1) No. Most others don't have it either.
2) Civil Engineering covers:
- Structural = design of structures
- Construction Management = managing the whole process of turning the design into the final product.
- Geotech = ground engineering (tunnels, slope stability (new slopes and landslides), foundations, retaining walls, roads, dams etc.)
- Water = everything to do with water (water supply and treatment, waste water removal and treatment, coastal and river management)
- Transport - planning future transportation options e.g. where are new roads, ports, airports required, how big etc
All good Civil type degree cover all these areas and then you specialise in one or two in the later years. You must understand the basics of all the areas as they are all interrelated. Degrees that say things like Civil (structural) just mean you do the structural electives at the end. You can do the same thing with the straight Civil degree by choosing the electives in that area. You actually get more choice doing the straight Civil and can make your decision on where to major once you've learnt the basics of all the areas.
Not all unis are experts in all areas. The bigger the uni (number of staff in Civil) the broader the degree and the more you learn about each area. UNSW for example covers all in detail. Smaller unis concentrate in two or three areas and only teach small amounts of the other areas. Best to do your own research here.
Environmental Engineering is a separate degree at UNSW where you do a combination of science related subjects, civil subjects (mainly geotech, water, transport) and sustainability type subjects (there is a new syllabus this year). This is a proper Environmental degree and trains you to solve environmental problems. Some unis have environmental degrees that are based more on industrial chemistry applications. Some unis have a degree like Civil (Environmental) this is just a Civil degree with some electives in the environmental area. Again do some research here to find out the difference amongst unis. Environmental definitely needs chemistry much more than physics.
3) Ignore UAI - basically every uni has a way of artificially inflating the quoted UAI. It is not an indication of the lowest UAI in the course. As you say it is also affected by number of places and other factors. Sydney and UNSW will have the students with the best UAIs and that's more important than the cutoffs cited.
Both unis will get you jobs - theres a huge demand so it's not that hard. They have different specialities and you should research this and what you might like to do before you make a choice. They have different atmospheres so visit each to see which you prefer. Note that UNSW has the bigger Civil and Environmental School with more staff and has the best reputation for Engineering.
4) As stated above there are plenty of jobs - there is a world wide shortage of civil engineers.
Your undergraduate dgree teaches you the basics and how to solve problems. It does not teach you everything (that would be impossible in a 4 year degree). Many Civil engineers become specialist consultants in which case they often wish to specialise more to give themselves an edge. This is usually done at UNSW (only place in Oz for many of the areas) by doing a MEngSc course (1 year full-time but usually done 2 years part-time whilst working). The MEngSc course is done in the area of your specialisation and gives you advanced coursework in that area. Normally you might start one or two years after you graduate with a BE when you have some practical experience. Often your company will contribute to fees.
Of course, if you like a challenge and are smart enough, you can always do a PhD in your area of preference.
There are many non-award seminars/short courses/conferences/industry talks etc that Civil Engineers go on to also improve their knowledge throughout their career.
