Welcome from the Head of School

The School of Public Health and Community Medicine and the University recognise the unique position of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia’s culture and history. That Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have inhabited Australia for well over 50,000 years and that their unique cultures and identities are bound up with the land and sea.

We acknowledge that the Aboriginal people are the original owners of the lands occupied and used by our school.

In so doing it is important that the special position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia’s First Peoples is recognised and incorporated into the activities of the school. The School of Public Health and Community Medicine seeks to achieve this through observing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural protocols and the provision of services and programs appropriate to UNSW’s Indigenous medical students and other students who are focussed on Indigenous health and well-being.

Public health and community medicine are different but related disciplines, which have key elements in common that bring us together as a School. These include a concern beyond the individual, an interest in the societal context in which health care is provided, and a commitment to equity and social justice. Public health and community medicine are a powerful tool with which we can bring some equality into an unequal world. For example, vaccination programs protect the entire community, even those who are unvaccinated through herd immunity effects, regardless of socioeconomic status. Where there is poverty, inequity and suffering, public health can make a difference, and Australia has a very strong tradition and culture of public health and programs for the public good.  

At UNSW, we offer a rich and diverse range of courses in public health and health service management, and have a tradition of excellence in teaching. Our largest areas of research strength are in global health, primary care, health and human rights, and infectious diseases epidemiology, but we have expertise in many other areas, including the Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit.  This is the school to be at if you have a genuine passion for the health of populations, if you care about the inequities in health in our world and if you want to make a difference. The people in this school are unified by a common belief in the power of public health and community medicine to bring about change and population wellbeing. As one of the largest schools in our country within a leading Faculty of Medicine, we embrace our important role in mentoring and shaping the future leaders in the field. Browse these pages and learn about the breadth and depth of our teaching and research, and I hope we can welcome you into the UNSW School of Public Health and Community Medicine.

Professor Raina MacIntyre
Head, School of Public Health and Community Medicine

Footnote: I'm grateful for the input of A/Prof Lisa Jackson Pulver for the wording of the acknowledgment to the traditional owners of the land.