In 1979, St Francis Xavier Seminary (SFX) joined with other theological colleges in Adelaide to form the Adelaide College of Divinity (ACD).  The ACD began as an ecumenical consortium, and each college retained its own identity, but cooperated within the ACD for joint teaching of courses. Originally, there were three denominational theological colleges that formed the ACD consortium – St Francis Xavier Seminary (SFX - Roman Catholic), Parkin-WesleyCollege (PWC -Uniting Church) and St Barnabas’ Theological College (SBC - Anglican).   

In 1996 the Anglican, Catholic and Uniting churches purchased a common teaching site and in September, 1997 the respective Colleges moved to what is now known as the ACD Campus. Teaching began on the new Campus in October 1997 and the Campus was officially opened in November that year. 

In 2000, the Catholic Theological College of South Australia (CTC) became the Roman Catholic member college of the Adelaide College of Divinity (ACD).

Prior to 2011, the ACD was itself the registered private provider of theological education - offering awards in Certificates I, II and IV in Ministry, the Diploma in Pastoral Ministry,  the Bachelor of Ministry and the Master of Ministry.  In 2011, CTC withdrew from the ACD.

From 1980 to 2011 the ACD had an agreement with Flinders University through which its constituent member colleges provided the teaching of Theology degrees in the School of Theology, which then changed to the Department of Theology, which is in the School of Humanities at Flinders University.

The ACD continues to provide theological and ministry based higher education and vocational education.

ACD website