Australian College of Theology is the third theological institution to get university status since 2020, demonstrating growing power of religious providers
A college that describes itself as Australia’s largest provider of theological education has become the nation’s 44th university, ending years of costly appeals and demonstrating the growing power of small religious providers.
The Australian College of Theology (ACT) – which will be renamed the Australian University of Theology – is the third religious institution to receive full university status since 2020.
In 2021, the Seventh-day Adventist church-owned Avondale University and theological school the University of Divinity were elevated to Australian university status, joining the Australian Catholic University, which faced backlash last year over a speech denouncing abortion and same-sex marriage made by a guest speaker at its graduation ceremony.
On Wednesday, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Teqsa) confirmed the ACT would follow suit, concluding a multi-year review process with the tribunal over whether the quality of the college’s research was high enough to be deemed a university.
The ACT says its chief purpose is to “equip people to faithfully serve God’s church and God’s world” through qualifications in ministry, theology and Christian studies.
The ACT dean and CEO, Prof James Dalziel, said he was pleased the institution’s “long-term effort has been externally recognised”.
About 2,500 students are enrolled each year across 16 affiliated colleges in Australia and New Zealand, studying courses such as A Christian Perspective on the History of Science, Evangelistic Preaching and Sexuality and Identity.
The deputy director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne, Associate Prof Gwilym Croucher, said there were “no right answers” on what institutions should be esteemed with the university title, which had been applied differently across the world and over the past century.
“The first public universities [in Australia] specifically excluded theology as foundational,” he said. “But there’s always been scholarly theological work done here.
“The challenge in recent decades for policymakers and people in higher education is that the title itself conveys a lot of authority, leading to concern about the market power it provides.”
Croucher said the elevation of religious institutions to university status in recent years could be attributed to their long history. He pointed to ACU – a well-established and respected public university – as complicating the debate on whether universities should be secular.
“Would it be fair to stop other theological-based [institutions] elevated to university status?” he said.
“The broader question is, is it acceptable to the Australian community that a university teaches and researches in a narrow field … what we don’t want is to inadvertently diminish the university title, while making sure universities doing good work aren’t excluded.
“It’ll be more interesting to see whether we have new universities created that don’t have as long a history.”
The ACT was first founded by the Church of England in 1891 and granted self-accrediting authority in 2010. It has sought to become a university since 2016, with its initial application refused by Teqsa three years later, prompting an appeal to the administrative appeals tribunal (AAT).
In 2022, it was registered as a university college – one step down from an Australian university – after a review into provider categories commissioned by the former Coalition government to support its goals for a “diverse high quality” higher education sector.
Teqsa cited the “presentation of new evidence” as the reason for its upgraded status.
Half of the eight university colleges registered as a result of the reforms are religious, including Sydney College of Divinity, Excelsia College, Moore Theological College and Alphacrucis University College.
In October 2024, the AAT handed down its decision, ruling the ACT met the grounds for university registration, subject to consultation with state and territory education ministers. None opposed the change in provider status.
Teqsa had contended the ACT’s research was not of a high enough standard for registration, arguing “a university is not just simply a benefit that [an] institution pays its dues and is entitled to as of right”.
“It is a very, very significant status which reflects on Australia’s place in the international community, both in teaching and in research.”
The ACT argued religious studies received very little funding but the college had still managed to release research at a “world standard”.
University colleges do not receive research block grant funding from the federal government and cannot apply for competitive grants from bodies such as the Australian Research Council.
As a result of the registration, the ACT will change its name to the Australian University of Theology (AUT) and seek access to government research and infrastructure funding.
The ACT reported a net operating loss of $578,000 in 2023, “primarily” attributed to legal expenses related to the tribunal process.
Its enrolments have dropped by about 30% in the past five years, described as an “ongoing challenge” for providers in the theology sector in its annual report.
In a statement on the university’s website, Dalziel said: “As the ACT enters this new season, we need to remember that our calling is something different to just focusing on status.
“It’s a calling to faithfully equip people to serve God’s church and God’s world.”
Independent Higher Education Australia, of which ACT is a member, congratulated the college for its “significant achievement”. Its CEO, Dr Peter Hendy, said Australia’s newest university had been a “valued contributor and leader in the independent higher education sector”.