Diploma in Visual Arts and Design
Course information for - 2025 entry
Offered at 3 locations
- Duration
- 1 year full-time or equivalent part-time
- CRICOS Code
- 052327B
- Fees (first year)*
- $28728
- Start dates
- February 2026, July 2026, February 2027, July 2027
Overview
Follow your passion and explore a broad-based visual arts and design program that integrates the areas of studio-based art, graphic design or history and theory of art and design combined with relevant communication and industry skills. You will gain the knowledge and skills to prepare you for a career in the creative industries. This course can be used as a pathway into the Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design degree or as a starting point into teaching.
Careers
The course assists students to prepare for a career in the visual arts and design industries.
Course details
Course structure
To complete the Diploma in Visual Arts and Design, a student must complete 80 credit points (cp).
Course map
Graduate statement
AQF framework
Additional course information
The Diploma in Visual Arts and Design course is available as a UniAccess-International program.
The aim is to provide an opportunity for students from diverse backgrounds to study a selection of units of interest to them in a program that offers a pathway to a relevant Bachelors degree. The course is offered on a fee-paying basis and is available to international students (UniAccess-International).
Entry requirements
An applicant must also comply with the Admission to Coursework Programs Policy.
To be eligible for admission to the course, an applicant must have completed the equivalent of year 12 level.
International students must meet the English Language Proficiency requirements as defined in the Admission to Coursework Programs Policy.
Disclaimer: The course entry requirements above are for 2025 Admission.
English language requirements
Overall score: 6.0. Individual score of 5.5 in all tests.
Inherent requirement
There are essential components of a course or unit that demonstrate the capabilities, knowledge and skills to achieve the core learning outcomes of that course or unit. You will need to be able to meet these inherent requirements to complete your course.
Learn more about inherent requirements for your course and how they affect you
Pathways
Further study
A UniAccess-International student who successfully completes eight units specified by a UniAccess program may either leave with a Diploma qualification or continue their studies with a place in the Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design course. Domestic students are also able to use this degree as a pathway into the Bachelor of Visual Arts and Design program.
Fees
Course costs
- Unit fee: $3591
- Average first year fee: $28728
- Estimate total cost: $28728
The Tuition fees quoted above are for commencing students in the current year who undertake a normal full-time load. The Unit Fee is based on a 10cp unit. Fees are reviewed annually.
Tuition fees for continuing students may increase by up to 3 percent each year for the minimum duration of the course as provided on your electronic Confirmation of Enrolment (eCOE). Students who continue to study beyond the minimum duration will have the relevant annual commencing rate applied to their fees for subsequent study periods.
Payment options
You should be able to concentrate on getting good marks instead of worrying about how you’ll pay your fees. We have a number of options that can help you ease the financial burden, including government assistance, scholarships and income support.
Scholarships
You could be eligible for one of the hundreds of scholarships we award each year to help students from across the university with the cost of studying, accommodation or overseas study opportunities. Some of our scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit, but these aren’t just for the academically gifted; ACU also recognises excellence in community engagement and leadership. We also offer a range of scholarships for those who may be struggling financially or who have faced other barriers to accessing education.
How to apply
International applicants
Deferment
Yes. See Defer your offer.
Students with a Student Visa will need to complete the program in minimum duration, study at least one subject on-campus each semester and must not undertake more than 33% of the program online.
Staff Profile
Dr Penelope Trotter
Lecturer (Visual Arts), Creative Arts (VIC)
Dr Penelope Trotter is a Visual Arts lecturer in Art History, Video Art, Drawing and Painting, a feature writer for fine art journals and a multi-disciplinary visual and performance artist. Key interests in her feature articles are about identity theory, conceptual performance art and painting. In her own practice her most prominent exhibitions have been performance installations based on and about fantasy fulfillment in relation to identity theory and activism. Her most prominent performance works have concerned themselves with the concept of withheld knowledge created by historical phantoms, exploration of measures required to reclaim this knowledge, and an overriding desire to effectively become the "Other.” With her creative roots stemming from growing up and studying art in Tasmania, Penelope Trotter also uses her skills in painting and drawing for her most recent body of work that is concerned with speaking to the preservation and appreciation of our environmental heritage.
Associate Professor Victoria Carruthers
Senior Lecturer (Art History), School of Arts and Humanities
Associate Professor Victoria Carruthers is Senior Lecturer in modern and contemporary art history and theory at the Australian Catholic University. Her research explores the intersections between art, literature and music across visual cultures from 19th century to the present day. She completed her doctoral thesis on the art of the late American surrealist Dorothea Tanning and has published several articles on her practice. Before coming to art history, Assoc. Prof. Carruthers studied opera (performance) and musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and completed a BA in literature and philosophy and a Masters by thesis on Shakespeare's late plays.