# Australian Catholic University

Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome.

## History

Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamation of four Catholic tertiary institutions in eastern Australia:
* Catholic College of Education Sydney, New South Wales
* Institute of Catholic Education, Victoria
* McAuley College, Queensland
* Signadou College of Education, Australian Capital Territory
These institutions had their origins in the mid-1800s, when religious orders and institutes became involved in preparing teachers for Catholic schools and, later, nurses for Catholic hospitals. Through a series of amalgamations, relocations, transfers of responsibilities and diocesan initiatives, more than 20 historical entities have contributed to the creation of the university.

## Governance and structure

ACU's vice-chancellor and president, Zlatko Skrbis, is responsible for representing the university both nationally and internationally and for providing strategic leadership and management. He holds a PhD in Sociology.
Deputy vice-chancellors have delegated responsibility for assigned areas of policy. These areas are academic, administration and resources, and research.

### Faculties and departments

Each faculty is headed by an executive dean and supported by a number of associate deans and heads of schools.

## Campuses and buildings

ACU has seven campuses across Australia: Ballarat, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney (Blacktown, North Sydney, Strathfield) with a Leadership Centre in Adelaide and another in Townsville. In 2015, the university opened the Rome Centre, a collaboration with the Catholic University of America, located in Rome, Italy.
The Mount St Mary Campus in Strathfield is heritage listed.

## Academic profile
### Research and publications

HDR students have objected to a change plan introduced in September 2023 that would eliminate positions occupied by their supervisors leaving them without supervisors with the relevant expertise for their projects.

## Student life
### Student union

Each ACU campus has a student representative council and there is a national student body called the Australian Catholic University National Students' Association (ACUNSA), which advocates on behalf of students both individually and collectively.

### Sports and athletics

The university hosts an annual national sporting event – the ACU Games – and students also compete in Australia's largest annual multisport event, the Australian University Games.

## Controversies
### Position on LGBT visibility

In March 2023, controversy broke out on campus when librarians were ordered to remove the rainbow flags that had been displayed across campuses. Staff and students wrote an open letter to the university's Vice-Chancellor Zlatko Skrbis claiming that his acts were "a direct affront to ACU's mission to act in truth and love in the pursuit of knowledge, the dignity of the human person, and the common good". The university's position against LGBT visibility appeared consistent with its earlier refusal to allow the Gay and Lesbian Teachers and Students Association to establish an LGBT+ support group on its Strathclyde campus, but to depart from Pope Francis' increasingly affirming stance on LGBT topics.

### AGS investigation

In July 2023, ACU launched an internal investigation into its contracts with Asset Group Solutions. AGS had provided security and cleaning services to ACU but its founder had been charged with corruption. Stephen Weller (Chief Operating Officer and Deputy-Vice Chancellor) had been warned in 2018 about AGS's conduct but did not act on those warnings. ACU responded by denying knowledge of AGS’s criminal activities and has launched an internal investigation.

### Job cuts

In September 2023, ACU announced plans to cut 113 full-time jobs, most of which were at the Melbourne campus. This was part of spending cuts intended to reduce a forecast $30 million deficit and respond to shrinking enrollments. The cuts were announced as a $250 million campus building, which was constructed to accommodate student and staff growth, neared completion. This has produced an international response in which many academics denounced the university. Timothy Williamson, a professor of philosophy at Oxford and Yale, told reporters that ACU's meteoric rise to the pinnacle of research in philosophy was "unprecedented" but that cuts would give ACU the reputation "as a Mickey Mouse university ... damaging the good international standing of the Australian university system as a whole".

## Notable people
### Notable alumni

* Matt Burke – former international rugby union player and sport presenter
* Ellie Cole – paralympic swimmer and wheelchair basketball player
* Ben Cummins – former rugby league referee
* Martin Dixon – politician
* Sean Eadie – retired professional track cyclist
* Paul Field – musician, filmmaker and author
* Sam Hibbins – politician
* Kristina Keneally – politician
* John Kennedy – politician
* Justin Madden – former Australian rules footballer and state politician
* Simon Madden – former Australian rules footballer
* Melina Marchetta – writer and teacher
* Paul Mellor – former professional rugby league footballer
* Bronwen Neil – Professor of Ancient History at Macquarie University
* Deborah O'Neill – politician
* Camille Agnes Becker Paul – feminist, moral theologian and activist
* Muriel Porter – journalist
* Liam Simmons – basketball coach and former player
* Gregory D. Smithers – professor of American history at Virginia Commonwealth University
* Madeleine Steere – professional water polo centre back
* Anba Suriel – bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Los Angeles
* James Tedesco – professional rugby league footballer
* Morris West – novelist and playwright
* Alan Whiticker – non-fiction author and publisher
* Guy Zangari – former politician