Graduate Certificate in Application Development

Course information for - 2025 entry

Offered at 1 locations

Duration
0.5 year full-time or equivalent part-time
Fees (first year)*

$11480 Fee-paying

Start dates
Semester 1 intake: Beginning February 2025
Applications open August 2024
Midyear (Semester 2) intake: Not available

Overview

The Graduate Certificate in Application Development provides you with advanced knowledge in producing industry-strength software applications. You’ll be introduced to multiple programming languages and software tools, fundamental data structures and algorithms and taught the techniques to design, create and test interactive desktop, web and mobile applications. All our units are embedded with the United Nations sustainable goals.

Graduate with full-stack application programming and development skills and be ready to step straight into the industry or continue on the pathway to a Master of Information Technology. Units from this course can also count towards an application development specialisation in the MBA.

  • 95% graduates employed

  • Top 10 Catholic universities globally

  • Top 40 young universities worldwide

Careers

Our graduates have pursued careers in:

  • full stack development
  • web development
  • mobile development
  • software development
  • programming

Course details

Course structure

Course map

Open all

Please note: Course maps are subject to change.

Commencing Semester 1

  • ITEC617Modern Database Management

    (Inc: ISYS617)

    10 cp
  • ITEC618Programming Concepts

    (Inc: ISYS618)

    10 cp
  • ITEC627Advanced Programming Concepts

    (Pre: ITEC618)

    10 cp

Prerequisites (Pre:) are other units that you must have passed before enrolling in this unit. 

Incompatibles (Inc:) are units similar to this unit. If you have previously passed an Incompatible unit, you are not able to enrol in this unit.

Graduate statement

Insight

As an ACU graduate you have personal insight founded on an understanding of who you are as a professional, a citizen and a scholar. You embrace change and growth through critical self-awareness and learning autonomy. You are empowered to seek truth and meaning, drawing on the principles of justice, equity, and the dignity of all human beings.

Empathy

As an ACU graduate you value human dignity and diversity. This appreciation is founded on deep reflection, and empathy. You have experience of Indigenous Knowings and perspectives and can engage respectfully when working alongside Australia's First Peoples. You can connect with people and cultures and work with community in ways that recognise the dignity of the human person and all cultures

Imagination

As an ACU graduate you utilise imagination and innovation to solve problems. You critically analyse information from a range of sources to creatively solve practical problems and use critical thinking to make decisions and advance the common good. You appreciate the role of innovation and creative thinking in developing a better future for each person and community.

Impact

As an ACU graduate you recognise your responsibility to work for social justice and a sustainable world founded on a commitment to human dignity and the common good. You lead change through respectful collaboration and effective communication of ideas to diverse peoples, groups and communities in local and global contexts. You are empowered to positively impact your profession and the community.

AQF framework

Graduate Certificate - AQF Level 8

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 following prerequisites:

  1. Equivalent of an Australian Bachelor’s degree in any discipline; or
  2. At least two years’ industry experience in a relevant role.

International students need to 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.

Applicants with higher education study

You will need to meet the minimum entry requirements and subject prerequisites for your chosen course. 

If you have completed at least two units of AQF-recognised study at bachelor level or above, we’ll assign you with a new selection rank that reflects your study level, duration, and grade point average.

If your prior study or relevant work experience has provided you with knowledge, skills or experience aligned with the learning outcomes of units in your new course, you may be eligible to gain credit for study or have your prior learning recognised. This means you may be able to complete your ACU course in a shorter timeframe.

You can use our credit search tool to see what you might be eligible for. For more information about credit and recognition of prior learning at ACU, follow the link below.

Search our credit database

Learn more about recognition of prior learning

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

The Graduate Certificate in Application Development articulates into the Master of Information Technology.

Fees

Course costs

Average first year fee*

$11480 Fee-paying

*This is an indicative first-year fee based on the tuition fee rates for a full-time student, using unit enrolment data from domestic students who studied the course in the previous year.

A student’s annual fee will vary depending on factors including:

  • Number of units studied per year
  • Choice of major or specialisation
  • Elective units

The University reviews fees annually.

You can view current course costs and domestic tuition fee rates by unit.

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.

Explore your options

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.

Search our scholarships

How to apply

Domestic applicants

Direct application

Apply now

Deferment

Deferment is available for one year. Find out more about deferment.

Staff Profile

Dr Walayat Hussain

Head of the Discipline of Information Technology, Peter Faber Business School

Dr Walayat Hussain is currently the Head of the Discipline of Information Technology at Peter Faber Business School. He has an academic and industry experience of more than 17 years. Before joining the ACU, he was a Lecturer at Victoria University Melbourne, lecturer and a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney for seven years. He worked as an Assistant Professor and postgraduate program coordinator at the department of Computer Science at BUITEMS University for many years. He holds a PhD, Master, Postgraduate Diploma, and Bachelor's (Hons.) degrees in Computing and Information Systems from the UTS, AIT, BUITEMS, and Hamdard University.


Walayat has developed and revitalised multiple postgraduate and undergraduate subjects of Information Systems and has taught more than 30 subjects to undergraduate and postgraduate students. He has supervised several research students as the principal and co-supervisor to completion. Walayat's research areas are Service Computing, Business Intelligence, AI, Information Systems, Computational Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Decision Support Systems. He has published more than 74 high-quality research documents.

Dr Kewen Liao

Senior Lecturer in information technology, Peter Faber Business School

Dr Liao is currently a Senior Lecturer in Information Technology and Master of IT Coordinator in the Peter Faber Business. Previously, Dr. Liao was a Lecturer in Information Technology at Charles Darwin University (CDU) Sydney. Dr. Liao's research and teaching interests are data science and algorithms.


Dr. Liao was a Research Fellow in Data Analytics at Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) and a Postdoctoral Researcher in Big Data and Algorithms at The University of Melbourne (UoM). Dr. Liao has also worked as a Research and Development Engineer in Computer Vision and Machine Learning at Canon Information Systems Research Australia with a US patent.

Dr. Liao holds a PhD (with focus on algorithms) and a First-Class Honours Bachelor (with focus on software engineering) both in Computer Science from The University of Adelaide (UoA). Dr. Liao did undergraduate exchange at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), USA.

 

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