A Brief History Of The College
1984 – Miss Lois Reid was invited by the Reverend Ray Smith, then Archdeacon of Christian Education to conduct a self-awareness course in the Anglican Diocese of Armidale.
1985 – After conducting a second self-awareness course in Tamworth, Miss Reid was invited to train eighteen people from Tamworth and Armidale. A committee was set up, with a dream of providing counselling services, and training counsellors, in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes and Plains.
1986 – Miss Reid was invited to move to Tamworth in order to set up the Anglican Counselling Service (Diocese of Armidale). Some of the first graduating trainees became the founding counsellors, with Miss Reid as the founding Director.
1987 – Three more groups of counselling trainees commenced, which entailed Miss Reid traveling from Tamworth to Armidale and Moree for tutorial weekends.
1988 – Graduates from Miss Reid’s courses began counselling in Moree, Inverell, Boggabri, Narrabri, Gunnedah and Boggabilla/North Star.
1990 – More permanent venues were established for counselling and training. The Anglican Counselling Service applied for Federal Government funding to support the running costs of the counselling service. Income from counselling trainees was set at: $250 per trainee per year, 2 year course.
1998 – A push for more formalised training resulted in applications for the course to become accredited with the Higher Education Board.
1999 – The reputation of ACS, and the training provided by Miss Reid increased, with counselling available in 7 centres in the North West. By then over 400 students had completed the training course The ACS formed an incorporated body of the College Armidale Diocese Anglican Counselling Training Service Inc”
2002 – Miss Reid resigned as Director and partially retired, in order to concentrate on the process of getting the training course accredited. Jenny Regan assumed the role of Principal of the College.
2003 – The training course was developed as an external study course and accredited by the NSW Dept of Education Higher Education Board for the awards of Diploma and Bachelor of Counselling Studies. The Lois Reid College of Counselling Studies was then the official name given to the training division of the Anglican Counselling Service.
2005 – On 26th November the inaugural graduation ceremony for LRCCS was held with 13 students presented with their Diploma of Counselling Studies and 6 students being presented with their Bachelor of Counselling Studies.
2005 – 2006 – AAn application for re-accreditation was made to the Higher Education Board.
2007– The College lost accreditation for the Bachelor degree due to changes to the requirements for the HEB but was given permission to teach out students already enrolled in the courses. This time expired on December 30, 2011. New students continued to enroll in the now unaccredited course.
2008 – The Board of the College was reconstituted and the name changed to the College of Counselling Studies (New England/North West) Incorporated. Tutorials and residentials continued. The College began to operate as a separate entity from the Anglican Counselling Service.
The College and the Anglican Counselling Service continued to work in a supportive partnership which was formalised in a Memorandum of Understanding between them.
2009- A proposal was made that the College continue to offer a Diploma of Counselling and seek to register as a training organisation with VETAB. The College held its second graduation on September 12th. 8 Graduands were awarded Bachelor of Counselling Studies Degrees. 6 Students received the Diploma. Over 100 students have completed the external Course.
A number of short courses in different counselling skill set were developed and offered throughout centres in the New England and Northwest regions.
2010 – 2011– The administration office of the College moved and moved again. The College experienced financial difficulties which inhibited the process of becoming an RTO (Registered Training Organisation) and resulted in many of the paid staff continuing to work on a volunteer basis. Fund raising efforts made it possible to hire a consultant to help in finding a partnership with an existing RTO. A new Diploma Course was developed which met the requirements for accreditation as a VET course. Miss Lois Reid died on 1st August.
2012- The final fifteen students eligible for an HEB accredited award completed their Degrees and Diplomas and a third graduation was held on May 5, 2012. Students continued to enrol in and study the unaccredited course.
Course workbooks for a new course which consisted of 17 units as described in the Community Services Training Package CHC08 delivered in 8 modules, were designed and written. They meet the ASQA Guidelines and utilise the content of the original Counselling Course, A suitable arrangement for the College to continue to provide a Nationally Accredited Diploma of Counselling was negotiated as a partnership with –TAFE New England.
2014 – 2021 – The partnership arrangement with TAFE finished. A new partnership has been negotiated with Anglicare College – the RTO of Anglicare NSW South, NSW West and ACT. Anglicare College are keen to have the course, which has been developed and sustained by the efforts of many individuals in the New England and North West of NSW, continue and be delivered throughout the state and beyond.
2022 – current – The new year has brought on a new era for the College of Counselling Studies. The College was successful in obtaining status as a Registered Training Organisation (RTO 45909) through the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) for the delivery of the CHC51015 Diploma of Counselling.
What does this mean for the college? Complete responsibility for all aspects of the College’s counselling course in training, assessment, administration and student support. With a recent validation being performed on all units of competency offered throughout the course, the College is confident that they can continue to deliver a nationally accredited course of high standard for both industry and VET requirements.
IN MEMORIUM
OF OUR FOUNDER, LOIS REID
1934 – 2011