre and cinema. There are many public transport choices for travelling at weekends to beaches, zoos, parks, sporting venues and riverbank retreats.

In Broome, the campus enjoys a beautiful tropical setting in the magnificent landscape of the Kimberley region—this is a truly different campus from any other in Australia offering a unique experience for students.

Student profile

The University of Notre Dame Australia has more than 7000 students over the three locations including a good proportion of ‘mature age’ students. There are approximately eight percent international students from more than 60 different countries. This truly international mix contributes to the quality of the classroom experience for all students.

The Notre Dame difference…

Notre Dame strives for a friendly and caring learning environment with a focus on education for the professions.
Most courses include internship components to ensure that a Notre Dame graduate is a job-ready professional with excellent workplace experience and attractive to employers.

As a foundation to studies all undergraduate courses include a required Core Curriculum in the areas of theology, philosophy and ethics. These studies are designed to provide a balance between the intellectual, professional and spiritual life of the student and to challenge conventional thinking. They hallmark a Notre Dame graduate as one who can critically and rationally examine values and concepts in professional life.

Undergraduate and postgraduate courses, Fremantle campus

Arts majors include: behavioural science, communications, counselling, English literature, Greek, Italian, politics, legal studies, sociology, theatre studies, theology and philosophy.
Nursing: undergraduate and postgraduate specialist nursing certificates and diplomas.
Education: includes teacher education at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Commerce: majors include accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management, human resources management, public relations, sport and recreation management and graduate certificates, diplomas and masters degrees.
Law: includes graduate entry law.
Medicine: (not yet available to international students).
Sciences: behavioural science, biology, environmental science, geography and human biology.
Health sciences: includes physiotherapy, biomedical science, exercise and sports science, health and physical education, outdoor education, preventive health.
Philosophy and theology: includes campus ministry graduate studies.

All courses are accredited for Australian professional practice purposes.

Study Abroad

Notre Dame is part of a very large world wide network of Catholic universities and colleges. It is an outgrowth of the great tradition of the Catholic Church as an initiator and provider of university education. Many of the great and ancient universities of the world—e.g. Paris, Oxford, Bologna, Salamanca—sprang from this source. More modern examples of outstanding Catholic universities include the University of Notre Dame, Georgetown University, and Boston College in the United States, the University of Leuven in Belgium; Sophia University in Tokyo; the Gregorian University in Rome, Atenao de Manila and La Salle University in Manila; and the Pontifical University in Santiago, Chile. There are over 1000 Catholic universities and colleges across the world.

Student support services

Notre Dame students are actively encouraged to engage in on-campus student life.

The Student Life Office provides activities and support for all students including sports, careers advice, counselling, equity support, leisure and interest clubs, social and faculty clubs and networks, campus ministry, accommodation assistance and mentoring. Free academic support programs are available right from Orientation Week to help students make the transition into university life.