The proposing of the concept of emerging engineering education has accelerated the process of realizing a strong education country in China, and has also brought new opportunities and new development mindsets for the education reform and development of civil engineering majors in universities. Student-centredness is one of the main focuses of the reform of engineering education in the context of emerging engineering education. With the promotion of the national "Belt and Road" initiative, social transformation and economic development in the context of emerging engineering education are in urgent need of new civil engineering technical talents with engineering innovation, practical ability, and international vision. With the emphasis on research and practice as the aim of civil engineering education, Australia has established a flexible curriculum and showed respect for students, which provides a model for civil engineering education in China. By describing the current development of civil engineering education in Australia under the changing international context, this paper reveals that, undergraduate education of civil engineering in Australian universities is highly general, the curriculum content is comprehensive and flexible, emphasis is put on the integration of theory and practice and the cultivation of students’ independent and innovative abilities. This paper proposes that China’s civil engineering professional education should deal with the relationship between education generalism and professionalism, pay more attention to the positive experience of students, and improve students’ comprehensive abilities. Meanwhile, it is of great necessity to improve the quality and specialization of courses to promote the comprehensive development of discipline education, so as to inject new vitality into the civil engineering education in China.