Leadership in Health and Human Services

Become a dynamic and visionary leader

Start studying in February or July!

Flexible online study

Study entirely online to fit in with your lifestyle

Learn relevant skills

Build critical thinking skills to interpret research and complex information.

Lead with confidence

Develop skills and knowledge to pursue complex leadership roles in health and human services.

Study options

Become the next generation of leadership in health and human services

Every health and human services organisation needs qualified and passionate leaders. Effective leadership helps drive improved health outcomes, increased access to services, and greater efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of those services. Our courses are designed to enhance the professional skills of those working, or aspiring to work, in leadership or management positions within the health and human service sectors.

We will help you develop skills and knowledge for visionary thinking and strategic planning, vital interpersonal and communication skills to help you turn plans into action, and the adaptability you need to respond to a dynamic and ever-changing workplace.

The Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma are the first steps on your leadership journey. You will develop in-depth, contemporary knowledge of health and human service systems across a range of leadership and management dimensions including system planning, policy, strategy, governance, positive psychology and leadership, risk management, legal issues, ethics, health economics, financial management, quality and safety, healthcare redesign, leading and managing change, leading clinical supervision, epidemiology, evaluating health interventions, and translating evidence into practice.

Our Master of Leadership (Health and Human Services) completes the journey, offering two exciting pathways to specialise your knowledge: coursework and research. The Master is also approved by the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA) for Candidates undertaking the RACMA Fellowship Training Program.

RACMA 2025 logo

Ideal for those who are interested in continuing the online, selfpaced, coursework-style learning from the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma.

After undertaking units in systems thinking, economics and advocacy, and health policy, you build towards a capstone unit where you will propose and complete an initiative that demonstrates your discipline knowledge, problem-solving capability, and applied research skills through the development of a proposed solution to a leadership issue in health and human services relevant to your organisation and/or career aspirations.

This pathway focusses on initiatives that deliver improvement outcomes with a systems leadership focus, ensuring that at the conclusion of your studies, you can deliver real, immediate benefits.

Ideal for those who aspire to become published researchers, take a research-driven approach to leadership, and who are considering undertaking a PhD in the area.

You will complete a substantial piece of original, independent research related to leadership within the health and human services context. Your research will explore topics that are of particular interest to you, and you will design your own project, which can be relevant to your organisation or a topic you are passionate about.

The project can take the form of an empirical research project, analysis of an existing dataset, systematic literature review, or a critical-interpretative analysis of existing knowledge within your specialist field. In addition to your major research project, you will pick an elective unit from a range that align to key issues related to leadership and management within health and human services.

Career opportunities

By undertaking any of these courses, you’ll be better equipped to tackle the leadership and management roles you are either currently fulfilling or aspire to reach within the Health and Human Services sector. As a graduate, you'll have knowledge, skills, systems, and confidence to pursue a range of middle and senior leadership positions within health and human services.

The course content, project focus flexibility, and pathway options in the master's degree have a clear focus on providing multidisciplinary leadership and management skills designed to equip emerging, middle and senior managers, clinicians, health professionals, administrators, policy officers, teachers and counsellors working within the broad fields of health and human services.

Health care and Social Assistance is the largest employing industry, with around 15.3% of total workers having their main job in this industry. It's a sector which both demands and deserves quality, considered, empathetic, and transformational leadership.

15.7%

Healthcare and
social assistance

Predicted industry growth to 2026*

53.6%

Full-time role share of
employment market

In the healthcare industry^

15.8%

Health Care
and Social Assistance

Predicted industry growth to 2026*

* National Skills Commission five-year projections from November 2021 to November 2026.
^ ABS Labour Force Survey, National Skills Commission projections to 2026.

Learn how studying Leadership helped Liz overcome workplace obstacles and achieve her goals.

Hear from one of our recent graduates, Dr Liz Webber

Dr Webber recently graduated from the Graduate Diploma in Leadership (Health and Human Services). Hear how the course has transformed her professional life.

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