Torrens University Australia is a private university with a smaller research footprint than the older Australian institutions, and it publishes correspondingly less about thesis requirements in public. This guide covers what Torrens does publish, and is direct about where it stops.
The practical consequence for you is straightforward: get the two governing documents from the HDR Centre early. Everything below is a supplement to them, not a substitute.
The documents that actually govern your thesis
The HDR Centre names three documents as governing candidature:
- Higher Degree by Research Student Progress Procedure
- Higher Degree by Research Thesis Submission and Examination Procedure
- Higher Degree by Research Thesis Guidelines
The second and third are the ones that matter for writing and submitting. Neither is published as an open web page, and the Library's own thesis submission guide repeatedly cross-references them for detail it does not carry itself.
Ask for the Higher Degree by Research Thesis Guidelines and the Thesis Submission and Examination Procedure in your first year, not your last. Contact the HDR Centre at [email protected]. If anything in this guide conflicts with those documents, they win.
Degrees and word lengths
Torrens offers a research degree ladder rather than a single PhD: Graduate Certificate of Research Studies, Graduate Diploma of Research Studies, Master of Research Studies, Master of Philosophy, Professional Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy, and Doctor of Philosophy (By Prior Works).
| Degree | Published thesis length | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor of Philosophy | Not more than 80,000 words | 3 years full-time, 6 part-time |
| Master of Philosophy | Not published; described as a minor thesis | 2 years full-time, 4 part-time |
| Professional Doctorate (Research) | Not published as a word count | 3 years full-time, 6 part-time |
The PhD figure comes from the PhD course page, which describes a thesis of not more than 80,000 words demonstrating original thought, academic rigour and a sustained program of higher order thinking.
Torrens does not publish a word limit for the Master of Philosophy or the Professional Doctorate on its public course pages. The MPhil is described as culminating in a minor thesis delivered across ten thesis units; the Professional Doctorate is described in credit points (160 credit points of thesis writing across units THE601 to THE616) with submission of a thesis and an advanced professional practice portfolio. Neither converts reliably to a word count. Confirm yours with your supervisor or the HDR Centre.
The Professional Doctorate also carries substantial coursework ahead of the thesis: eight core subjects including Critical Literature Review, Developing the Research Proposal, Methodology and Research Design, Preliminary Research Thesis, Research Communication, Leading Research Innovation and Commercialisation and Qualitative Research Methods, plus a statistics elective. Plan your writing timeline around that load rather than assuming three clear years of thesis work.
Thesis formats
Torrens permits four formats:
- Standard Narrative — the familiar linear thesis.
- Thesis by Publication — built around papers published during candidature.
- Exegesis — accompanying creative or practice-based work.
- Folio — an industry folio, typically accompanied by an exegesis.
This is a genuinely open set, and the choice materially changes how you write. Make it with your supervisory panel early, and ask specifically what the Thesis Guidelines require for the format you pick, because the public pages do not spell out the structural requirements for any of them.
If you are weighing a publication-based structure against a single sustained argument, that is a decision worth making deliberately rather than by default. Our thesis writing support is built around that stage of the work.
Formatting
The Library's formatting page is the one place Torrens publishes a concrete specification.
| Element | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Line spacing | 1.5 or double throughout |
| Font | A clear, readable font; Calibri or Times New Roman preferred |
| Font size, main text | At least 11 pt |
| Font size, footnotes | 10 pt acceptable |
| Outside margin | At least 20 mm |
| Inside margin | At least 35 mm, for binding |
| Pagination | All pages numbered consecutively |
| Headers and footers | Not required |
| Figures and tables | Photos, diagrams, charts, tables and figures placed within the text where possible |
The inside margin alternates on facing pages, which tells you Torrens expects the thesis to be capable of being bound double-sided. Set mirror margins in your word processor at the start rather than reflowing a finished document.
Two things the formatting page does not specify: page size, and any PDF file size limit. A4 is the Australian norm and is a safe assumption, but if you are printing or working with an unusual page size, confirm it before you commit.
What the formatting page does not cover
Torrens does not publish, on its open pages, requirements for:
- The title page contents or layout
- Required preliminary pages and their order
- The wording of any declaration or certificate of authorship
- Abstract length
- Referencing style
- A maximum file size for submission
All of these almost certainly appear in the Higher Degree by Research Thesis Guidelines. Rather than guessing at any of them, ask the HDR Centre for the document. A thesis returned for a missing declaration is an avoidable delay.
On referencing specifically: Torrens maintains academic skills and library referencing support, and your discipline and supervisory panel will have a preferred style. Whatever you choose, apply one current edition of one style consistently throughout.
Ethics
Research conduct at Torrens is governed by its responsible conduct of research framework, including human research ethics procedures and breach investigation protocols set out in the Higher Degree by Research Policy and Procedure, as referenced by the HDR Centre.
Torrens does not publish the detail of its human research ethics application process, committee meeting dates or approval timelines openly. If your project involves human participants, identifiable data or animals, approach the HDR Centre and your supervisor about ethics approval well before you intend to collect anything. Approval must be in place before data collection, and ethics review timelines are the single most common cause of a candidature slipping.
Editing and proofreading
Torrens does not publish an open editing policy for HDR theses.
Most Australian universities follow the Guidelines for Editing Research Theses issued by the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd), which restrict a professional editor to copyediting and proofreading: spelling, punctuation, grammar, consistency and formatting. Under those guidelines an editor may point out structural problems but must not solve them, and their assistance must be acknowledged in the thesis.
It is reasonable to work to that standard, but do not assume it. Ask the HDR Centre what Torrens requires before you engage anyone, and ask specifically whether an acknowledgement is required and where it should sit. The same applies to generative AI tools, on which Torrens publishes no open HDR-specific position.
Submission
The Library's thesis submission overview sets out what happens.
Before the thesis goes anywhere, your principal supervisor must confirm three things:
- The thesis is in an acceptable format for examination.
- The thesis is within the word limit.
- Your data and research materials align with the Research Data Management Policy.
That third point is easy to overlook. Data management is not something to sort out in the fortnight before submission, so keep your data organised and documented as you go.
Torrens does not publish a notice of intention period, a submission portal name, or an examiner nomination timeline on its open pages. Ask the HDR Centre how far ahead you need to signal your intention to submit, and how examiners are nominated and appointed. For the Professional Doctorate, the course page states the final thesis and advanced professional practice portfolio are examined by two external examiners.
After examination
The HDR Centre communicates the examination recommendation and all examiner reports to you and your supervisor. Two outcomes are described publicly:
Accepted without changes. No revisions needed. The final thesis goes directly to the HDR Centre and the Library.
Accepted with amendments. You complete the required revisions, submit a change summary table setting out what you changed, and obtain Dean approval before lodging the final version.
That change summary table is worth knowing about in advance. Keep a running log as you work through examiner comments rather than reconstructing one afterwards.
The public pages describe only these two outcomes. They do not describe what happens on a revise-and-resubmit or a fail, nor do they publish amendment timeframes or an expected examination duration. The Thesis Submission and Examination Procedure will cover this. Ask for it.
Publication and embargo
Passed theses are published through Torrens.figshare, the University's institutional repository. Access to the platform is arranged by contacting [email protected].
Embargo requests are handled through the Library's thesis submission guide, which carries a dedicated Embargo Requests section alongside Copyright. If you plan to publish a book or a patent from the thesis, or the work contains commercially sensitive or third-party copyright material, raise an embargo with your supervisor before you lodge the final version. Torrens does not publish a maximum embargo period openly, so ask what is available.
Pre-submission checklist
- I have read the Higher Degree by Research Thesis Guidelines and the Thesis Submission and Examination Procedure, obtained from the HDR Centre.
- Length is within the limit for my degree, confirmed with my supervisor (80,000 words for a PhD; confirm for MPhil and Professional Doctorate).
- Thesis format (Standard Narrative, Thesis by Publication, Exegesis or Folio) agreed with my supervisory panel.
- Line spacing 1.5 or double throughout.
- Main text at least 11 pt in Calibri or Times New Roman; footnotes at 10 pt.
- Mirror margins set: at least 35 mm inside, at least 20 mm outside.
- All pages numbered consecutively.
- Figures, tables, charts and photos placed within the text where possible.
- Title page, preliminary pages and declarations match the Thesis Guidelines (requested from the HDR Centre, not guessed).
- One referencing style applied consistently.
- Ethics approval obtained before data collection and recorded.
- Data and research materials comply with the Research Data Management Policy.
- Any editing or AI assistance checked against what Torrens requires, and acknowledged if required.
- Principal supervisor has confirmed format, word limit and data compliance.
- Embargo decision discussed with my supervisor before final lodgement.
What this guide could not confirm
In the interest of not inventing figures, here is exactly where Torrens's public documentation stops:
- No published word limit for the Master of Philosophy or the Professional Doctorate.
- No published page size or PDF file size limit.
- No published title page specification, preliminary page order, declaration wording or abstract length.
- No prescribed referencing style.
- No published editing or generative AI policy for HDR theses.
- No published notice of intention period or examiner nomination timeline for PhD and MPhil candidates.
- No published examination outcome set beyond the two described, no amendment timeframes, and no expected examination duration.
- No published embargo maximum period.
- No published detail of the human research ethics application process or timelines.
Every one of these is a question for [email protected], and every one of them is cheap to ask early and expensive to discover late.
The short version
Torrens gives you a real formatting specification and a real PhD word limit, and then points you at two internal documents for everything else. The single most useful thing you can do is request those documents now.
Set mirror margins at 35 mm inside and 20 mm outside, hold your main text at 11 pt or larger, and pick your thesis format with your panel rather than drifting into one. Then write down every question in the list above and send it to the HDR Centre in one email. You will get a better answer twelve months out than twelve days out.
