Acnt Celebrates 25 Years

In 2007 ACNT Celebrates 25 years! This is a long way from humble beginnings in Bondi Junction 25 years ago to the current ten storey campus spread across two buildings in Surry Hills. ACNT is always expanding and improving facilities and reaching 25 years in the industry is an achievement which the founders are very proud of. It was only last year that two more floors were added and were officially opened by Mr. Brad Hazzard, MP, Shadow Minister for Education who likened ACNT's journey through Sydney to the "progression and acceptance of natural therapies in Australia and an increase in demand for courses in natural medicine from the wider community".

In the 1970s Freida Bielik, Principal and co-founder of ACNT spent many years of sleepless nights at the local hospital with her son, Danny, who battled severe asthma for many of his early childhood years. Freida and her husband Peter were at a loss as to how to treat their son's health and through word of mouth were referred to an osteopath who had been treating asthma sufferers for many years. This osteopath treated Danny throughout his childhood and the results were astounding. Today he is no longer a sufferer of asthma and after a management career spanning Asia, Europe and the USA, in 1998 joined ACNT and is now the Managing Director. Freida was inspired so much by this form of medicine that she went on herself to study osteopathy, chiropractic and naturopathy. Once qualified, Freida started a small practice in Bondi. In 1982, along with her husband Peter, ACNT, then known as the Eastern Suburbs College of Natural Therapies, was formed in modest premises in Bondi Junction, NSW. The College then consisted of one classroom and four treatment rooms in an office building near the Bondi Junction train station. Quickly outgrowing the premises the College moved to Double Bay where Freida and Peter ran a range of successful massage weekend workshops. Demand for these courses was so high that it was soon necessary to look for larger premises and so the College moved to occupy an entire floor of an office building in Ultimo. Originally half the floor in Ultimo was sublet however ACNT had to completely resume the area within weeks as the College started its new Naturopathy programme. After leasing another floor in the same building, then additional space in a building across the street, it was soon time to move again. The building in Bay Street, Broadway seemed huge in comparison to the space the College occupied in Ultimo, with plenty of room for a clinic, dispensary, larger classrooms, a common room and a rooftop terrace. Little did they know this would soon be insufficient with demand for ACNT's courses growing at an astonishing rate.

The ACNT Student Clinic then moved to its present position in a federation house in Glebe to alleviate the space problems. However room was still an issue so the College temporarily rented premises across the street before moving to the current eight storey building in Foveaux Street, Surry Hills. In 2004 ACNT added two significant new facilities at Surry Hills. The new Spa Therapy Training Facility is a day spa in a classroom providing an unparalleled training environment allowing ACNT students to take advantage of the booming industry. Another new addition in 2004 was ‘Nourish � ACNT Caf� and Bookstore', helping to nourish the bodies and minds of eager ACNT students and staff. In 2006 ACNT expanded its horizons once again when the extension of two additional floors of the building next door were officially opened by Mr Brad Hazzard. This extension dramatically increased two levels of ACNT not only adding more classrooms and offices but also allowing for extended caf�, bookstore and library facilities. After 25 years, ACNT is not only one of the largest colleges of natural medicine and beauty therapy in the world, it is also one of the most respected private educational providers recognised by many world wide organisations, universities and industry associations. Freida's faith in natural medicine was so great that she not only believed that it could cure her son, it became her dream to educate others in natural medicine. This has successfully been achieved through establishing ACNT and her strong involvement in the natural therapies industry today, including serving as Vice President of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society (ATMS). We hope this true life story inspires you the way it inspired Freida and her family.

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