Union Flags Concerns Over Byron Bay Campus Closure

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) is deeply concerned about the planned closure by early 2028 of the SAE and ACAP University College campus in Byron Bay, announced by Navitas this week. The Byron Bay campus was originally established through a global recruitment drive for both staff and students in 2004. It has become a unique regional hub for higher education in the creative arts, media industries and psychology industries – with no comparable institution in the Northern Rivers and potentially across all of northern New South Wales. The closure will impact local access to tertiary education in fields such as film, music, media, animation, graphic design, and games at SAE, as well as psychology and counselling at ACAP. With Southern Cross University also teaching out or closing equivalent creative industries programs, options for regional students are rapidly disappearing. Part of the enrolment downturn at SAE and ACAP is linked to the long-term impacts of the 2022 Lismore floods. Many students lost their homes and were forced to pause or abandon their studies due to the ongoing trauma and displacement that followed. Members are concerned that decisions made by Navitas around centralising delivery and changes to local marketing have also contributed to falling student numbers. The closure will further limit educational opportunities and creative outlets for young people in Byron Bay and surrounding communities. The NTEU calls for genuine consultation with staff and students, and for a reconsideration of alternatives that would preserve access to creative industries higher education, and psychology higher education in the region.