Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology Hub opening soon

A message from Executive Dean of Health Sciences Professor Suzanne Chambers: All schools in the Faculty of Health Sciences have been busy with some new facilities, programs and locations.

Our Blacktown students and staff from the Exercise and Sports Science and High-Performance Sport programs are looking forward to moving into the Blacktown Exercise Sports and Technology (BEST) Hub in June. In partnership with Blacktown City Council, the $100m state-of-the-art facility was co-designed by ACU to create specialised learning hubs providing access to cutting-edge technology.

Australia’s most innovative integrated sport, health and education precinct, BEST will provide our students and staff an amazing multidisciplinary space comprised of allied health providers delivering rehabilitation and high-performance support for local, interstate and international clients. It will be exciting for us to see how this collaboration between education, health, sports medicine, research and high-performance sport will evolve once BEST opens, creating an opportunity for a dynamic interchange of ideas.

Our Blacktown students will have access to amazing technology and facilities and will get to experience a truly integrated approach to best care practice.

New program offerings

We are also excited to be offering the Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at our Ballarat campus for the first time in 2024, expanding the program to now be available at four campuses. An essential and growing area of allied healthcare, occupational therapy use a whole-person perspective when working with individuals, groups and communities with the goal of helping clients to achieve optimal health and wellbeing and assisting them with navigating everyday tasks. We are thrilled to see the expansion of this program at a time when the Federal Government’s National Skills Commission has identified a shortage for occupational therapists throughout the country.

The Bachelor of Midwifery launched in 2023 at the Blacktown campus with an inaugural cohort of 20 students. This new program is under the leadership of Associate Professor Shahla Meedya, a world-leading midwifery researcher who quickly built a strong foundation for a quality learning experience and clinical placement partnerships with Blacktown Hospital and local health districts. In 2024, ACU will expand its midwifery offerings to include the Midstart program in conjunction with NSW Health for graduate-entry students. In the majority, the students live in the western suburbs of Sydney, clearly reflecting the ACU Blacktown strategy of live, study and work in the local community.