Summary
UNSW Sydney, the University of Sydney, La Trobe University and Adelaide University are expanding access to AI tools and incorporating them into coursework, practice and assessment. An OpenAI-commissioned survey found that 81% of 1,018 Australian university students surveyed said they use AI several times a week.
OpenAI says UNSW Sydney, the University of Sydney, La Trobe University and Adelaide University are expanding access to its AI tools while adding AI to courses, practical exercises and assessment guidance. The initiatives range from staged access to ChatGPT Edu to simulated clinical scenarios, teacher-training exercises and authorised cyber-security work.
The shift is not just about making tools available. The universities are also developing ways for students to practise using AI in their fields while learning when to rely on their own subject knowledge and judgment.
From access to curriculum
UNSW is expanding ChatGPT Edu access to more than 80,000 students and staff in stages, with the aim of making it available across the student community. The university and OpenAI plan to incorporate generative AI foundations and Codex into courses, with students able to apply AI in hackathons and industry projects.
At the University of Sydney, students and staff are to receive supported access to ChatGPT Edu alongside training and guidance. The rollout is staged, with access for all students scheduled for Semester 1, 2027 after a trial. The university is also establishing a $1 million AI Sustainability Research and Innovation Fund.
La Trobe reports that all 3,500 staff already have access to ChatGPT Edu, and plans universal access for its 45,000 students and staff in the first quarter of 2027. It is also integrating AI skills into 50 priority first-year subjects for Semester 1, 2027 and has developed free learning modules on responsible and safe AI use.
The announcement also reports results from a Pureprofile survey commissioned by OpenAI. It surveyed 1,018 Australian university students aged 18 and over, studying on campus or remotely, from 3–7 August 2026. Of those surveyed, 81% said they used AI several times a week, including 33% who said they used it multiple times a day. A further 79% wanted more opportunities to use advanced AI tools on real-world projects, and 61% believed AI skills would be essential to success in their chosen career. These are reported student use and views, rather than measures of learning outcomes.
Simulations, projects and assessment rules
At La Trobe, paramedicine students use practice activities built with ChatGPT, including scenarios involving ECG interpretation, a possible heart attack and triage after a mass-casualty incident. The activities are delivered through the university’s learning management system. The intended exercise is for students to assess evidence, explain their reasoning and defend decisions in simulated situations.
La Trobe’s Fletch social robot is used to help trainee teachers practise difficult conversations with parents. Powered by OpenAI large language models hosted through Microsoft Azure, Fletch responds with speech, facial expressions and head movements. The scenarios were developed from interviews with experienced educators.
The universities are also setting different rules for AI use depending on what an assessment is meant to teach. UNSW’s “Can, Can’t, Must” framework lets educators specify whether AI use is permitted, prohibited or required. The University of Sydney is pairing AI access with an approach that has students demonstrate their own capabilities in supervised settings and show how they can use AI in open assessments.
Adelaide University says it is using OpenAI’s Daybreak Blue for authorised defensive security work, including vulnerability discovery, secure code review, malware analysis, incident response and patch validation. Together, the examples show how universities are pairing access to AI systems with exercises and assessment rules intended to build practical capability alongside subject knowledge.