The Department of Education contributes to Australia’s economic prosperity and social wellbeing by creating opportunities and driving better outcomes through access to quality education and learning. This includes access to quality schooling to provide the knowledge, skills and values for every child to achieve their potential.
Geography’s Big Week Out and Australia’s participation in the International Geography Olympiads are supported by the Australian Government.
School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
The University of Melbourne is a global leader in higher education. Across our campuses, we convene brilliant minds from different disciplines and sectors to come together to address important questions and tackle the grand challenges. In a disrupted world, that capacity has never been more important. Our vision is to equip our students with a distinctive, future-facing education, personalised around their ambitions and needs, enriched by global perspectives and embedded in a richly collaborative research culture. As active citizens and future leaders, our students represent our greatest contribution to the world, and are at the heart of everything we do.
The School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (SGEAS) brings together discipline strengths in human and physical geography, meteorology and atmospheric science, and earth sciences. It is dedicated to achieving a better future for our students, societies and the environment.
Study and research in geography, within SGEAS, focuses on: climate change; landscape processes; environmental hazards; Indigenous knowledge; resource futures; space, place and social change; cities; and social and environmental change in the global north and global south. A geography major can be taken in undergraduate degrees in both Science and Arts.
Our geography graduates work in diverse roles across industry, at all levels of government and in not-for-profit organisations, in fields such as environmental resource management, international development, climate impacts and adaptation, sustainable futures, and urban policy and planning.
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences
School of Humanities and Languages
The relationship between people, our societies and the environment underpins many of our great global challenges. Through studying geography at UNSW, you will learn to analyse these dynamics by drawing insights from social and physical sciences. We aim to equip graduates with the skills to analyse and synthesise environmental, economic, social and political information to find solutions for our complex problems.
Geography in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences is particularly focused on physical geography, natural hazards, human impact, and the technologies to consider these including remote sensing and geographical information science.
Geographical studies within the School of Humanities and Languages focuses on the ways physical, social, cultural, economic and political factors shape places, and, in turn, how geographical factors impact on people and their wellbeing, ecosystems, urban places and economic activity.
A geography major can be taken in a range of undergraduate degrees. It will enable you to develop transferable skills that can be applied to a range of industries. Graduates work in diverse roles across business, industry, government and not-for-profit organisations, in fields such as natural resource management, international development, environmental assessment and regional planning.
The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is proud to support the Australian Geography Competition through its School of Architecture and Built Environment. QUT’s Bachelor of Built Environment (Honours) equips students with the skills to shape sustainable, inclusive, and resilient cities and regions. With majors in Urban and Regional Planning, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture and Construction Management and Quantity Surveying, the program blends design thinking, spatial analysis, and real-world engagement to prepare graduates for impactful careers in shaping the built environment. Through industry partnerships, hands-on projects, and a strong focus on sustainability and community, QUT empowers future professionals to lead the transformation of our urban and regional spaces.
Explore more: QUT – Bachelor of Built Environment (Honours)
UWA’s School of Social Sciences bridges social, physical, and environmental sciences and brings a scientific approach to understanding the development and operations of societies and their influence the world. Our diverse school equips students with the knowledge and skills to address the social challenges of our time. We’re home to world-class academics who tackle global, national, and regional issues.
The discipline of geography at UWA has a long and proud history of producing high-quality research and well-trained graduates who have addressed some of the big economic, social, and environmental challenges facing Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and the world beyond. UWA Geography excels in integrating human and physical dimensions in place-based research. Offering diverse degree programs with fieldwork opportunities, students gain expertise in high-demand fields including critical analysis, Geographic Information Systems, and data interpretation.
Graduates enter varied careers, from government policy roles to private analytics firms and non-profit sectors. The geography discipline’s unique interdisciplinary approach and emphasis on real-world problem-solving gives graduates a distinct advantage in the job market, recognised by employers domestically and internationally.
Curtin’s School of Design and the Built Environment provides teaching that values design, sustainability and community development; encourages individual approaches to visual ideas; and celebrates future possibilities.
The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) is the peak national body representing urban and regional planning professionals across Australia. PIA champions high-quality planning to shape liveable, sustainable, and resilient communities by advocating for best practice, fostering professional excellence, and supporting lifelong learning for planners and planners-to-be.
As part of its commitment to the future of the profession, PIA leads the Become A Planner campaign to inspire the next generation to consider planning as a meaningful and impactful career. The campaign raises awareness of the vital role planners play in tackling real-world challenges and connects young people, schools and communities with clear pathways into planning studies and practice.
The Royal Geographical Society of Queensland (RGSQ) is a non-profit organization that promotes the study of geography. Since its establishment in 1885, the Society has brought together people from all walks of life who share an interest in geography. The Society stimulates interest in geography through a regular programme of lectures and trips, and through actively supporting geographical education and research.
RGSQ is one of the two organisations responsible for the Competition and looks after its day-to-day administration.
The Australian Geography Teachers’ Association (AGTA) is the national organisation of Australia’s state geography teachers’ associations. AGTA seeks to: foster the teaching and learning of geography in Australian schools and enhance awareness of its applications in society; promote and circulate the results of research into geography education; maintain a professional network through which teachers of geography in Australia may express opinions on educational matters; represent the interests of its member affiliates on national education decision making bodies.
For more information on careers in Geography, visit the Go with Geo website.
AGTA is one of the two organisations responsible for the Competition.