Health is a priority research area at ACU, and the Faculty of Health Sciences plays a key role in delivering research excellence in this field. The University has received top ERA scores (well above world standard) in four areas: human movement and sports science, nursing, public health and health services, and psychology.
The School of Allied Health focuses on research into social work, physiotherapy, speech pathology and occupational therapy with a focus on promoting health, wellbeing and social justice.
Our behavioural science researchers focus on the areas of psychology, sport science and disability, as well as the clinical applications of exercise and cognitive-motor interventions in health, chronic disease and rehabilitation.
The School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine has extensive research expertise across acute care, cardiovascular disease, neonatal care, acute stroke and palliative care. We have close ties to the Nursing Research Institute, a collaboration between ACU and St Vincent’s Health, Sydney.
The Nursing Research Institute (NRI) conducts multidisciplinary outcomes-focused healthcare research of high clinical relevance. The NRIs vision is to create a world-class centre in nursing health services research with our industry partners to improve the well-being, safety and quality of patient care and health service delivery.
Visit the instituteThe Healthy Brain and Mind Research Centre (HBMRC) aims to advance knowledge critical to improving mental health, participation and well-being. The HBMRC brings together three programs of research excellence in mental health, addiction neuroscience, and disability and development.
Visit the Research CentreThe Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre in the School of Behavioural and Health Sciences will advance knowledge in sports performance, recovery, and injury by developing new, and using established, research techniques.
Visit the Research CentreThis National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded project brings together a consortium of universities and industry partners to research integrating senior living with secondary school environments. ACU has two projects contributing to the overarching NHMRC funded research project.
Visit the Research Project
When all else is equal the difference between Olympic gold and silver may come down to something as seemingly simple as what an athlete eats.
General,Research
One of the most important decisions a social entrepreneur can make is how to tackle a given issue. How do you know you’re solving the right problem?
Collaborate plus
Standing up and moving for three minutes every half hour may lessen the health impacts of sitting too much, a new study shows.
This session will help you clarify your ideas, build deep empathy for people and problems, and you will test your riskiest assumptions so you can move forward with confidence.
Collaborate plus
The NSW Government’s COVID-19 TechVoucher program is now open for applications.
Collaborate Plus
This workshop will teach you how to design and test a business model that will work in the real world.
Collaborate plus
New findings from ILSTE research discusses Teaching Performance Assessments as cultural disruptors in Initial Teacher Education.
Learn from industry experts and discover where a postgraduate degree in high performance sport can take you.
Postgraduate Webinars
For the Australian Catholic University students and alumni elite athletes, indelible memories were carved into their minds as they contemplate what comes next in their sporting and career journeys.
General
Learn digital marketing essentials, the five stories of social change and identifying your customer avatar.
Collaborate plus
ACU's five Paralympians have returned home from Tokyo having unearthed previously undiscovered strengths.
General,Career
Through this workshop you will gain insights into what creates a great pitch and have the chance to start crafting your own pitch.
Collaborate plus
Australian Catholic University (ACU) and the Order of Malta have signed a memorandum of understanding that details partnering on a range of life-changing engagement initiatives that work with groups w...
Learn more about finding your ‘first money’ and grow your understanding of investment, philanthropy, sales and the legal considerations for social entrepreneurs.
Collaborate plus
Staff and students on ACU's Brisbane campus will be able to borrow a human book in a scheme designed to increase understanding through human contact.
General
Learn more about personal sustainability, building great company cultures, team building and project management.
Collaborate plus
Meet Australian Catholic University alumnus Rob Howells, the ex-crane operator who is living proof you don't have to be a bookworm to be a scientist.
Education,General
Our Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing (Correctional Health) is a specialised program purposely designed to provide correctional health nurses the unique and advanced skills they require to work...
Postgraduate Webinars
Sleep-deprived athletes risk poor performances, with almost three-quarters falling short of desired slumber targets by at least an hour, a new study has found.
Research,Media Release
ACU and Nudgee College have partnered on a research project aimed at better understanding and releasing the pressures on elite student athletes.
Research,Media Release
The ketogenic diet may turn elite Olympic athletes into fat-burning machines but new ACU research has found it does not improve endurance.
Research,Media Release
The Hon Justice Martin Daubney AM and Ms Virginia Bourke have been appointed to the positions of Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor of Australian Catholic University (ACU).
Vice-Chancellor and President
Leading ACU hamstring expert David Opar will be involved in a $4 million National Football League (NFL) funded study that will investigate the prevention and treatment of hamstring injuries.
Media Release,Research
The research team behind an innovative program tackling cardiovascular disease risk in children has been recognised with one of the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australasia’s (CAPHIA...
Education,General
Four-time Paralympic swimmer Brenden Hall and Rio sevens rugby gold medallist Emma Tonegato are among 11 current and former students who will represent ACU in Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paral...
General,Career
Australian Catholic University’s Dr Grant Duthie, from the Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and new Technologies Research Centre (SPRINT), is part of a team helping FIFA improve its player trackin...
General,Education
Eating isn’t cheating, according to an Australian Catholic University study that found inadequately fuelled cyclists could be sabotaging their most important rides.
Research
Valentina Lorenzetti's work has led the top US federal health agency to announce a new standard dose of THC in cannabis research.
Media Release,General
Green space around primary schools may improve students’ academic performance.
Media Release,General
Head of the School of Philosophy Dr Richard Colledge writes on the importance of providing general education through systems such as ACU’s Core Curriculum.
General
The long, hard path to a paramedicine degree from ACU is worth all the sacrifices for rower Rowena Meredith who has qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Education,General
ACU has awarded its highest honour, an honorary doctorate, to Marionne MacRitchie and a posthumous award to the Hon John Fahey AC, GCSG during graduation ceremonies in Sydney.
General
Time-restricted eating could be a game changer for more than one million Australians with type 2 diabetes.
General
A former soldier is helping other veterans find peace through university study.
Career,Education
Coaches may be rummaging through their Spotify playlists after Australian Catholic University research found - for the first time in team sport - that high-tempo music can influence footballers’ minds...
General
Australian research, proven to improve children’s heart health and fitness, has been published by JAMA Pediatrics, the top-ranked paediatrics journal in the world.
Professor Suzanne Chambers AO has been appointed to the role of Executive Dean Health Sciences at Australian Catholic University (ACU).
General
A country as innovative as the USA doesn't expect to receive cutting-edge advice in slashing soft tissue injuries in its NFL from halfway across the world yet leading ACU hamstring expert David Opar i...
Media Release
A six-week exercise program of either high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or resistance training can build and maintain muscle mass and strength in middle-aged men, new ACU research has found.
General,Media Release
Australian Catholic University Professor Jim Sallis, has called for a heightened focus on exercise as a pandemic control after his research revealed physically inactive COVID-19 patients were two-and-...
General,Media Release
ACU collaborated with Catholic Health Australia to to review the lessons learned from the pandemic for health and aged care operators.
Career,Research
ACU aged care experts say the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care and Safety needs to be the tipping point required to ensure the needs of vulnerable older Australians are respected af...
General
ACU's Sports Performance Recovery Injury and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre is helping elite footballers stay on the field.
Research
An exciting partnership between Australian Catholic University and the Sacramento Kings will expose the NBA club to world leading researchers and timely advances in performance, recovery and sports te...
General,Career
The Melbourne Storm are more likely to win away from home than any of their opponents, according to a new study.
General,Media Release
New world-leading physical benchmarks have been set for Australia’s men’s and women’s rugby union players who will be tested as part of an alliance with ACU’s Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and ...
Career,Media Release
Mental health nurses report staff shortages, unsustainable high workloads, acutely unwell patients, and verbal and physical aggression as top causes of work stress impacting their own mental health, a...
Media Release,General
A new program launched by Australian Catholic University (ACU) and Metro North Hospital and Health Service is helping Australian seniors with lung disease get back to doing what they love sooner.
General
ACU’s Institute of Child Protection Studies is part of a new Global Safeguarding Alliance (GSA) that will promote knowledge and worldwide exchange on safeguarding and the prevention of abuse of childr...
Media Release
When it comes to metabolic health, it's not just what you eat, it's when you eat it. New ACU research has added to the growing body of evidence showing how time-restricted feeding can improve health e...
Research
Physiotherapists can play a central role in helping their patients quit smoking with a simple three-step intervention model, according to new ACU research from cardiorespiratory physiotherapist Nia Lu...
Media Release
Carb loading in the week before a marathon is an old school approach and not the ideal way to prepare for an endurance event according to exercise physiologist Andy King.
There’s good news for more than one million Australians who have type 2 diabetes with new ACU research starting to tease apart how changing the time you eat might benefit your health.
Research
ACU clinical exercise physiologist Dr Phil Chapman supervised a simulation demonstrating how heat affects classroom learning for ABC series Big Weather (and how to survive it).
Education
Living within the strict confines of Queensland's biosecurity hub has not prevented NSW Swifts midcourter Tayla Fraser from meeting her Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science study commitments.
Career,Education
New ACU research is showing how busting a move via silent disco technology can boost the wellbeing of residential aged care residents with dementia.
It's been a tough year on the field for Alex Twal and Oliver Clark but the Wests Tigers duo have succeeded off it by completing degree at ACU.
Career,General
Like so many Victorian teenagers, a young Tom Crameri just wanted to work for an AFL club.
General
Both elite and amateur athletes would get better performance bang for their buck using traditional carbohydrate drinks/sports foods rather than costly hydrogel drinks, according to ACU researchers who...
Research
ACU students Shannon Chilman and Sam Parker have embarked on a unique prac assignment - an internship at V8 Supercars powerhouse the Red Bull Holden Racing Team.
Prac placement at a hospital in western Sydney has provided thrower Alex Hulley with a timely distraction to her disrupted mission to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.
Career,General
A life-changing new program is giving young people of all abilities the confidence to develop an everlasting love of physical activity.
Education,General
Ester Cerin, program leader of the Behaviour, Environment and Cognition Research Program at the Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research (MMIHR) at ACU, has been awarded more than $680,000 as part...
Research
A three-day turnaround is sufficient for soccer players to rebound as football administrators around the globe race to compress fixtures to complete seasons disrupted by coronavirus.
General,Media Release
Staff in ACU's School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine celebrate International Nurses Day on Tuesday May 12th by giving a shout out for the profession of Nursing of which they're so proud
General
ACU researcher Imre Kouw has received the British Nutrition Foundation's prestigious 2020 BNF Drummond Early Career Scientist Award which recognises early career excellence in nutrition science.
General
Bigger, better and stronger is the silver lining by-product of COVID-19 isolation for Sydney Roosters winger Brydie Parker.
General
Separated or divorced parents normally grapple with countless issues, but the COVID-19 crisis means they face new difficulties negotiating shared care of children with the stress of balancing work, ho...
Seven new research centres will enhance ACU’s reputation in the arts, education, health, and theology and philosophy.
Research
Potential Olympians will hit and field virtual balls as part of an innovative partnership between Australian Catholic University and Baseball Queensland.
General
It's no secret that being in nature is good for your health. Something as simple as a walk in the park can boost well-being and deliver benefits ranging from better sleep to lower stress.
General
ACU researcher Evelyn Parr will explore if delaying breakfast and consuming an early dinner – known as time-restricted eating – can improve the symptoms of lifestyle-related health conditions such as ...
Research
Older Australians who sneak exercise into the day with a regular morning workout significantly improve decision-making for the next eight hours of the day.
General
Research excellence at ACU has been further recognised by the Australian Research Council (ARC) for its significant impact in advancing health, education and social outcomes for Australians.
General
Exercise is being teamed up with drug therapy to see if it can become a potent weapon against prostate cancer.
General
Michael Baker has been awarded a prestigious ESSA Fellowship recognising his contribution to the exercise and sport science industry, support and dedication to the association.
General
ACU’s Jack Hickey has been awarded the prestigious 2018 Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) medal for his ground-breaking work in hamstring injury.
General
Performance recovery expert Dr Shona Halson hopes her recognition as one of Exercise and Sports Science Australia’s top female leaders in 2019 will inspire a new generation of women to reach for the t...
General
The size of the brain’s pleasure and reward processing sensors could be behind increased body fat in adolescents and obesity later in life, new research has found.
General
Inspired by maestros like Ballon d’Or winners Luka Modric and Lionel Messi, sport scientists are investigating whether they can measure and teach one of football’s great intangibles – vision. A resea...
General
Australian Catholic University’s Doseena Fergie and Bruce Kemp have received some of the nation’s highest honours in this year’s Australia Day awards.
General
Time-poor parents are creating a “backseat generation” of children who don’t walk to school even when they live close by.
General
Women who eat a diet filled with unhealthy junk food have higher rates of the hallmark Alzheimer’s protein beta-amyloid in their brains - putting them at greater risk of developing dementia.
General
As tennis demands more from its players, an Australian Catholic University study has revealed it is women who pay a greater physical toll at the Australian Open.
General
ACU Senate has further renewed the contract for Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Greg Craven until December 2022, University Chancellor the Honourable John Fahey AC announced on Monday.
Media Release
Quantifying belief, wrangling data and rapid rehabilitation were among the burning issues for improving athlete performance and wellbeing as leading minds in Olympic and professional sport science sha...
Media Release
Professor Sandy Middleton, Director of ACU’s Nursing Research Institute, was recently inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing...
Media Release
Imagine what it would be like to not have to worry about the financial side of university.
Media Release
ACU researchers are trialling a program to address thoughts and behaviours about eating and weight before they develop into an eating disorder.
Media ReleaseLearn about our range of research institutes, academies and collaborative centres specialising in areas other than health.
Learn moreThe Institute for Positive Psychology and Education addresses critical educational and psychosocial issues through positive psychology.
Visit the instituteThe Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research collaborates with local and international partners to address critical public health issues.
Visit the institute