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The Australian Catholic University, or ACU National is Australia's only public, Catholic university and has over 13,000 students and 900 staff (2004) on six campuses located in three states and the A.C.T. ACU is open to all staff and students regardless of their religious beliefs. ACU is affiliated with the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the International Federation of Catholic Universities.

ACU was formed by the amalgamation of four Catholic institutes of higher learning in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the A.C.T. and commenced operations on January 1st, 1991. ACU and its predecessor institutions have played an important role in Australia by training many teachers and nurses employed in the public, Catholic and other systems.

The university's mission statement aims to add a "spiritual dimension" to higher education in Australia, similar to the great Catholic universities of Europe and North America. There is a strong social justice element in the university's mission and programs with student teachers completing community service as part of their course.

Organisational Structure
ACU is established in Victoria as a company, Australian Catholic University Limited. The President of the company is Archbishop of Sydney, George Cardinal Pell. The acts recognising the university are the Australian Catholic University Act 1991 in Victoria and the Australian Catholic University Act 1990 in NSW. Members of the Senate of ACU are Directors of ACU Ltd, their fiduciary powers requiring them to act in the best interests of the University.

The Senate is comprised of the following members:
 * the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor who are members ex-officio
 * the Pro-Chancellor
 * eight community members
 * three members of the academic staff
 * one member of the general staff
 * one student

The Senate is the governing body of the University, the Academic Board's role is to administer and implement academic policies. Each state and territory has a chapter comprised of community members and whose role is to advise on issues which affect their local communities.

The chief executive officer of the University is the Vice-Chancellor. There are three Pro-Vice-Chancellors, one in each state and individually responsible for Research and International; Quality and Outreach; and Academic Affairs. The Canberra and Ballarat campuses have a Rector, who like the Pro-Vice-Chancellors, is the Vice-Chancellor's representative on the campus. The Vice-Chancellor is a member of the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee. The Vice-Chancellry is located at North Sydney.

History
The Catholic schooling system in Australia developed in parallel to the State education systems in the 19th century. The predominantly Irish Catholics wanted to educate their children in their faith in a country where Protestants were in the ascendancy. When state aid was stopped to Catholic schools in the late 19th century the Catholic bishops sent for Irish brothers and nuns to staff their schools. Until the mid-20th century the majority of teachers in Australian Catholic schools were members of religious orders. Some of the religious orders involved in education in Australia were the Christian Brothers, Sisters of Mercy, Dominicans and Marist Brothers.

The predecessor colleges of ACU were established as religious institutes to train Australian youth for religious life and often to staff Catholic schools and hospitals. The first of these was established in 1850, a year before Australia's first university the University of Sydney. In the mid-20th century these colleges began to admit lay students and the Catholic Teacher Training Colleges were established from the former religious institutes. By the 1980's these were known as Colleges of Advanced Education (CAE).

The Dawkins Reforms of the late 1980's and a desire for the Federal government to deal with one catholic institution led to the merger of these former CAEs to become the Australian Catholic University. More than twenty historical entities shaped the creation of the university. The four institutions which almalgamated to become ACU were: the Catholic College of Education Sydney in New South Wales, the Institute of Catholic Education in Victoria, McAuley College of Queensland, and Signadou College of Education in the Australian Capital Territory.

Australian Catholic University opened its doors on 1st January 1991. Originally there were eight campuses, the merger of the two Melbourne campuses Mercy at Ascot Vale and Christ at Oakleigh led to the creation of the St. Patrick's Campus in Fitzroy. There were formerly three campuses in Sydney, the Castle Hill campus was closed and staff and students moved to Strathfield and North Sydney. In 2003 the McAuley campus moved from the Brisbane suburb of Mitchelton to larger accommodations in the suburb of Banyo.

Campuses
ACU has campuses at:
 * North Sydney (Mackillop)
 * Strathfield (Mount St. Mary)
 * Brisbane (McAuley at Banyo)
 * Canberra (Signadou)
 * Ballarat (Aquinas)
 * Melbourne (St. Patrick's)

Student numbers per campus as at September 2003 were as follows: North Sydney 2,066; Strathfield 2,447; Brisbane 2,692; Canberra 617. Ballarat 633; Melbourne 3,114.

Faculties and Schools
ACU has three faculties: Arts and Sciences; Education; and Health Sciences. Within the Arts and Sciences faculty are there also two sub-faculties: Business and Informatics; and Philosophy and Theology. Each faculty is headed by a Dean, supported by a Deputy Dean. Courses are offered in each faculty at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

The three foundation faculties are divided into schools:

Arts and Sciences
Arts and Sciences
 * New South Wales
 * Queensland
 * Victoria

Psychology
 * national, located in Brisbane and Melbourne

Social Work
 * ACT and NSW

Sub Faculty of Business and Informatics
Business and Informatics
 * New South Wales
 * Queensland
 * Victoria

Sub Faculty of Philosophy and Theology
Philosophy
 * national

Theology
 * ACT
 * New South Wales
 * Victoria
 * Queensland

Education
Education
 * Australian Capital Territory
 * New South Wales
 * Queensland
 * Trescowthick (Victoria)

Educational Leadership
 * national

Religious Education
 * national

Health Sciences
Exercise Science
 * New South Wales
 * Victoria

Nursing
 * national, located in Brisbane, North Sydney, Ballarat and Melbourne

ACUcom
ACUcom is ACU's continuing education division and offers a range of business, vocational and international courses. It is based in NSW, Queensland and Victoria. Courses include postgraduate certificates in TESOL and inclusive education as well as VET and business short courses.

Student Organisations
Students are represented at a national level by the Australian Catholic University National Students Association (ACUNSA), an informal gathering whose role is to present student issues to unversity management and to elect the student member of senate. ACUNSA is chaired by the student senator who also sits on the university senate.

Each campus has its own Student Association. The president of each campus Student Association doubles as a member of ACUNSA. Campus Student Associations are responsible for providing students with cultural, sporting and social opportunities and representing the needs of the student body to the university.

At the end of 2005, the Howard Government passed its voluntary student unionism bill, which makes it illegal for student organisations to collect fees from students without their consent, as had previously been the case. As of July 2006, many beleive that student organisations on smaller and regional campuses, such as ACU's, will be hardest hit without the commercial income and assets of the larger universities. The effect remains to be seen.

Student Services
Students at ACU are also provided with a range of Student Services such as counselling, academic skills advice, disabilities support and campus ministry. The Student Services team work with Student Associations on many projects.

Students have access to free, confidential, counselling services to give support with issues affecting their studies or lives in general. Academic skills advisers can assist students with developing their study skills by offering individual sessions or group workshops. Disabilities services supports students with disabilities and chronic medical conditions with issues that may affect their studies. Campus ministers on each campus are there for pastoral care and arrange liturgical celebrations and often works of charity.

There are three indigenous units catering for the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. These are: Their role is to provide support for full-time indigenous students as well as arranging residentials for students studying by distance education.
 * Jim-baa-yer in Victoria
 * Weemala in Queensland
 * Yalbalinga in New South Wales

Sports
ACU and its predecessor institutions have produced first grade AFL and Rugby League players including Justin Madden (AFL), now Victorian sports minister and Des Hasler, coach of Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the NRL. The former Castle Hill campus was home to the ACU Polecats who competed in NSW Tertiary Student Rugby League even after the campus was closed down. An ACU team in Brisbane competes in the Queensland Student Rugby League Division B and were premiers in 2000.

ACU students compete at their respective regional University Games, attempting to qualify for the Australian University Games (AUG's), the pinnacle of university sport in Australia. In 2001, ACU's rugby union team recieved a wildcard entry into the AUG's and surprised many by reaching the semi-finals. The team lost its semi-final to Sydney University and were placed a very respectable fourth.

The Big Event
In 2004, the Sydney campuses hosted the first ever national gathering of students from every campus. This gathering was known as the Big Event and its aim was to engender a feeling of being one national university rather than a collection of small campuses. Students engaged in workshops on topics such as leadership, spirituality and social justice. Many of these workshops were led by alumni who were working for organisations that aim to make a difference in society. The Big Event is scheduled to be held again in 2006.

Notable Faculty

 * Frank Brennan AO, professor of law, Institute of Legal Studies and Living National Treasure.
 * Raimond Gaita, professor of philosophy at ACU and King's College London.
 * Chris Sidoti, member of Institute of Legal Studies, former Director of the International Service for Human Rights in Geneva.

Notable alumni
Notable alumni of ACU and its predesccesor colleges include:


 * Matthew Burke, Australian rugby union player
 * Phil Glendenning, director of the Edmund Rice Centre and national president of Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR)
 * Des Hasler. former rugby leagure player and coach of Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
 * Justin Madden, former AFL player and Victorian state minister
 * Melina Marchetta, author of Looking for Alibrandi
 * Alan Whiticker, rugby league historian