Diploma of Leadership and Management

The Diploma of Leadership and Management is a one-year qualification for people who want to step into team leader, supervisor or front-line management roles, or who already hold one and want formal recognition for what they do. You study how to lead a team, plan and manage work priorities, manage budgets and financial plans, build relationships with stakeholders, and handle the operational problems that come up in any Australian workplace. Assessment is practical, case studies, role plays, workplace projects, rather than long written exams.

As a diploma on the Australian Qualifications Framework, the course sits below a bachelor degree and is delivered through units of study, each carrying credit points. Australian institutions generally run these over semesters or trimesters, and you will usually complete around eight to twelve units across the year. Some providers build in a work placement or workplace-based project, which matters if you want to use the qualification to move up in your current job. The diploma also gives you credit towards a bachelor degree at many institutions, so it can be a pathway rather than a dead end.

Skills you come out with: running a team meeting that actually achieves something, writing a budget and explaining the numbers to people who do not like numbers, giving feedback without turning it into a fight, and reading an operational plan well enough to know when it is going wrong. These are the things employers in retail, hospitality, logistics, health administration and community services ask for when they promote someone off the floor.

Who it suits: someone with a few years of work experience who has been made a shift supervisor and wants to understand why some days go badly, or an international student who wants a short, practical Australian qualification before deciding whether to continue to a degree. International students should check the English requirement carefully, IELTS Academic 6.0 to 6.5 overall is the common standard for courses at this level, and the Department of Home Affairs sets a separate English threshold for the Student visa itself. While studying, a Student visa generally allows 48 hours of work per fortnight, which is useful if you want to combine the diploma with real Australian workplace experience. After finishing, the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream may be available depending on your circumstances. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register under course code 104262B, confirm fees, intake dates and English equivalencies on the official page before you apply.

• Team leader or supervisor in retail, hospitality, warehousing or customer service
• Office or administration manager in a small to medium Australian business
• Front-line manager in health administration, aged care or community services
• Operations coordinator in transport, logistics or manufacturing
• Assistant manager or duty manager in food and beverage
• Project support officer on internal business projects