The Australian College of Theology (ACT) is a national provider of state accredited higher education courses in theology.  The College was established under the auspices of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia in 1891.  It is now an ecumenical consortium of some 2,000 students enrolled in 20 affiliated colleges approved to teach the awards of the College on its behalf.  These awards range from two-year diplomas, three-year undergraduate and coursework masters degrees to masters and doctoral research degrees.

The College is the legal entity that offers the courses and is responsible for all regulations relating to the courses of study that it owns.  Its degrees are accredited by the higher education authorities in each mainland state.

The College has a centrally devised and managed curriculum and quality assurance process that is applied across the whole network of affiliated colleges.  The day-to-day educational system is managed by the Dean from the College office in Sydney.  Three academic boards share this responsibility.  The boards oversee policy, regulation, review of units, and course structure for research, coursework and diploma awards.

The boards are mostly comprised of principals or senior faculty members of affiliated colleges.  A number of senior university academics also sit on the Research and Coursework Awards Boards to help ensure that the practice of the College (especially in the outcome of the consideration of research examiner’s reports and general academic policy) remains in line with best practice in the university sector.

In the event that the College ceases to be able to provide a course of study, the College has entered into a number of tuition assurance arrangements with providers in other states that will enable students either to transfer with full credit to the same or similar course of study or to receive a refund of his or her up-front payments for any unit of study that the student has commenced but has not been able to complete because the College has ceased to provide the course of which the unit forms part.  The Statement of Tuition Assurance can be accessed at: Statement of Tuition Assurance (PDF)

The College is governed by a Council.  Its members are drawn from the General Synod, college stakeholders, graduates and members of the public.

The following courses may be offered to students:

1.            Responsibilities of the ACT and its Affiliated Colleges:

(a)        The following information will be provided by colleges approved to enrol students to each student who has, or is intending to, enrol in an ACT approved course:

• a general description of the content of the course
• the qualification gained on completion
• the duration of the course
• the teaching methods used
• the assessment methods used in the course
• a general description of the learning resources available to students
• an accurate description of the local environment in which the affiliated college operates including location of the campus and indicative costs of living
• details of any arrangements with other providers for recognition of the course or completed components of the course
• the facilities, equipment and learning resources available
• an itemised list of all fees payable to the provider
• a written statement regarding refund provisions
• a copy of Information for Students Enrolling in Courses of the Australian College of Theology (which can also be accessed in the students section of the ACT website) 
• a copy of the Academic and Non-Academic Grievance Policies (which can also be accessed on the ACT website)

(b)        The ACT will monitor the attendance records every fortnight for non-attendance.  Procedures are in place for contacting and counselling students if a student has been absent for more than five consecutive days without approval, or is not consistently attending their course.

(c)        A student’s personal information will be stored by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) in order to administer their FEE-HELP assistance.

(d)        The information on the ACT enrolment form is collected for program administration purposes; authority to collect this information is contained in the Higher Education Support Act 2003; information may be shared between the Australian Taxation Office, DEST and the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs; and information may not otherwise be disclosed without the student’s consent unless authorised or required by law.

(e)            Graduates’ names are published on the ACT website and manuals.  Students may request that their name not to be published.

2.            Responsibilities of the Student:

(a)            Students must not be absent from lectures without approval.  This is only given in exceptional circumstances.

(b)            Students have a duty to advise the ACT of any change in their contact details (i.e. Australian residential address and telephone number).  If students do not keep their contact details up to date and the ACT has to send a notice informing that student of their failure to satisfy course requirements, this may result in the withdrawal of the student from their enrolled course of study.

(c)            Students should read the regulations pertaining to their enrolled course and ensure that they seek clarification from the college Registrar when needed.

(d)        Giving false or misleading information is a serious offence under the Criminal Code.

Further information:

For detailed information on accommodation resources, the local environment of the campuses, and other details of campus life, students should refer to the web pages of those affiliated colleges endorsed to enrol students.  These sites can be accessed to the right of the ACT’s page.  Each endorsed college also makes this information available in hard copy.

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