ACU campus coming to Sydney’s west

The Australian Catholic University has partnered with Blacktown Council in Sydney’s west to build a new campus.

An artist's impression of the planned Blacktown campus of the Australian Catholic University.

The Australian Catholic University has partnered with Blacktown Council in Sydney’s west to build a new campus to serve students in the area.

In an announcement yesterday ACU vice-chancellor Greg Craven said the university was looking forward to establishing deep ties with business, schools and community groups in Blacktown.

“By 2036, half of Sydney’s population will live in western Sydney yet currently only 18 per cent of university places are in western Sydney,” he said.

Blacktown Mayor Stephen Bali said that with the new university campus, local students could look forward to getting a quality education without commuting for hours each day across Sydney.

The campus will open next year in an office building owned by the council. It is planned to grow to 3000 students within five years.

By 2024 it will move into two new buildings to be built by the university in partnership with the council in Blacktown’s Warrick Lane precinct.

The deal follows a call last year by Blacktown Council for expressions of interest from universities to partner with the council and business to establish a university campus.

Mr Bali said that a factor in ACU’s selection was that it was “willing to make a considerable capital investment in the construction of the campus”.

The university said that over 54,000 higher education students live within 30 minutes of Blacktown, and more than 17 per cent of current ACU students and 5 per cent of staff currently travel from the Blacktown area to ACU’s Sydney campuses.