If you passed the Central Courtyard or Lakeside Lawn in the last fortnight you would have been sure to see lots of flowers, graduation caps tossed in the air and more than just a few tears of laughter and joy.

The April Graduations series saw 3900 students receive awards, with more than 15,000 guests in attendance. The University awarded more than 5300 degrees, diplomas and certificates. Of the degrees conferred, 122 went to Doctoral PhD candidates. A further 93 exceptional students were awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation Award for meritorious work.

Two significant honorary doctorates were awarded to candidates representing leadership in environment law and property development.

John Whitehouse, accredited as one of Australia’s leading environment and planning lawyers was recognised with a Doctor of Laws honoris causa. Vice Chairman of Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd, Colin Lam, also received an honorary doctorate in Business, in acknowledgment of his business achievements.

The ceremonies were also joined by some exciting speakers ranging from founding member of The Wiggles, Dr Murray Cook AM and taekwondo Olympic gold medalist Lauren Burns OAM.

Following a successful pilot in 2014, all ceremonies were live streamed via YouTube, facilitating the welcome inclusion of family, friends, and supporters who weren’t able to attend the event on site.

A successful uptake of the hashtag #mqgrads meant the hundreds of graduates who posted their photos across a number of social media platforms could have their images shared with the wider University community. Here is a selection of posts from Instagram and Twitter: