Campion College Australia is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

tertiary education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

located at Austin Woodbury Place, Toongabbie in the western suburbs of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. Named in honour of Saint Edmund Campion, Campion College offers undergraduate studies in the liberal arts and postgraduate studies in Religious Education. The college welcomed its first intake of students in February 2006.

Courses

Campion offers a Bachelor of Arts in the Liberal Arts as its sole undergraduate degree. The focus of this course is the development of

Western culture Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...

. The key disciplines are

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. The program is structured (loosely) chronologically: with students studying the

ancient world Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

in first year, the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

in second and finishing with

modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular Society, socio-Culture, cultural Norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the ...

and

postmodernity Postmodernity (post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is the economic or cultural state or condition of society which is said to exist ''after'' modernity. Some schools of thought hold that modernity ended in the late 20th century – in th ...

in the third and final year. Students may opt to complete a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in any of the four disciplines. Students are also required to complete two science subjects in their final year. They may also elect to study

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

above their normal study load, with the ability to graduate with an additional Diploma of Classical Languages upon completing eight languages units concurrently with their Bachelor units. Students who do not wish to study for three years may complete the first year of the Bachelor of Arts program and graduate with a Diploma of Liberal Arts - Foundations of the Western Tradition. In 2020, Campion launched its first postgraduate course, a Graduate Certificate in Religious Education (Primary). The course serves as professional development for individuals currently working as Religious Education teachers and as a pathway for further learning in theological studies. Campion College is classed as a Non-Self-Accrediting Institution. Its registration as an institution, and accreditation of courses, are completed through the

Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is Australia's independent national quality assurance and regulatory agency for higher education. The agency's purpose is to protect student interests and the reputation of Australia' ...

(TEQSA). Accreditation is completed in accordance with the

Australian Qualifications Framework The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) specifies the standards for educational qualifications in Australia. It is administered nationally by the Australian Government's Department of Education, with oversight from the States and Terri ...

. Approval was granted by NSW Department of Education & Training in April 2006 to enrol international students in the Bachelor of Arts. The college is also approved by the Australian Government as a Higher Education provider and as such, eligible students have access to FEE-HELP loans for tuition fees. In 2011, the college had an external quality audit by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), with commendations received in relation to the academic and quality culture that have been established.

History

The college originated in lay initiatives to create a classical liberal education with Catholic characteristics as an alternative to Australia's secular universities. In its first year of operation, the college's intake was 16 undergraduate students. Since then, new undergraduate enrolments have averaged 30–40 per year, for a total undergraduate student body of around 90. Campion College publishes a quarterly newsletter,
Campion's Brag
'. The Campion College Student Association (CCSA) publishes a quarterly magazine called ''The Sextant''. In 2011, the college established the Centre for the Study of Western Tradition to encourage critical reflection and research on the history, literature, languages, philosophy and theology that characterise Western civilisation and culture, in order to raise the profile of these vital disciplines in Australian tertiary education. The Centre holds conferences and symposia relating to its central research themes.

Campus

The college's campus and grounds had been a Marist Fathers

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

which was dedicated to, and at one time held relics of,

Saint Peter Chanel Peter Louis Marie Chanel, SM (12 July 1803 – 28 April 1841), was a Catholic priest, missionary, and martyr. Chanel was a member of the Society of Mary and was sent as a missionary to Oceania. He arrived on the island of Futuna in November 1 ...

. The campus houses a chapel, library, accommodation, lecture and tutorial rooms, kitchens, and student areas. In 2018, the college constructed two new residential houses on-site, providing accommodation for an additional 34 students. In 2020, the college received funding and approval to construct a new academic centre on campus, including a new library, lecture theatres, tutorial rooms and dining hall. In March 2025, the college opened the 'George Cardinal Pell Grand Hall', named in honour of

George Pell George Pell (8 June 1941 – 10 January 2023) was an Australian cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 2002, he faced recurring accusations of sexual abuse, although his subsequent sexual abuse conviction was quashed on appeal to the High Cour ...

, an Australian cardinal who was convicted in 2018 of child sexual abuse before the conviction was overturned by the Australian High Court in 2021. The hall was opened the month after the Australian National Redress Scheme had accepted that Pell abused two boys in Ballarat in the 1970s, with compensation paid to one of the boys in question five weeks prior to Pell's death.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.campion.edu.au/ Universities in Sydney Catholic universities and colleges in Australia Educational institutions established in 2006 2006 establishments in Australia Liberal arts colleges

Courses

History

Campus

See also

References

External links