Griffith University


Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. The university has five campuses, at Gold Coast, Nathan, Logan, South Bank, and Mount Gravatt. A sixth campus, to be located at the Treasury Building in the Brisbane CBD, will open in 2027. The university was named after Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, who was twice Premier of Queensland and the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia. Sir Samuel Griffith played a major role in the Federation of Australia and was the principal author of the Australian Constitution.
The university offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs across a range of disciplines, including business, law, science, health, education, engineering, and the arts.
Griffith University was originally opened in Nathan, Queensland, as a single campus of 451 students, but has expanded to include five campuses in three cities, the largest of which is the Gold Coast campus at Southport and the Nathan campus in Brisbane. The Mount Gravatt and South Bank campuses are also located in Brisbane, while the Logan campus is at Meadowbrook.
Griffith University, with about 50,000 students enrolled from more than 130 countries, is a verdant university and a member of the IRU.

History

Beginning

In 1965, of natural bushland at Nathan was set aside for a new university campus. Initially, the site was to be part of the University of Queensland, which was experiencing strong demand in humanities and social sciences. By 1970, a new tertiary institution was being mooted, and Theodor Bray was asked by the Queensland Government to establish a second for Brisbane and the third for the state.
After several months of discussion, the government announced on 24 December 1970 that Bray would head a committee charged with establishing Griffith University.
On 30 September 1971, the Queensland Government officially created and recognised Griffith University with the passing of the Assent to Griffith University Act 1971. On 5 March 1975, Griffith University began teaching 451 students in four schools: Australian Environmental Studies, Humanities, Modern Asian Studies, and Science.

Expansion

In the 1990s, the Dawkins Revolution saw several tertiary education reforms in Australia, resulting in a series of amalgamations of colleges and universities. In 1990, the Mount Gravatt Teachers College and Gold Coast College of Advanced Education became official campuses of Griffith University, remaining in the same location today. The Queensland Conservatorium of Music continued the higher education mergers and became an official part of Griffith University in 1991. Originally established in 1957, the new entity became known as Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. In 1992, Griffith's amalgamations were completed with the Queensland College of Art, established in 1881 and recognised as the oldest continuously operating art training institution in Australia, officially becoming part of the university.
Griffith's fifth campus, Logan, opened in 1998. Located in the suburb of Meadowbrook, on an area of green fields south of Brisbane, the Logan campus was established to specifically address the interests and needs of the Logan City area.
Griffith University was an official Partner of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. Over 500 students and staff were closely involved in the planning and delivery of the event.

Campuses

Griffith University's campuses are distinctive for their nature-based settings within urban environments.

Gold Coast campus

The Gold Coast campus is located in the Gold Coast suburb of Southport. Set in native bushland, on the land of the Aboriginal Yugambeh and Kombumerri peoples, this campus hosts over 19,000 students.
The campus opened the Griffith Health Centre and the neighbouring Gold Coast University Hospital in 2013, and opened the Griffith Business School building in 2014. The campus is serviced by two Gold Coast light rail stations and is a major interchange for bus routes.

Logan campus

Hosting approximately 2,000 students, Logan campus offers degrees in human services and social work, nursing and midwifery, business, and education.

Nathan campus

Nathan, Griffith's foundation campus, is situated on the edge of Toohey Forest approximately 10 kilometres from the Brisbane CBD. Nathan hosts over 13,000 students and offers degrees in business and government, engineering and information technology, environment, humanities and languages, law, and science and aviation.
The buildings at the Nathan campus were designed to fit into the environment by Roger Kirk Johnson, the founding architectural designer of the campus, following the slope of the land and using architectural means of cooling. The library building was designed by Robin Gibson and won the first national award for library design. The clusters of buildings, sports facilities, bushland reserves, and recreational areas are connected by integrated networks of walking paths. On the northern edge of the campus lies the Dunn Memorial.
In 2013, Sir Samuel Griffith Centre was opened on the Nathan campus. The building operates off the grid and is powered by a combination of photovoltaics and hydrogen. The campus has two residential colleges for students and a range of sporting facilities.

Mount Gravatt campus

The Mount Gravatt campus, adjacent to the Nathan campus, hosts 4,400 students. It is the university's social sciences and humanities hub and the base for research into crucial social issues, including education and suicide prevention. The campus is situated on the edge of Toohey Forest. The campus includes an aquatic and fitness centre, with a heated pool and indoor and outdoor recreation areas, co-located with a 16-court tennis centre, a training oval, and basketball and netball courts. On-campus student accommodation is also available.

South Bank campus

Located in Brisbane's cultural precinct, the South Bank campus is Griffith University's creative hub. It encompasses Griffith's Queensland College of Art and Queensland Conservatorium, the Griffith Film School and the Griffith University Art Museum and Ship Inn., enrolment for all four units is about 3,400 students.

Future Brisbane City campus

On 6 September 2024, Griffith University announced that they would be purchasing the historic Treasury Building in Brisbane, and converting it into the university’s sixth teaching campus, which will open in 2027. The new campus will accommodate students and staff from the Schools of Business, IT and Law, and will also serve as a centre for “postgraduate and executive education”.

Organisation

Griffith University is structured in four academic groups, with teaching offered through a range of schools, colleges, and departments.

Arts, Education, and Law

Research

Griffith researchers work in 38 centres and institutes, investigating areas such as water science, climate change adaptation, criminology and crime prevention, sustainable tourism, and health and chronic disease.
The university's major research institutes include:
  • Advanced Design and Prototyping Technologies Institute
  • Australian Rivers Institute
  • Cities Research Institute
  • Environmental Futures Research Institute
  • Griffith Asia Institute
  • Griffith Criminology Institute
  • Griffith Institute for Educational Research
  • Griffith Institute for Tourism
  • Institute for Glycomics
  • Institute for Integrated and Intelligent Systems
  • Menzies Health Institute Queensland
  • Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery
Additionally, Griffith hosts several externally supported centres and facilities, including:
Griffith offers research commercialization and services for business, industry, and government through Griffith Enterprise.

Other centres

As well as research centres and institutes, Griffith has several cultural and community-focused organizations. These include the EcoCentre, which provides a space for environmental education activities, exhibitions, seminars, and workshops; and the Centre for Interfaith & Cultural Dialogue.

Recognised research

In 2021, a research team led by the university discovered a new type of tree frog in New Guinea which is commonly known as the "chocolate frog".

Academic reputation

In the 2024 Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities, which measures aggregate performance across the QS, THE and ARWU rankings, the university attained a position of #236.
; National publications
In the Australian Financial Review Best Universities Ranking 2025, the university was tied #19 amongst Australian universities.
; Global publications
In the 2026 Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings, the university attained a position of #268.
In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, the university attained a position of #251–300.
In the 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities, the university attained a position of #301–400.
In the 2025–2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities, the university attained a position of #238.
In the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2024, the university attained a position of #289.