Studying Information Technology in Australia

Information Technology and knowledge industries provide the basis for all modern business and government.  An Australian degree in IT is a passport to the global community.  Our graduates, ranging from technical specialists to the heads of large multinational IT focussed companies, are found throughout the world.  A sound knowledge of IT is increasingly important to most professionals and for many, a solid grounding in IT is an excellent foundation not only for IT professionals but also for a later career in many other fields such as management.

There are around 40 universities throughout Australia which offer degrees under the broad umbrella of information technology. These range from fairly theoretical computer science courses through information technology to more business oriented information systems.  Some universities have faculties of Information Technology, in others there is a joint Faculty of Engineering and IT, and degrees in Information Systems are sometimes found in Business faculties.   That provides the international student with a wide range of choices of location, size of school, and educational approach. A student can study at a large metropolitan university in one of the state capitals or choose a university located in one of the major regional centres throughout Australia.

Also popular are joint degrees between IT and Business, Law, Engineering or other fields of study.  Associated with IT, many universities offer a variety of excellent multimedia, graphics and games courses.  Graduates from these courses are in high demand and have been particularly successful local and internationally winning many awards including Oscars for film animation.

Students may study at the undergraduate level, usually a three year degree with an optional Honours year.  Some universities also offer formal work experience in the IT industry as part of the degree.  This ranges from a short project with an industry client to a full paid year, Diploma of IT Professional Practice.  Even more popular with international students is postgraduate study in IT.  Generally this is a two year Masters degree by coursework.  Most universities offer professional Masters, that is Masters for those who already have an undergraduate degree in IT and also conversion Masters, for students whose undergraduate degree is in a field other than IT. 

University degrees in IT in Australia undergo a stringent accreditation process with the Australian Computer Society (ACS)#.  This assures quality and the maintenance of standards against national and international benchmarks.  Depending on the length, breadth and depth of the degrees, accreditation may be at the professional or the associate level.  Graduation from an accredited degree provides eligibility for membership of the ACS at the appropriate grade.  Membership is also reciprocal with many other national computing societies.

As well as high quality coursework degrees, many universities also have a strong research focus, allowing students the chance to participate in leading edge research activities and centres while studying for a PhD or Masters by research. Many research groups have strong international links while others may work closely with leading edge industries.  In either case, research students have opportunities to broaden their study outside their immediate university research environment.

Australian IT graduates may be found in focussed IT companies from the biggest multinationals to tiny startups or in the IT departments of many organizations such as banks, airlines, manufacturing or government.  While some work in very technical positions, many work as analysts and project managers and as part of teams so working with people is an important part of many IT careers.  For the foreseeable future, there is a huge shortage of IT professionals across Australia, both in the Government and private sectors and in most other countries, both developed and developing.  There are insufficient IT graduates worldwide to fill these positions so now is an excellent time to do an IT degree.

Australia is a great place to study! The high standard of living, a fast growing economy, political stability and tolerance, multi-cultural society, natural beauty and mild climate all contribute to the Australian lifestyle which is culturally rich, outdoors oriented and definitely relaxed. International students comprise 25% of the Australian student population, up from around 10% ten years ago. More and more international students are taking up the opportunity to benefit from the world class education and enjoyable experience that Australia offers. 

Jenny Edwards PhD FACS
President CORE*
Faculty of Information Technology
University of Technology, Sydney

2 August 2007

# http://www.acs.org.au
* http://www.core.edu.au