Bachelor
Course Overview
The Bachelor of Community Services is a fully accredited Australian higher education degree. The course is designed to prepare you for ethical, competent, and culturally relevant community service generalist practice and to equip you with the skills you need for life-long learning and professional development. You will work at the interface between people and their environments, focusing on the experiences of individuals, families, groups and communities. Areas of service provision include child welfare, hospice and palliative care, and juvenile justice and corrections and advocacy.
You will learn about the theory and values base of human services practice, as well as the knowledge and skills required to work as a professional at a managerial level in the community services sector. You will have the foundational knowledge and skills in community services management you need to continue to a relevant post-graduate higher education program at a university or private education provider.
Course Description
The Bachelor of Community Services is delivered through teacher-led classroom work in the form of lectures and tutorials. Most units require students to attend a two-hour lecture and a one-hour tutorial. The course is conducted over trimesters, with three trimesters in each academic year. The units are taught concurrently within the trimester, and the course will be completed within three years. The course is comprised of 24 units across eight trimesters, covering community services, counselling, systems and policy, coordination and support, specialist skills, and fieldwork.
The course also requires you to complete two separate work placements in a community welfare agency, totaling 400 hours (combined). These placements are designed to meet the requirements of the Australian Community Workers Association (ACWA).
Course Structure
To be eligible for the Bachelor of Community Services, you are required to complete 24 units (360 credit points) from among those described below.
You will study three units per trimester, with most units comprised of a two-hour (lecture) and one-hour (tutorial) per week. You will also undertake seven hours of personal study per unit per week. The number of days per week depends on your timetable, but is typically two to three days (and potentially evening classes at some campuses).
For your placement units (FLD202 and FLD304), you will negotiate your work hours with your placement agency and the AE placement team, in line with ACWA requirements.
Units
Core
Introductory Community Services (INT)
INT101 Introduction to Community Services
INT102 Interpersonal Communication Skills
INT103 Human Development Across the Lifespan
INT204 Introduction to Management in Community Services
Counselling (COU)
COU101 Counselling Theory and Practice (1)
COU202 Counselling Theory and Practice (2)
COU303 Supervision and Debriefing
Systems and Policy (SAP)
SAP101 Foundations of Sociology and Politics for Community Service Workers
SAP102 Welfare Systems and Services in Australia
SAP103 Introduction to Welfare Law
SAP203 Developing Social Policy
SAP304 Social Research Methods
Coordination and Support (CAS)
CAS101 Community Development
CAS102 Group Work
CAS203 Principles of Case Management
CAS204 Managing Multiculturalism and Diversity
Specialist Skills (SPS)
SPS201 Alcohol and Other Drugs
SPS202 Working with Young People and their Families
SPS303 Family and Domestic Violence
SPS304 Mental Health and the Community
Fieldwork (FLD)
FLD201 Ethics and Professional Practice
FLD202 Fieldwork 1
FLD303 Transition to Professional Practice
FLD304 Fieldwork 2