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Australian Professional Skills Institute (APSI)

Diploma of Community Services (Case Management)

  • Diploma

This qualification reflects the role of community services workers involved in the delivery, management and coordination of person-centred services to individuals, groups, and communities.

Key details

Degree Type
Diploma
Duration
64 weeks full-time
Course Code
CHC52021, 113105G
Study Mode
In person

About this course

This qualification reflects the role of community services workers involved in the delivery, management and coordination of person-centred services to individuals, groups, and communities.

At this level, workers have specialised skills in community services and work autonomously within their scope of practice under broad directions from senior management.

Workers support people to make change in their lives to improve personal and social wellbeing and may also have responsibility for the supervision of other workers and volunteers. They may also undertake case management and program coordination.

To achieve this qualification, the candidate must have completed at least 200 hours of work as detailed in the Assessment Requirements of units of competency.

The skills in this qualification must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State or Territory legislation, Australian standards and industry codes of practice.

No occupational licensing, certification or specific legislative requirements apply to this qualification at the time of publication.

In this course you will learn how to:

  • Communicate effectively with and advocate on behalf of clients
  • Apply counselling techniques
  • Work effectively with diverse clients on one-on-one or in groups
  • Apply all aspects of case management
  • Implement community development strategies
  • Understand the impacts of sociological factors on clients

Entry requirements

Domestic Australian Students
  • For direct entry into Diploma level courses, students must have completed a minimum of Year 12 schooling or equivalent or to be a mature age student (20 years of age and above) with relevant work experience.
  • Students who have not completed Year 12 are permitted to study a certificate-level course at APSI prior to the diploma.
  • Students need to demonstrate they have proficiency in English. If students cannot provide documented proof of their English language proficiency, they will be required to sit for a Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) test before a place can be offered.
International Students
  • Australian Professional Skills Institute is CRICOS registered (CRICOS Provider Code 03255G). All students must be over 18 years of age before they can commence this course at APSI.
  • International students are required to have a minimum of IELTS test results of 5.5 (academic) with no individual band lower than 5, or achieve an equivalent in other forms of testing that satisfy the Institute's requirement. If an international student does not have any current IELTS score or any recognised English language result, they are required to take an English language test.
  • For direct entry into Diploma level courses, students must have completed a minimum of Year 12 schooling or equivalent or to be a mature age student (20 years of age and above) with relevant work experience.
  • Students who have not completed Year 12 are permitted to study a certificate-level course at APSI prior to the diploma.

Study locations

Wellington Fair

Career pathways

At this level, workers have specialised skills in community services and work autonomously under broad directions from senior management. Workers are usually providing direct support to individuals or groups of individuals. Workers may also have responsibility for the supervision of other workers and volunteers and/or case management; roles may provide support, recruitment, performance management, risk management, advocacy or interventions to individuals, groups or communities and range from working under the direction and supervision of others to managing the programs and services themselves.

Credit for prior study or work

RPL

  • provides an alternative pathway to achieving a qualification without course attendance
  • is a consultative process between with the candidate and the assessor to determine whether the candidate has acquired the requisite learning, skills and knowledge to demonstrate that they have achieved the required learning outcomes or performance criteria of the course or qualification, for which the candidate is seeking
  • identifies where appropriate additional learning experiences or training gaps are needed to achieve the course or qualification
  • is the conduct of an assessment to confirm competency.

APSI has developed a process that promotes holistic and task-based assessment. It focuses on relating assessment activities to actual job tasks. The intention of this model is to streamline and simplify the process of recognising competency.

Prior to RPL, information is provided to the candidate on the assessment process. Specific advice is given to each candidate on how they can demonstrate their competence and what documentary evidence is required to support their application. Each industry has unique documents that can provide evidence of experience and competence.

The candidate is required to provide adequate information prior to, throughout and after a training and assessment experience. The assessor, in this process, needs to be fully aware of the needs of the candidate and help them identify relevant workplace personnel who can confirm the candidate's competency.

The focus of the APSI streamlined holistic assessment process is to focus on demonstrated skills and knowledge and not to rely purely on documentary evidence as the main source of evidence.

Some examples of documentary evidence that can support the process include:

  • licences such as First Aid, RSA
  • CV or work history with details of job role and responsibilities
  • previous qualifications from overseas and Australia
  • certificates and records of results or assessments completed with other RTO's
  • photographs of work undertaken
  • samples of related project work
  • diaries of tasks performed
  • task sheets/job sheets/logbooks
  • site training records
  • pay slips / employment contracts / job descriptions
  • memberships of relevant professional associations
  • references/letters/third party reports from previous employers/supervisors
  • industry awards
  • performance appraisals

An RPL application kit can be obtained here.