Vocational Visit — ECU City Campus, Friday 10 July 2026
On Friday 10 July, a group of fortunate Rotarians and guests enjoyed a vocational visit to Edith Cowan University's stunning new City campus at Perth City Link, beside Yagan Square. Our host and guide was Andrea Burns, Academic Lead of the WA Screen and Media Academy at ECU, who generously gave her time to walk us through one of the most significant buildings ever constructed in Western Australia.
Opened in February this year, the $853 million vertical campus rises eleven "super-levels" above the Perth Busport and is already home to more than 10,000 students and staff, including the world-renowned Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), the School of Business and Law, and Andrea's own WA Screen and Media Academy.
The tour was, quite simply, jaw-dropping. Highlights included the piano salon — housing part of an extraordinary collection of instruments — along with a fully equipped television studio, a radio studio, the light-filled library, and moot law courts where business and law students stage mock trials before a live audience gallery, and the sky deck, with its commanding views across the city.
But it wasn't just the facilities that impressed us. The architecture itself tells a story. Colour, light and design have been woven through the building with real intent, honouring the site's history as an ancient Noongar place of learning and gathering, and connecting the campus to the creativity of Yagan Square. Every level we visited revealed another thoughtful detail — this is a building designed to inspire the people who learn and work within it.
Yes, the cost is eye-watering. But standing inside it, the value proposition is undeniable. ECU City will train the performers, journalists, filmmakers, lawyers and business leaders of tomorrow in facilities that rival anything in the world — and it will do so in the heart of our city, bringing energy and life to the CBD for decades to come. The quality of education this building will enable, and the talent it will keep in Western Australia, will repay the investment many times over.
Our sincere thanks to Andrea Burns for a memorable afternoon and for her infectious enthusiasm for what ECU City means for our state. Vocational visits like this one remind us why Rotary values vocational service so highly: seeing excellence in action, and celebrating those who dedicate their careers to developing the next generation.
*If you missed this visit, do make time to wander through ECU City yourself — the ground-floor galleries and the spectacular four-storey LED foyer screen alone are worth the trip.*
*If you missed this visit, do make time to wander through ECU City yourself — the ground-floor galleries and the spectacular four-storey LED foyer screen alone are worth the trip.*
Words by Ian Belton,
Member Perth Rotary
Photos by Kym MacCormac,
Member West Perth Rotary