ACTS Position Statement

Reaffirming Sustainability Leadership in the Tertiary Sector: 2025 – 2030

With this Position Statement, ACTS is calling for attention to and action on the current trends in sustainability, globally and in the Australasian Region.

Stressors on the higher education sector continue to escalate. The worldwide developments on sustainability are far from positive, with a very minor percentage of SDG indicators being on track. Pressure on stability and world peace is increasing, also in the Asia Pacific Region. SDG 16 on Peace, Social Justice, and Strong Institutions is a cornerstone Goal that makes it clear that sustainability can only thrive under the rule of peace and justice and when institutions like tertiary education institutions, are strong and leading presences. 

As the peak body for sustainability in the tertiary education sector, ACTS affirms that now is the time for tertiary institutions to lead, innovate, and regenerate for a sustainable and just future. ACTS therefore wishes to take this opportunity to promote the importance of the work done under the SDGs generally and SDG 16 especially, and bolster the value of doubling down on sustainability approaches in the sector.

Why This Matters

For our students, our planet, our present, and our future: 

  • Graduates must be equipped with the knowledge, skills, values, and attributes to navigate a radically changing world and drive transformational change.
  • Students demand it: Current and future students are choosing institutions that take sustainability seriously. Also alumni are increasingly supportive of institutional commitments and actions.
  • Partnerships are essential: We must collaborate with Indigenous communities, industries, and professions to co-create a sustainable future.
  • Institutions must be resilient and future-proof: Sustainability is not optional—it is a whole-of-institution imperative, including governance, operations, teaching, research, partnerships, and community engagement.
  • Sustainability leaders must be empowered: Investing in sustainability leadership, strategy, and initiatives is investing in institutional resilience, relevance and regeneration.

Call to Action

ACTS calls on all tertiary institutions across Australasia (Australia, New Zealand and the Greater Pacific Region) to commit to the following priorities in key areas:

  1. Embed sustainability literacy across curricula and graduate outcomes.
  2. Advance research that addresses global sustainability challenges and that is itself done in a sustainable manner.
  3. Prioritise holistic sustainability in all institutional decision-making.
  4. Resource sustainability leaders, networks, and programs appropriately.
  5. Set measurable sustainability targets and transparently report progress.
  6. Co-create / Expand partnerships  to lead innovation and regeneration.
  7. Amplify the voices of under represented communities, particularly indigenous and first nations
  8. Take decisive action toward necessary net-zero carbon and environmental protection, and fully advance equity and justice in our institutions and society at large.

Conclusion

Tertiary education is a powerful force for shaping a just and sustainable future. To realise this potential, sustainability must be recognised, reinforced, and resourced. Not as a peripheral function, but as a core institutional value. 

Our students deserve nothing less. The future demands nothing less.

Image from Nerissa J