The best postgraduate IT programmes in Australia

Computer science covers vast swaths of terrain – coding, technical engineering, security, business processes and communications, among just a few. With the Internet of Things fusing computers with objects that can interact with the physical world, cybersecurity attacks threaten to endanger life and property too. Imagine driverless cars or insulin pumps being hacked. 

Digital operations are more important than ever, with many transformative changes accelerating over the past year. Research consultancy company IDC projects that the technology industry is on route to reach US$5 trillion in 2021. 

Computer science is a dynamic and rapidly growing area that has become an integral part of the world that we live in today. Having a degree in this field will provide you with a deep understanding of theories and emerging technologies. With an education in Computing and Information Technology, you will have plenty of great opportunities and can earn a good salary. If you plan to join this dynamic industry, start with a postgraduate IT qualification from one of these top Australian universities:

Charles Sturt University

Studying at Charles Sturt University means getting a hands-on education taught by industry experts. Source: Charles Sturt University

From Cybersecurity and Data Science to Software Development and Network Engineering, these are some of the hottest jobs in the industry today — Charles Sturt University graduates are ready to take them on. A postgraduate IT qualification from Charles Sturt University puts students at the forefront of the emerging IT jobs market. It’s a savvy choice that powers math wizards, coding aces and master problem-solvers to reach their full potential.

Charles Sturt University is ranked #1 in Australia for graduate employment. Recruiters, including national and global industry leaders, also know that Charles Sturt is ranked in the top three universities for Computer Science. The proof is in the salaries of graduates. Charles Sturt graduates get jobs faster than those from any other university in Australia and earn an average of 67,100 Australian dollars straight after graduating (QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020).

Students also benefit from Charles Sturt being the most experienced and largest online university (Department of Education, Skills and Employment Higher Education Statistics 2020). You can complete all IT postgraduate degrees 100% online, have everything you need at your fingertips — from lectures and tutorials to assessments, library resources, and community spaces — all backed up by 24/7 tech support.

If you’d prefer to study on-campus, the Master of Information Technology can be undertaken at Charles Sturt Port Macquarie campus in regional NSW.

From day one, you’ll hit the ground running with Charles Sturt’s postgraduate IT courses. All are hands-on, ensuring you’re career-ready by the time you graduate. The postgraduate  suite of online courses includes: Graduate Certificate in Information Technology; Graduate Certificate in Applied Data Science; Graduate Diploma of Information Technology; and Master of Information Technology (with specialisations) (12 subjects).

University of Western Australia

For aspiring IT experts, there is no better place than UWA. Source: University of Western Australia

University of Western Australia’s Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering live and breathe IT. When you study IT at UWA, you’ll gain hands-on experience. Students develop robotics, create mathematical modelling programmes, use computer-aided techniques to review and validate financial data and calculations, as well as analyse IT security frameworks. 

Pushing the boundaries of innovation, the department boasts research that is trying to change the world for the better in areas including: Artificial Intelligence; Computer Vision; Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery; Computational Logic and Formal Languages; Security and Privacy; Mobile and Wireless Systems; and Bioinformatics. 

Undergraduate students can enroll for the Bachelor of Advanced Computer Science degree and choose a specialisation in Artificial Intelligence; Computing and Data Science; or International Cybersecurity. Students who are interested in the study area of software engineering can take their pick from majors in Computer Science; Cybersecurity; or Data science. 

As a Master of Data Science student, you will explore how to efficiently find patterns in vast streams of data. You’ll learn to transform the way an organisation achieves its objectives, deal effectively with large data management tasks, and master the machine learning foundations on which data analytics is built. If you want to specialise in cloud and high-performance computing, agile web development and software project design and management, then the Master of Information Technology is for you. 

University of Queensland

The School of Information Technology offers a wide array of programmes. Source: University of Queensland Facebook

Are you looking to pursue a bachelor’s degree in IT, or to hone your expertise in the field with a career-boosting master’s qualification? You may want to consider doing so at the University of Queensland’s School of Information Technology.

The school focuses on key areas such as: Cybersecurity and Software Engineering; Imaging, Sensing and Biomedical Engineering; Power, Energy, and Control Engineering; Human-Centred Computing; and Data Science. Here, research is are facilitated at the Centre for Energy Data Innovation (CEDI) and ARC Training Centre for Information Resilience (CIRES).

The School of Information Technology offers a wide array of programmes. At the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, you can opt for a variety of programmes in Computer Science and Information Technology. These programmes are taught by award-winning teachers in a varied and extensive lineup of expertise. Students are provided with an in-depth understanding and set of skills in computational science, numerical simulation, applied mathematics, statistics, and data science. 

RMIT

RMIT’s programmes produce industry-ready and skill-focused graduates. Source: RMIT

RMIT’s School of Computing Technologies — a centre for digital innovation, world class research, and education in STEM — believes that Computer Science is for everyone. The school is a leading powerhouse of research and teaching activity spanning the breadth of Computer Science. Areas of focus include Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Cloud Systems and Security.

RMIT’s programmes produce industry-ready and skill-focused graduates. The strong focus on technology enables RMIT to be embedded within industry and leading local and international research organisations.​​ 

The school offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Computer Science; Information and Security; Information Technology; and Software Engineering. Through these programmes, students dive deeper into specialised areas such as big data; mobile computing; security; cloud computing; web systems; games; and application programming. 

That’s not all. Students graduate understanding the full potential of large scale and highly efficient products and systems across a range of industries. How is this achieved? Through modules that cover data security and system enhancements, cryptography, auditing systems and other technical and management skills for a range of industries.

*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Study International