Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the level of awareness and perceptions of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among academia of Australian Universities. The SDGs also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. To achieve the objectives of this study, three research questions were developed. The liberal theory, professional formation theory, research engine theory as well as civic and community engagement theory were used to develop hypotheses of the study while a survey was conducted among 37 public universities for data collection. The analysis reveals that academia in Australian universities have a very positive perception about sustainable development goals though they strongly believe that most of these goals cannot be achieved by 2030 as planned. The research highlights the need for universities to rethink their sustainability strategies beyond reputational building and to have strategies in place to contribute genuinely towards eradicating economic, social, and environmental issues encountered by modern societies. This study also builds a new foundation of developing sustainability management frameworks and assessment benchmarks for Australian universities.

Keywords:Perception; Awareness; Sustainability; Academia; Development