Public Relations

The field of public relations is concerned with communicating ethically and strategically and building and managing relationships with stakeholders in the communities in which an organisation operates. In a world that is saturated with information, advertising and news, public relations is one of the fastest growing industries in today’s corporate, government and not-for-profit environments.

At a managerial level, public relations professionals counsel senior management in strategic communication rresulting in new and maintained relationships between organisations and their publics.

The social media revolution has rapidly changed the face of public relations as organisations use two-way communication channels and online communities including Facebook and Pinterest, blogs and microblogs such as Twitter, and local-based tools such as FourSquare to engage and build relationships with their publics. Social media forms part of the multi-faceted toolkit for the public relations professional, now an important element of all strategic communication, joining the ever-important skills of clear and targeted writing for a range of media, strategic forward planning, creative thinking, interpersonal and organisational consultation and problem solving.

Studying Public Relations At Bond

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences offers an exciting applied theory based program in public relations designed to familiarise students with the public relations industry and the key roles and responsibilities of professional practitioners. Students develop and apply diverse skills including researching, developing objectives, goals, strategies and tactics for public relations campaigns; writing for different purposes including media releases, speeches, brochures and newsletters; identifying risk and issues; managing organisational crises; running simulated media conferences and events; strategic use of social media; and developing stakeholder relationships. Many of the PR projects students undertake are for real world organisations where students work within the community in a client-consultant capacity.

Students are introduced to the range of areas in which public relations professionals practice, including community relations, employee relations, sports public relations, financial relations, multicultural communications, issues and crisis management, media relations, stakeholder management, special events, sponsorship management, lobbying, corporate social responsibility, social media management, speech writing, publications and professional writing.

The public relations program prepares students to become professional communicators with verbal, written, and digital communication skills, coupled with relationship management know how.

Careers In Public Relations

Public relations attracts energetic people who are able to see problems from multiple perspectives and are capable of generating and implementing thoughtful solutions. The profession is represented and bound by ethical standards set by the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA), and various international bodies. Many of the public relations subjects on offer at Bond are accredited by PRIA.

Employers of public relations graduates are seeking individuals who stay up-to-date with the latest news and trends in society, have strong writing skills which can be tailored to different formats, and have a high degree of professionalism when executing communication strategies and tactics for their organisation. Graduates may find employment in public relations consultancies and in-house public relations departments within organisations in the corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors, including education, health, entertainment, sports, tourism, mining, music, fashion, hospitality, police, the legal system, politics and the arts.

Bond Public Relations Alumini

Bond University public relations graduates are now working in many different corporations both private and public and as consultants to large organisations around the globe.

To find out more about our Advertising alumni, we invite you to read their stories: