Diploma of Community Services

The Diploma of Community Services is a two-year qualification for people who want to work directly with individuals, families and communities in support roles. You study how to assess client needs, plan and deliver services, run casework, work with groups, and connect people to housing, income support, health and legal help. Expect units on case management, counselling and communication skills, community development, working with diversity, legal and ethical requirements, and workplace health and safety. You also learn to keep case notes, write reports, and manage a caseload under supervision.

Australian diplomas sit at level 5 on the Australian Qualifications Framework, below a bachelor degree but above a certificate IV. This one is delivered over two years, usually across semesters, and is made up of units of study with credit points attached. Most diploma programmes build in a substantial work placement, often several hundred hours in a community organisation, because the job cannot be learned from a textbook. Your placement might be with a neighbourhood centre, a family support service, a homelessness service, a youth refuge or an Aboriginal community-controlled organisation. Assessment is a mix of written tasks, practical demonstrations and supervisor reports from placement.

Skills you come away with include intake and assessment, referral, advocacy, group facilitation, crisis response, record keeping, and working within legal and ethical boundaries. You also practise communicating with people who are distressed, and working alongside other agencies. The course suits people already working in the sector who want a formal qualification, career changers, and school leavers who prefer hands-on training to a three-year degree. It also gives you a pathway: many graduates use the diploma to enter a bachelor degree in social work or community services with credit for prior study.

Perth College of Beauty Therapy and YES College deliver this qualification, and the CRICOS course code is 112630E. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register. International applicants need to meet the institution's English requirement, which for social work sits at the higher end of the standard range. If you are in Australia on a Student visa, you can work up to 48 hours per fortnight while your course is in session, and the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream may be available after you finish, depending on your circumstances. Check the official page and the CRICOS register for current details before you apply.

• Community services worker
• Case worker or case manager
• Support worker in homelessness or housing services
• Family support worker
• Youth worker
• Community development officer
• Client intake and assessment officer
• Team leader in a community organisation (with experience)

Employers include not-for-profit community organisations, local government, family and youth services, homelessness and housing providers, disability services, aged care providers and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. Roles are spread across metropolitan and regional Australia.