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95% graduates employed
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Top 10 Catholic universities globally
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Bachelor of Social and Environmental Sustainability
Course information for - 2026 entry
Domestic
- Domestic
- International
- Domestic
- International
Offered at 2 locations
- Melbourne
- Strathfield
- Melbourne
- Strathfield
- Duration
- 3 years full-time or equivalent part-time
- VTAC code
- 1200210921
- ATAR
- New
- Fees (first year)*
- Start dates
-
Semester 1 intake: Beginning February 2026
Applications open August 2025
Midyear (Semester 2) intake: Beginning July 2026
Applications open April 2026
Overview
Lead positive change with ACU's Bachelor of Social and Environmental Sustainability. This exciting multi-disciplinary degree will prepare students to tackle the great sustainability challenges of the future.
Learn how to balance both the human and ecological needs of our planet, by exploring diverse perspectives on society and the environment from across the humanities (including the geographical and environmental sciences), business, law and philosophy. Refine your passions and dive into a world of creative and applied critical thinking, indigenous knowledge, reflexive practice, and empirical evidence. This course also offers students hands-on experience through professional settings, integrated work-learning opportunities, and community engagement initiatives.
If you possess a strong commitment to greater equity, social and environmental justice, and human dignity this unique multi-disciplined degree will support your aspirations to advance equity and make a positive impact on the world and in our communities.
Work placement
This course also offers you hands-on experience through professional settings, integrated work-learning opportunities and community engagement initiatives
Community engagement
Your studies will culminate in a final year local or internationally focused community engagement placement where you will work directly with and contribute to the goals of a local community or organisation.
Careers
This degree is designed to give key knowledge and skills relevant to many different career areas that are grappling with matters to do with environmental and social sustainability including business, government, NGOs and the community sector.
Course details
Course structure
- To qualify for the degree, a student must complete 240 cp from the Schedule of Unit Offerings, consisting of:
Available Minor(s)
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Archaeology
The archaeology minor sequence will focus on the societies of people in the past through engaging with their ancient landscapes, physical remains and material culture. You will focus on Ancient Israel in its Near Eastern context and Rome, especially its province of Judaea. The minor includes coursework and fieldwork opportunities.
Business Studies
The business studies minor sequence offers students the opportunity to gain an understanding in areas including human resource management, finance, marketing and accounting. If you’re studying a Bachelor of Arts you could choose to combine your business studies minor with a range of related areas such as economics, politics and international relations or digital media.
Communication
Students can choose to learn skills that underpin successful university study and also develop abilities that are immediately transferrable to any workplace and are highly sought after by employers. Depending on unit selection, the sequence develops hands-on skills in interpersonal, intercultural, and workplace communication, as well as providing training in oral and written communication skills. You will have the opportunity to select units that will let you work with different modes of writing including report writing, creative writing, writing for social media, feature writing and blogs, and you will be taught to speak in public, lead meetings, conduct interviews and negotiations and undertake mediation and conflict management. Students will leave the minor as confident and capable communicators. Employers value staff who possess the ‘soft skills’ that are developed within a Communications minor. Having a willingness to collaborate, being able to effectively problem solve, having critical thinking skills, possessing good interpersonal skills, and being able to adapt to change are in high demand in the workplace.
Drama
The minor sequence in drama provides you with a comprehensive overview of theatrical literature and history and a grounding in production work. Through performances, workshops and practical classes, ACU’s drama sequence develops your skills in many areas including theatre production, stage management, direction, and acting, as well as knowledge of theatre history and repertoire. You’ll gain transferrable skills in communication and public speaking, allowing you to seek employment in the performing arts industry or use the skills developed in other professional contexts. When combined with an appropriate tertiary teaching qualification, the drama major is a pathway to becoming a secondary-school drama teacher. You do not need any previous theatre experience and there are no prerequisites for studying this sequence at ACU.
Digital Technologies (Computing)
Digital Technologies drive innovation in every aspect of contemporary life and is an essential and component of many disciplines. The computing sequence develops knowledge and skills in information technology, explores data communications and database systems, and introduces students to problem solving and design in digital technologies and programming. The knowledge and skills gained in the minor expands opportunities for students seeking careers in the growing number of fields that require a strong foundation in computing.
Economics
The economics minor sequence at ACU promotes the knowledge and understanding of local business operations, consumer behaviour, economic policy, and national and global economic issues. The sequence encourages you to develop your interest in contemporary economic events and helps you to understand important issues such as unemployment, foreign debt, changes in the value of the dollar and the implication of these issues for consumers, businesses and the nation. You will also consider the policy options that are available to deal with these important issues in Australia and globally. The study of economics provides you with the knowledge and skills for a variety of careers in both the private and public sectors, as well as providing a pathway for further study.
English
Through the study of a broad range of literary texts and approaches to reading them, the English minor sequence familiarises you with literary traditions and contemporary literary cultures. This minor will reveal the varied ways in which people have lived, thought, felt and imagined, opening up new worlds of understanding. You will develop vital transferrable skills in effective reading, writing, analysis and interpretation that will equip you for rewarding careers in teaching, journalism, the media, and other professions that require articulate and culturally literate graduates.
Global Studies
Graphic Design
Graphic design is an innovative and essential component of contemporary visual culture and the built environment. Understanding the principles of effective visual communication adds competitive value to projects from all disciplines and allows you to develop a broad range of skills transferable to any workplace. The graphic design minor sequence will prepare you with authentic assessment projects designed to build experience and understanding of design processes methodology and equip you to confidently create and assess effective visual communication and develop your own design solution strategies. Graphic design units focus on the following areas: design for publication, information design, interactive and web design, typography, illustration, social media, visual storytelling and the digital image. Regardless of your technical background, you will acquire broad skills in current design software programs in a workshop-based computer lab class.
History
The history minor sequence brings the past to life by introducing you to a diverse range of societies and cultures that have shaped the modern world. History at ACU has an exciting and innovative global focus. You will have the opportunity to study European, American, Australian, Indigenous, Asian and Ancient history, and to engage with key themes such as war and peace, race and class, gender and sexuality, violence and terrorism, and film and popular culture. In exploring the people, ideas and events that have defined the past and given meaning to the present, you will develop critical skills that will equip you for a rich and rewarding professional career.
Healthy Development
The healthy development minor sequence gives you the opportunity to study contemporary topics in health and human development. This minor sequence explores issues related to nutrition and exercise; the human life cycle from birth to death, families, sex, adolescence and international perspectives on health issues. If you wish to do a Master of Teaching you can take this sequence in the Bachelor of Arts as a pathway to teaching health and human development in schools. Alternately, the minor can be taken alongside sequences such as sociology and youth work to provide a broader perspective on health and development.
International Development Studies
The international development studies minor sequence focuses on contemporary understandings of the causes and consequences of poverty, conflict, refugees and migration, and develops work-ready skills in project management, research and policy development. You’ll be prepared for a career, either domestically or abroad, in a diverse range of government and non-government organisations tasked with supporting the alleviation of poverty in the developing world.
Mathematics
The minor sequence in mathematics is designed to provide a broad introduction to the study of traditional and contemporary mathematics. Highlights include introductions to cryptography, project management, networks, mathematical modelling, and finance. The minor also covers the traditional areas required by those intending to become primary or secondary teachers, as teaching of mathematics from K-12 is a high demand field and the demand will grow in the future.
Music
The Music sequence develops skills in composition, music technology, musicology, music criticism and analysis. Students engage with the fundamentals of music language as it operates in a diverse range of styles and genres, and are taught to observe, understand and apply complex music processes drawn from the music of the past and the present. Students also engage with the cultural, social, aesthetic, historical and ethical functions of music through studies in musicology. Career outcomes that can arise from this sequence include teaching (when the major is combined with year 12 music performance or AMEB grade five and a tertiary teaching qualification), freelance composition (for film, television, video games, and commercials), music journalism and blogging, publishing, music administration, music retail, music research and work as 'embedded' creative practitioners using the skills developed through the sequence in the corporate and public sector.
Politics and International Relations
Politics is the study of power, violence and justice in our world. The questions of who gets what, why and how much, are persistent concerns plaguing all societies. In a world increasingly short of resources, individuals and nations now frequently do battle with each other to secure their own prosperity and peace. By looking at how these battles are won and lost, the discipline of politics gives you insight into the workings of diplomacy, warfare, elections, the global economy, the nature of political parties, and the rise and fall of great powers. From everyday politics at the local level to the politics among nations, the politics and international relations minor sequence at ACU will offer you the conceptual tools to think critically and act decisively in a world that is ever changing.
Psychology
The psychology minor sequence provides you with a comprehensive and systematic study of human behaviour. The emphasis is on the dynamic nature of our behaviours and the interaction of biological, social and cultural factors that influence these at all levels and at all stages of the life span.
(Please note this minor does not offer a career pathway to become a psychologist).
Sociology
Sociology is one of the most relevant disciplines for understanding complex social, cultural, and political phenomena today. Often cited as the "Queen of Disciplines" due to it producing a number of key ideas used by many subjects that study society and culture, sociology offers students a range of exciting theoretical, methodological, and conceptual tools for an understanding of human action, social and systemic change, institutions, and the deeper meanings of life. With subject matter such as globalisation, religion, health, work and economy, social movements, gender, and culture, sociologists are often crucially involved in a number of key debates around the ideas and events that impact on real people and their communities. All of these areas are a part of the sociology sequence at the ACU. Operating in both government and private industry, sociologists are employed in a variety of roles that centre on people and their environments including community project officers, policy planners and researchers, marketers and social media publicists. Sociology at the ACU helps students acquire high-order transferrable skills in reasoning, theorising, communicating, and research to do with a broader and deeper perspective of events, all of which are highly sought after by employers.
Theological Studies
Cultivate an adult faith and deeper spirituality. A major sequence in theological studies gives you new enthusiasm, fresh insight and deeper understanding to the gift of faith, and greater depth to spiritual experience. Key themes in theological studies include: the person and work of Jesus Christ; the Word of God in the Scriptures; the sacraments and the Church’s liturgy; and the values, practices, responsibilities and traditions of a Christian way of life. It relates faith, spirituality and scholarship to a concern for human flourishing, the common good, the dignity of the human person, and stewardship of the environment and all creation. Various theological approaches will be considered in the light of contemporary worldviews and interfaith dialogue. You can examine the theme of social justice and its importance in the mission and teaching of Jesus, a study which assists you in thinking critically about the world around you.
Veterans Arts Minor
Visual Arts
The visual arts minor offers a mix of art and design history and theory and studio-based fine art. You will be trained by staff who are active practitioners in their field and benefit from small class sizes in an intimate studio environment.
Youth Work
Youth work is an exciting and challenging minor sequence that introduces you to the theoretical insights and practical competencies required for dealing with the needs, problems and aspirations of young people. The youth work sequence acknowledges the social and cultural environments within which young people live and helps foster young people's emotional and social development. Subjects in the sequence include youth sociology, adolescent development, youth work practice and building relationships and supporting young people and youth work in community and family settings.
Geography, Environment and Society
The geography, environment and society minor sequence exposes you to the major environmental issues and challenges our world faces today. It provides a methodology for analysis and interpretation and allows you to critically evaluate management strategies.
Course map
Graduate statement
AQF framework
Bachelor - AQF Level 7Exit Points
Students who have met the requirements of the non-award course Certificate in Liberal Studies and Diploma in Liberal Arts can exit with that award.
Entry requirements
An applicant must also comply with the Admission to Coursework Programs Policy that includes meeting a minimum ATAR requirement.
International applicants must meet the English Language Requirements as defined in the Admissions to Coursework Programs Policy.
To be eligible for admission to the course, an applicant must have completed the following prerequisites at year 12, or equivalent:
State Prerequisites New South Wales Assumed knowledge: 2 units of English (any) (Band 3)
Queensland Assumed knowledge: English (Units 3 & 4, C)
Victoria Prerequisites: Units 3 and 4 a study score of at least 25 in English (EAL) or 20 in any other English.
Disclaimer: The course entry requirements above are for 2026 Admission.
Applicants with recent secondary education
You’ll need to meet the minimum entry requirements and subject prerequisites for your chosen course.
If your school result was affected by circumstances outside of your control, such as financial hardship, illness, disability or a challenging home environment, you may qualify for an access scheme. You can apply through your TAC as part of your application process.
Applicants with vocational education and training (VET) study
You’ll need to meet the minimum entry requirements and subject prerequisites for your chosen course.
For current year 12 students
If you’re a current Year 12 applicant you can be given a selection rank separate from, and in addition to, your ATAR if you’ve completed a competency based and graded AQF Certificate III or above.
For non-school leavers
If you’ve completed or are completing a competency based AQF Certificate IV or AQF diploma you will be assigned a selection rank by your local Tertiary Admission Centre (TAC). This is an entry score based on your individual qualifications and achievements.
ACU has partnerships with TAFE and many private education providers. If you have completed a qualification with one of these partners or with ACU College, you may be eligible for guaranteed entry and/or credit into a related ACU degree. Please apply through your local TAC and then submit a credit application for your previous study.
Applicants with higher education study
You will need to meet the minimum entry requirements and subject prerequisites for your chosen course.
If you have completed at least two units of AQF-recognised study at bachelor level or above, we’ll assign you with a new selection rank that reflects your study level, duration, and grade point average.
If your prior study or relevant work experience has provided you with knowledge, skills or experience aligned with the learning outcomes of units in your new course, you may be eligible to gain credit for study or have your prior learning recognised. This means you may be able to complete your ACU course in a shorter timeframe.
You can use our credit search tool to see what you might be eligible for. For more information about credit and recognition of prior learning at ACU, follow the link below.
Applicants with work and life experience
You’ll need to meet the minimum entry requirements and subject prerequisites for your chosen course.
- If you have no formal education qualifications you may be eligible for a selection rank based on your work, life or service experience.
- If you’ve been in paid employment, relevant to the course you’re applying for, for a minimum of six months full-time (or equivalent), this work may be assessed for your selection rank.
- If you’re 21 years or older you can sit the Skills for Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) through your local TAC.
- You can apply for an ACU bridging course. Our bridging courses allow you to transition back into studying and can give you a head start on the relevant undergraduate degree.
- If you have served in the defence force, your rank and time in service may contribute to your selection rank.
English language requirements
International English Language Testing System (IELTS): Overall score: 6.0 Individual score of: 6.0 in writing and speaking 5.5 in listening and reading
Pearson Test of English (PTE): 50 with a minimum of 50 in writing and speaking and a minimum of 42 in reading and listening.
Test of English as a Foreign Language - Academic (TOEFL): Internet-based total of 60: minimum 21 in writing, 18 in speaking, 8 in reading and 7 in listening.
ACU English Language Test: C (63-64%)
Cambridge Advanced English (CAE): Overall C1 Advanced score 176, Minimum score of 169 in all tests
Adjustment factors
If you’re currently completing Year 12 you may be eligible for adjustment factors that can boost your rank and help you get into your desired course.
Adjustment factors may be applied to your TAC application if you study particular subjects, attend schools geographically close to our campuses or in certain regional areas, apply as an elite athlete or performer or meet certain other criteria.
Inherent requirement
There are essential components of a course or unit that demonstrate the capabilities, knowledge and skills to achieve the core learning outcomes of that course or unit. You will need to be able to meet these inherent requirements to complete your course.
Learn more about inherent requirements for your course and how they affect you
Fees
Course costs
Average first year fee**This is an indicative first-year fee based on the tuition fee rates for a full-time student, using unit enrolment data from domestic students who studied the course in the previous year.
A student’s annual fee will vary depending on factors including:
- Number of units studied per year
- Choice of major or specialisation
- Elective units
The University reviews fees annually.
You can view current course costs and domestic tuition fee rates by unit.
Payment options
You should be able to concentrate on getting good marks instead of worrying about how you’ll pay your fees. We have a number of options that can help you ease the financial burden, including government assistance, scholarships and income support.
Scholarships
You could be eligible for one of the hundreds of scholarships we award each year to help students from across the university with the cost of studying, accommodation or overseas study opportunities. Some of our scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit, but these aren’t just for the academically gifted; ACU also recognises excellence in community engagement and leadership. We also offer a range of scholarships for those who may be struggling financially or who have faced other barriers to accessing education.
How to apply
Domestic applicants
Deferment
Deferment is available for one year. Find out more about deferment: Deferment Information.
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