Public access to our campuses: Spaces and places at Griffith University
Griffith University recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the original peoples of this land now known as Australia, and Traditional Custodians of the lands on which our campuses are located. We acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have maintained unique relationships to the land, sea and waterways, and the air above and around us over tens of thousands of years as the oldest continuous surviving culture in the world.
The University endeavours to be a place where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians work together in positive partnership to develop a community that acknowledges the wisdom and cultural heritage of the descendants of the First Peoples of Australia.
South Bank, Nathan and Mount Gravatt campuses are situated on the land of the Yugarabul, Yuggera, Jagera and Turrbal peoples.
Logan is situated on the land of the Yuggera, Turrbal, Yugarabul, Jagera and Yugambeh peoples.
Gold Coast is situated on the land of the Yugambeh/Kombumerri peoples.
We welcome our local community and members of the public to experience our vibrant campuses. Each campus offers a variety of services, facilities, rooms, and open green spaces that the community can use, including areas of cultural importance and connection to Country.
Our campuses are safe, inclusive, and free to access. Visitors can explore our world-class sporting facilities, libraries, galleries, state-of-the-art buildings, and sites of cultural heritage significance. Connected spaces like the Toohey Forest surrounding our Nathan Campus or the arboretum at Logan Campus also provide opportunities to reflect on the rich, ongoing relationship between people and the natural environment.
Sustainable Development Goals
Griffith University is aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is committed to providing affordable housing for students, contributing to a sustainable future, protecting our planet’s ecosystems, and ensuring a liveable environment for present and future generations.
Visit our campuses
Our campuses are open to the public and free of charge. Come and experience our campuses natural heritage landscapes and cultural monuments or access our buildings and facilities.
Travel sustainably to get to Griffith
Looking for ways to visit a Griffith University Campus? Griffith offers a number of sustainable commuting options.
View our campus art
Our campuses are home to cultural heritage and artwork. We welcome visitors, free of charge, to explore our exhibition spaces, galleries, and works of art and artefacts.
QCAD Galleries are a facility of the Queensland College of Art and Design. Exhibitions, guest lectures and artist talks are programmed throughout the year with exhibition opportunities available to students, staff and external exhibitors. Exhibitions are free and open to the public.
We aim to foster experimentation and innovation while providing a forum for research, ideas and exchange. Exhibition programming varies across our gallery spaces, with a primary focus on contemporary art and design, research, curatorial projects and connections between artists from South East Queensland and beyond.
QCAD Galleries are comprised of exhibition spaces – the Project Gallery, Webb Gallery and Grey Street Gallery, located at the QCAD South Bank campus.
Nathan campus hosts a wide collection of artworks across our buildings and gardens, including public murals, sculptures, pottery and wall art. With pieces from the Griffith University Art Collection, private donors, gifts from Expo ‘88 and installations by our own staff and students, there is plenty to explore.
At the Logan Campus, explore three stunning art murals created by Griffith Queensland College of Art and Design students. These artworks were inspired by community workshops including story telling involving Yugumbeh Elder Uncle Ted, Logan staff, students, and artists. The three artworks are:
- 'Flourish' by Jasmeen Sidhu located in the undercroft ceiling
- 'Taking Flight' by Tegan Bates located in L07 balcony
- 'Resilience' by Desert-Rain Magpie located on the side of L08
Learn more about these artworks
Visit ‘A Storytellers Dream’ art mural, a collaboration between The Smith Family, Queensland College of Art and Design (QCAD) and the Head of Logan Campus Office. The artwork named ‘A Storytellers Dream’ was created by twelve Logan High School students as part of The Smith Family SmARTS Program. This artwork is located in the Yunus Seminar Room, L03 2.15a/2.15b (next to the library).
Unique to our Logan Campus, Sid Domic’s artwork Together symbolises the cultural connectedness across the Griffith campuses. Sid, a proud Kalkadoon man, felt inspired to paint our community. Sid is passionate about Aboriginal culture and aims to share Australia's hidden heritage through his art, using stories to educate and spark conversation. The artwork is located in the L03 Foyer. Reconciliation (griffith.edu.au)
The Story of Jabreen, The Dreaming God, is a vital part of the Kombumerri people’s Dreaming, explaining the formation and geology of the Gold Coast.
Learn about the Dreaming Story of Jabreen the warrior, shared by the late Kombumerri Traditional Custodian Uncle Graham Dillon OAM.
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following video contains images, voices and names of deceased people.
Learn about Jabreen the warrior
Visit Jabreen’s statue on the Gold Coast campus, which also serves as a sanctuary for native bees Native Bee Hive. The area in front of Jabreen’s statue is used for important Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander focussed events, celebrations and ceremonies, including Sorry Day and for graduating medical students.
Visit our yarning circles
In the context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, "yarning" refers to a form of conversation or storytelling. The term reflects a cultural practice of communication that values collective learning and mutual respect.
Did you know there are yarning circles at Logan and Nathan Campuses? These traditional spaces, used for thousands of years by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, foster respectful communication, build trust, and pass on cultural knowledge. Today, yarning circles serve as inclusive meeting places for all communities to gather discuss and listen, building relationships and understanding through open, honest dialogue. Take some time to sit silently in connection to this place and space, feel your feet upon Country, look around you and notice the plants, the birds and the insects.
Logan Campus Yarning Circle is located behind L05 Academic 1 Building.
Nathan Campus Yarning Circle is located on the North Ring Road.
Visit our Logan Campus Bush Tucker garden
A bush tucker garden is a garden specifically designed to grow and showcase native Australian plants that have traditionally been used as food by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for thousands of years. With great teamwork, the staff members at the Logan Campus have created a beautiful bush tucker garden which aims to:
- Preserve Traditional Knowledge: They help keep alive the traditional knowledge and practices related to native foods.
- Promote Sustainable Practices: They encourage the use of native plants, which are well adapted to local conditions and often require fewer resources compared to non-native plants.
- Educational Value: They provide opportunities for learning about Indigenous cultures, food sources, and sustainable living practices.
- Culinary Exploration: They offer unique ingredients for modern cooking and help broaden the culinary experience by incorporating traditional bush foods.
Logan Bush Tucker Garden and Yarning Circle
The Logan Campus Bush Tucker Garden and the Logan Campus Yarning Circle are located behind L05 Academic 1 Building. These two spaces give people access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ knowledges respectfully, authentically, in context, and in a culturally safe manner.
Enquiries about Bush Tucker, Yarning Circle and Logan Campus tours please contact our Logan Campus Project Officer:
Sharing knowledge: Kombumerri Together Project
All contributors to the Kombumerri Together Project are descendants of Andrew and Jenny Graham, sharing knowledge passed down through generations. Their insights highlight how Country has always been a place of teaching and learning for the Kombumerri people. Griffith University aims to incorporate these perspectives into its teaching, fostering awareness and respect for local cultural knowledge and the Kombumerri people's custodianship of the land where the Gold Coast campus stands.
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the following pages may contain images, voices and names of deceased people.
Dive into these digital treasures to explore and connect with this remarkable cultural legacy:
Events
Griffith University hosts a number of events across the year, find out what’s on at Griffith.
See our significant, state of the art buildings
The 6 Green Star rated Sir Samuel Griffith Centre at Nathan Campus, which opened in July 2013, is Australia’s first teaching and research building driven by solar power and hydrogen energy. It harvests rainwater to irrigate landscaped green spaces and flush toilets. The building also includes water efficient fixtures to further reduce consumption and hosts the International WaterCentre.
Griffith provides public access to this building and others, including access to our facilities and rooms, including different-sized seminar rooms, meeting rooms, lecture theatres and function spaces.
Our Engineering, Technology and Aviation building is a space for innovation where students, staff, industry and community can come experience a living laboratory, collaborating in spaces designed to reflect the workplace. Featuring six levels of adaptable, multi-functional spaces, the 6,000 m2 building boasts the latest in engineering, IT and aviation technology.
The building features specialised laboratories, workshops, informal learning spaces, engagement spaces, a simulation studio and an energy research zone on its roof. Three of the bottom floors can be converted into event spaces that take advantage of a central atrium, and the 10m high laboratory includes a gantry upon which a lightweight aircraft or vehicle can be suspended.
The whole building is considered a ‘Living Laboratory’ where more than 30 sensors relay information about the building’s energy, water and structural performance in real-time.
We also have our EcoCentre which is set in the beautiful native bushland of Toohey Forest on the Griffith University Nathan campus. Through the EcoCentre we aim to promote and encourage environmental education with our partner, the Toohey Forest Environmental Education Centre, and to nurture our relationships with various partners to provide interesting events and experiences to share with the community.
The building itself acts as our primary education tool, with features that incorporate the key principles of sustainable design, as well as a variety of live animal displays starring the local fauna found throughout Toohey Forest. The facility also boasts its own plant trail featuring a range of educational signage and over 50 species of plants. Along the walking trails you might be lucky enough to spot some of our local wildlife, such as birds, koalas, lizards, snakes and more!
Outside the EcoCentre, visitors have access to an extensive network of walking tracks. The walking tracks meander through predominantly open eucalypt forest, with rainforest species growing along the creeks and in moist gullies. It is home to koalas, short-beaked echidnas, lace monitors, almost 130 species of birds and a diverse range of reptiles, butterflies and frogs. This is unique for an area in such close proximity to the city.
The EcoCentre engages with the wider community and local businesses by providing a unique event space which can be hired for a variety of purposes. The conference room can facilitate small to medium groups of up to 100 attendees.
Hiring the EcoCentre is easy!
Experience Griffith in virtual reality
Visit some of the spaces that Griffith has to offer; from the clinical to the creative, look around in 360° virtual reality and experience Griffith from wherever you are, without stepping foot on campus. Get a glimpse into some of our remarkable study areas and hear from our students and academic staff in these 360° interactive videos.
Explore Griffith's facilities
Access our libraries and library collections
Griffith University is committed to providing public access to our libraries, including physical books and publications. Alumni and Community are welcome to visit our Libraries.
Alumni and Community members can sign up to borrow items for free from the library or walk in and use our collections.
Enjoy a performance at our conservatorium at our South Bank campus
Queensland Conservatorium is one of Australia’s leading music and performing arts schools, offering a wide variety of degree options, from classical music, jazz, opera, and popular music to musical theatre, acting, music technology and music education.
The Queensland Conservatorium contributes to local the arts, offering an ongoing program of frequent public performance.
Explore Griffith Film School’s heritage listed building at our South Bank Campus
The Griffith Film School trains the next generation of filmmakers, animators, and game designers for exciting careers in film, TV, and digital media. Teaching from industry experts in multimedia creation, 2D/3D animation, and screen production.
Visit Griffith Film School's heritage-listed building in person or through a virtual experience featuring a 360° tour of its on-campus cinema. Take a tour of the stop motion and TV studios, soundstage, and sound recording studios.
Make an appointment at one of our Health Clinics
Visit our Gold Coast Campus and experience our public health clinics. These clinics are one of the ways in which we’re striving to ensure a brighter, healthier future for all of our community.
From dentistry to allied health to psychology, these world-class clinics deliver better access to healthcare and a valuable opportunity for students to gain clinical experience in their chosen career.
Access our world class sporting facilities
Our students, staff and local communities have the chance to use our world-class sporting and fitness facilities, as well as join our social teams and sports clubs. We also have a wide range of sporting events and competitions you can get involved in, whether you're looking to compete for fun or represent the university.
Griffith welcomes our communities
Griffith University campuses are home to plenty of natural heritage, green and open spaces, and native vegetation, providing a peaceful and picturesque environment for staff, students, and our local community members to enjoy. At Griffith, we provide free public access to all open and green spaces across all of our campuses year round.
Enjoy our campus natural heritage, green and open spaces
Griffith University has a long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability and is responsible for the conservation management of almost 180 hectares of forest. Our campuses are home to some of Australia’s most unique native plant and animal species. We play a key role in maintaining, extending and protecting existing ecosystems and their biodiversity, including both plants and animals, especially ecosystems under threat in our local region of South East Queensland.
Griffith welcomes the public to come and explore our beautiful campuses. We have plenty of beautiful green and open spaces, including recreation trails for walking and cycling and native forests.
Griffith welcomes all visitors to come and explore our beautiful campuses. We have plenty of beautiful green and open spaces, including recreation trails for walking and cycling and native forests.
Nathan
Situated in the dry eucalyptus forest typical of ridges and hills in South East Queensland, Griffith University's Nathan campus nestles amongst the natural ecosystems of the Toohey Forest Park and Mt Gravatt Outlook Reserve.
The forested campus contains over 610 species of plants of which 467 are native to the site. Within this rich forest environment, over 190 birds, mammals, frogs and reptiles and numerous freshwater and terrestrial invertebrates make a home. The native ecosystems that exist on this campus are astounding and are a testament to the many people who have fought hard over decades to protect the Toohey Forest area of outstanding natural beauty for the future.
This forest has bush walking tracks & designated shared use tracks for walking and cycling open to the public.
Gold Coast
Situated in the coastal lowlands of South East Queensland, Griffith University's Gold Coast campus boasts remnant natural ecosystems and regionally-themed landscaped gardens.
The coastal campus contains over 440 species of plants of which 186 are native to the site. Within these botanical havens, over 100 birds, mammals, frogs and reptiles and numerous freshwater and terrestrial invertebrates make a home. Our native ecosystems outside the campus' landscaped areas include towering blackbutt forests, cool and damp swamp paperbark wetlands and scribbly gum forests teeming with wildflowers.
Griffith University is proud to showcase many beautiful and endangered local native plant species on its campuses. There are more than 370 plant species – and just four that aren't native – across our 28 hectare Gold Coast campus.
Please reach out to us if you would like a free tour of our Gold Coast campus native plants and forest.
Gold Coast
Situated in the coastal lowlands of South East Queensland, Griffith University's Gold Coast campus boasts remnant natural ecosystems and regionally-themed landscaped gardens.
The coastal campus contains over 440 species of plants of which 186 are native to the site. Within these botanical havens, over 100 birds, mammals, frogs and reptiles and numerous freshwater and terrestrial invertebrates make a home. Our native ecosystems outside the campus' landscaped areas include towering blackbutt forests, cool and damp swamp paperbark wetlands and scribbly gum forests teeming with wildflowers.
Griffith University is proud to showcase many beautiful and endangered local native plant species on its campuses. There are more than 370 plant species – and just four that aren't native – across our 28 hectare Gold Coast campus.
Please reach out to us if you would like a free tour of our Gold Coast campus native plants and forest.
Logan
Situated in cleared remnants of an old dairy farm in Meadowbrook, Griffith University's Logan campus is at first, seemingly a green desert compared to the rich forests and landscaping of the Gold Coast and Nathan campuses.
The flatland campus however may surprise you in that it contains over 220 species of plants of which 165 are native to the site. Within this relatively rich floristic environment of landscaped areas, open fields, lakes and a newly-planted native arboretum, over 70 birds, mammals, frogs and reptiles have been recently identified here with many more expected to be discovered in the coming years as the campus rehabilitates into its pre-clearing glory!
A Logan City Council partnership included a major restoration of Slacks Creek, which runs through our Logan campus. A key project was establishing an arboretum on the campus, which features more than 7,000 native trees.
Our Logan arboretum is open to all and is used by bush kindy students.
Griffith biodiversity
Within Griffith's Sustainability Strategy 2023-2030, the University has committed to numerous goals that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. This includes strategies aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. One of the primary strategies is supporting rich and healthy biodiversity at Griffith through an array of approaches that reduce threatening processes impacting our wild species such as greenhouse gas emission, pollution and land-clearing. Find out more about the biodiversity of our beautiful campuses.
Koalas find a home at Toohey Forest
Toohey Forest, located adjacent to Griffith University's Nathan and Mount Gravatt campuses, is an ecological island in suburbia. It's home to a variety of native wildlife, including owls, bearded dragons and a small population of koalas.
Biodiversity books produced by Griffith University
In 2023, academics from the School of Environment and Science at Griffith, produced Birds of the Nathan Campus and Vertebrates of Gold Coast Campus. These books were created to provide readily available information on the bird and vertebrate species recorded on our campuses for education, teaching, and conservation purposes.
Contact Griffith Sustainability
Griffith Sustainability Room 0.08, Building N23, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan QLD, 4111