ACAP’s Bachelor of Community Services prepares students for careers across mental health, disability, youth services, aged care and the wider community services sector.
ACAP University College has announced the launch of its new Bachelor of Community Services, expanding its course offering to prepare students for careers across Australia’s growing community services sector.
The new course builds on ACAP’s longstanding expertise in human services education, complementing existing courses across areas including social work, counselling and psychology.
Community services is a broad field, with career opportunities spanning mental health, drug and alcohol services, disability, aged care, youth services, homelessness, casework and emergency relief.
The Bachelor of Community Services has been designed to give students the knowledge and practical skills needed to work directly with people and communities.
“Community services is incredibly broad. You can work with young people, in drug and alcohol services, homelessness, aged care, disability, mental health and many other areas,” said Troy Pittaway, Course Leader for the Bachelor of Community Services at ACAP.
“There is a lot of crossover between those fields too, which means there are plenty of opportunities to explore different areas throughout your career.”
Troy brings more than 20 years of community services experience to ACAP. He began his career as a frontline support worker in drug and alcohol rehabilitation before progressing into team leadership and management. He later moved into higher education, progressing from lecturer to course coordinator and National Manager of Community Services.
Students undertaking the Bachelor of Community Services will explore areas including community development, drug and alcohol services, youth and justice, while developing an understanding of human rights and building the interpersonal skills required to engage professionally with individuals and communities.
"The addition of the Bachelor of Community Services further expands ACAP's offering in human services and provides another study option for students who want to build careers supporting people and communities. "
For Troy, the practical nature of community services education is particularly important.
“I started on the frontline myself and progressed into team leadership, management and eventually education. That is one of the things I like about the sector. You can start by working directly with people and communities and build your career in many different directions from there.”
The addition of the Bachelor of Community Services further expands ACAP’s offering in human services and provides another study option for students who want to build careers supporting people and communities.
“What stands out to me is ACAP’s history and expertise in human services. It has been working in this space for a long time, with courses across areas such as counselling, social work and psychology. For someone coming from community services, that makes it a really natural fit,” Troy said.
The Bachelor of Community Services will commence in May 2027.