Australian Catholic University, Ballarat Campus – Ballarat

Really nice Aussie campus with friendly staff and facilities

I'm not going to give them five stars. I'm going to give them one. One star for being rude and patronizing to someone whom I regard as a beautiful friend. One star for potentially ruining this person's future. My friend is a single mother and enrolled in the nursing course to start afresh after a traumatic time in an abusive marriage. It was nothing short of heroic after what she had been through. When she went to discuss the two-week practical placement and the fact that she had literally no-one to look after her two children at that time if placed outside of the city where she lives, she was met with bloody mindedness. She was told that she couldn't take her children with her to the placement. The woman she spoke to simply told her that despite being a single parent, that she was no different to a first year 18 year old who had to work at a cafe to make ends meet. She was told that it wasn't the Universitiy's problem if she couldn't find two weeks of childcare and that she would be placed wherever they 'felt like' placing her. She left the course the next day simply because of that. No sympathy, no understanding and no trying to work with her. They 'could' have organised the placement in the city where she lives, thus solving the problem but they 'chose' not to. So much for the sisterhood. So one star for ruining the future of a woman escaping domestic violence and belittling her reality to that of a young person who works in a cafe. Shame on you. You are women. You should have understood. For the record, she still hasn't found work and is still trapped in a dysfunctional context simply because of your small mindness.

Personally, I found this University uninspiring and some of the placements were completely ridiculous