Think. 

Discuss.

Act.

Melbourne Free University provides a platform for learning, discussion and debate which is open to everyone.

Melbourne Free University session

No enrolments. No fees. No registrations. Everyone welcome.

The MFU was established by a collective in 2010 in response to Australia’s increasingly outcome oriented education system, and aims to offer space for independent engagement with important ideas and issues.

How it works

The MFU runs multi-week courses and once-off special sessions on a range of subjects and themes, with classes taking place on Thursday evenings from 6.30-8pm in Melbourne’s inner north. Each session starts with a 45 minute presentation by an expert or panel on the issue at hand, followed by a 45 minute participant-driven discussion.

This is not a Q&A session – we believe that everyone has something important to bring to the discussion, regardless of their education, job, or experience, and we hope to create a space where we can come together as a community to learn off one another and debate salient current issues.

Learn more

Upcoming at MFU

Check back soon! Or get email updates when we have something new.
Check back soon! Or get email updates when we have something new.

Start your own free University

We wrote this guide on how to start a free university based on our own experiences in the first two years of setting up and running the Melbourne Free University.

The guide takes you through the issues you'll need to consider and questions you'll need to ask yourself when setting up a free university in your community. It has examples and testimonies from the MFU community, and is free to download.

If you'd like some hardcopies, please drop us a line and we can post them to you!

Download the guide

Melbourne Free University How to Start a Free University guide