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Key Info

Subject Offerings

Entry Requirements

Professional Practice

Key Info

The BHCS is provisionally accredited with ACWA, the Australian Community Services Association, enabling our students to register with this professional association upon successful completion of their studies.

Students undertake a well-balanced and comprehensive range of subjects and assessment that introduces them to sociology theory, psychology, counseling practice, nutrition studies, public policy, health ethics, epidemiology, statistics, cross-cultural communication, workplace leadership and management and much more.

  • 300 Credit Points
  • Full Time3 years
  • Part Time6 years
  • On Campus
  • 24 Subjects4 per semester
  • Placement CompulsoryEmbedded throughout the course

Pathways

Students interested in progressing further in this area, may choose to study one of the following areas on completion of the Bachelor of Human and Community Services

  • Graduate Diploma
  • Masters

Duration

  • 3 YearsFull time
  • 24 subjects
  • 4 Subjects / Semester12-14 weeks length
  • 3-4 hours / SubjectFace to face tuition
  • Up to 6 hours / weekPrivate study

Employment Opportunities

Graduates of the 099214A Bachelor of Human and Community Services may find employment with government, private enterprise and not-for-profit organizations.

 

Graduate employment opportunities include :

  • Community health worker or manager
  • Social welfare worker
  • Child protection agent
  • Early intervention professional
  • Government policy advisor
  • Community development
  • Disability services professional
  • Support network manager
  • Mental health case worker
  • Migrant support worker
  • Homeless worker
  • Senior youth officer

Course Learning Outcomes

Explain concepts, policies, regulations, principles, and theories that underpin Australia’s human and community services practice.

Exercise independent and collaborative judgement to address social, political, and legal issues in human and community services practice.

Apply a broad range of knowledge and skills to facilitate effective outcomes and ensure ethical, professional practice across diverse practice contexts. Explain concepts, policies, regulations, principles, and theories that underpin Australia’s human and community services practice.

Exercise independent and collaborative judgement to address social, political, and legal issues in human and community services practice.

Apply a broad range of knowledge and skills to facilitate effective outcomes and ensure ethical, professional practice across diverse practice contexts.

Year 1All subjects are 12.5 Credit points Bachelor of Human and Community Services

Semester 1

This Unit introduces you to the practices, regulations, planning and delivery of inclusive human and community services. It clarifies the role of the human and community services sector in contemporary society as well as in historical and political contexts. It also examines the principal methodologies used to assess and promote community well-being including multidisciplinary care, inclusivity, indigenous health, and communities of practice and place.

Assessment : Literature Review, Video Presentation, Descriptive Essay, Online Forum

The Unit is designed to develop you with written, verbal and non-verbal communication skills in preparation for work within community and human service areas. Communication skills addressed include those needed to form therapeutic relationships with individual clients and groups, as well as skills required to communicate information to clients and groups in a wider, multicultural community. The unit also develops your communication skills for working effectively with professional colleagues, with an emphasis on self-awareness and self-reflection.

Assessment : Short Paper, Annotated Bibliography, Role Play, Presentation.

This unit will examine what constitutes ethical practice in the community services, giving attention to ethical issues such as confidentiality, duty of care, dual relationships, working with minors, dependency and risk.

These issues will be examined with reference to general ethical principles and their application to workplace situations, and in the context of professional ethical codes of conduct and the legal requirements which frame the work of Community Services Work in the state of Victoria and across Australia.The obligations of the practitioner and the profession to the wider community will also be considered.You will examine what constitutes risky practice with reference to negligence, confidentiality, advertising, informed consent, record keeping, and privacy with reference to relevant Victorian legislation, as well as latest developments in the area of public liability under common law also including reporting crimes and abuse.Other areas pertaining too ethical and profession practice will be discussed as it pertains to your prerequisite training for field placement.

Other areas of professional practice covered in the unit include: the significance and utilisation of supervision and professional development, membership of professional organizations, practice administration and management as well as working in and with multidisciplinary teams for the best interests of our clients.

Assessment : Case Study, Debate, Essay

This Unit introduces key theories in relation to human development and explores the biological, sociological, and psychological (biopsychosocial) factors that influence individual’s growth and mental wellbeing. The importance of family, culture and the socio-historical contexts are highlighted to explore psycho-social, cognitive, and emotional development across the lifespan.

Assessment : Podcast, Poster, Report

Semester 2

Sociology focuses on the organisation of social life. It looks at how people’s lives are influenced by their opportunities and experiences; and the impact that people have on society through taking action and creating change. Sociology provides insights into the ways factors such as class, wealth, race, gender, ethnicity, age, sexuality, disability and religion shape people’s lives, but this is only one part of it.

Sociology is diverse and covers all aspects of social life.Most importantly, sociology is a perspective on the social world that values critical thinking. Sociologists question the common sense and popular explanations of social life and look at the dynamics of power and inequality in everyday life.

A central concept to sociology is that of the sociological imagination. The sociological imagination allows sociologists to make connections between personal experiences and larger social issues.

This course is designed to introduce you to a range of basic sociological principles so that you can develop your own sociological imagination.Throughout this unit you will learn about the origins of sociology as a discipline and be introduced to major sociological theories and methods of research.

You will also explore such topics as sex and gender, deviance, and racism and how your own worldview speaks into these spaces. As you move through the course, try to develop your sociological imagination by relating the topics and theories you read about to your own life experiences.

Assessment : Short Paper, Group Presentation, Essay, Quiz

This Unit introduces you to the philosophy and guiding principles of case management. You will explore case management models and processes and become familiar with the steps in case management. The role of case manager will be analysed with reference to micro, mezzo and macro level interventions. Case management skills and tools will be presented via case studies and good practice examples.

Assessment : Portfolio of resources, Case Study, Essay, Motivational Interviewing and Reflective Journal

This Unit introduces you to the practices, regulations, planning and delivery of inclusive human and community care services. It clarifies the role of the human and community services sector in contemporary society as well as in historical and political contexts. It also examines the principal methodologies used to assess and promote community well-being including multidisciplinary care, inclusivity, indigenous health, and communities of practice and place.

Assessment : Case Study, Role Play, Self-Assessment, Reflective Essay

This Unit examines population diversity in its many forms and focuses on developing a beginning capacity to reflect critically in terms of working with diversity. This includes developing the beginning ability to reflect on your own experience and its influence on how you might operate as a practitioner in human and community services. It explores the concept of ‘cultural safety and security’ in Australian context. This Unit also supports you to develop a range of strategies to effectively plan and implement teamwork.

Assessment : Minor Essay, Group Presentation, Team Project, Reflective Essay

Year 2All subjects are 12.5 Credit points Bachelor of Human and Community Services

Semester 1

Groups are powerful instruments of personal and social change. Group members can effectively harness the energy and power and resources to achieve a group’s purpose. This unit introduces frameworks, concepts, strategies and skills for maximising the benefits of group work in formal and informal settings for service-users or organisational work teams.

 

Group work theories will be explored in their application to Community Work practice with groups in a range of settings. Concern for social justice will provide a philosophical underpinning in the unit; critical community work perspectives will provide the overarching theoretical framework with attention to race, gender, culture and other power dimensions in group processes and dynamics. Focus will be on the diversity of groups and group work in practice; planning and evaluating groups; understanding and managing group processes and dynamics; and self-reflective practice in groups.

 

Throughout this unit we also focus on providing you with a theoretical and practical understanding of program design as an organised response to social problems. You will develop skills in program development and design, implementation, program resourcing/budgeting and evaluation.

 

Assessment: Group Proposal, Facilitated Group Session, Personal Analysis, Program Proposal, budget and evaluation.

 

Pre-requisite : HCS202A

This Unit examines issues related to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians. It provides the knowledge and skills required for you to build cultural awareness and the capacity to work as culturally safe community service professionals.

It examines colonisation, historic and contemporary legislation, policies, and societal practices in relation to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians in global contexts. It also examines access to community services throughout Australia and Indigenous community initiatives aimed at influencing government legislation, policies, and practices.

Assessment : Cultural Safety Plans x 2, Essay, Poster Presentation.

Pre-requisite : HCS108A

This unit builds upon the essential elements of the counselling relationship learnt in the Counselling skills unit by focusing on the skills required for counselling practice. The unit emphasizes the role of counsellors in using skills to make contact with their individual clients, to help them feel understood, and to clarify the major issues that trouble clients who present themselves for counselling.

At the same time, the theories and assumptions underlying different skills are explored and assessed. You are given opportunities to practise, apply and integrate a range of skills and strategies at an introductory level and at different stages of counselling relationship with self-awareness and awareness of the counsellor-client dynamics of the relationship in stages.

Assessment : Poster Presentation, Case Formulation, Essay, Role play and reflection.

Pre-requisite : HCS107A

This subject teaches innovative social action to promote social justice for disadvantaged groups in our communities. This course also examines the context of advocacy work within the welfare state and various strategies to address this.

Over the past two decades, global capitalism had rapidly expanded and the Australian welfare state – like other welfare states around the world, has contracted. In contrast to the post war period, public welfare has been reoriented to promote economic development at the expense of social and environmental issues. Welfare recipients are asked to demonstrate their deservedness to receive assistance, while many services previously offered through the State have been sold off to private companies, where the bottom line is more important than the service they are providing. For many, these changes have been dramatic, harmful, and confusing. To redress these changes and to prevent further disadvantage innovative social action is required.

This subject will examine both theoretical and practical ways to address these issues of disadvantage. You will critique social movements and the different concepts of the welfare state that they correspond to and learn to organise and participate in social action. Different concepts of protest and power are included in this exploration, as are the ‘tools’, skills, and strategies of social action.

The starting point for this subject is a commitment to equity, social justice, and human rights. Therefore, you will be asked to consider your own values, beliefs and attitudes to these concepts, the reflection of which will impact on the types of social action that you will participate in.

Assessment : Essay, Project Plan, Innovative Social Action

Pre-requisite : HCS107A and HCS103A

Semester 2

This Unit examines Australia’s social welfare system and support programs. It investigates social policies to create welfare in Australia and the underlying sociological theories and perspectives in historical context. Shedding light on Australian model of social protection, this Unit explores social needs, policy development and administrative arrangements aimed at improving citizen wellbeing and redressing disadvantage. It also introduces you to the mechanisms of policy development, implementation and evaluation.

Examining the links and gaps between policy development and implementation and it encourages you to develop a critical approach to human services practice. Australian politics and social welfare programs addressing contemporary issues across policy domains, including changes in labour market structure, homelessness, mental health and disability, child protection and family violence, education policy, Indigenous initiatives, conceptualisations of citizenship, and the rights of diverse groups and populations are analysed with a critical lens in this Unit.

Assessment : Essay, Policy Analysis, Group Presentation

This Unit investigates the complex and dynamic interrelationships between people with disability, society, and service provision. In that context, domestic and international social and legal strategies to promote social inclusion for people with disabilities is explored. This Unit examines national frameworks, legislation, service provision and their underlying philosophies for people with disability. Disability is viewed from individual, family, social, national, and international perspectives. Additionally, the Unit discusses medical and societal ‘models of disability’ and the impact of varying attitudes toward people with a disability.

Assessment : Presentation, Essay, Report

This Unit explores the history of mental health care in Australia. With reference to the current national mental health action plan, it examines the mental health service system and analyses strategies for enhancing and promoting mental health. It distinguishes mental well-being from mental illness, examines the stigma of mental illness and its impact on families and communities. The Unit also introduces the conceptual models and frameworks that can serve as a basis to understand mental illness. Integrated mental illness care and recovery strategies are investigated in that context. This Unit critically analyses the strengths and weaknesses of a classification/diagnostic-based assessment and a strength and recovery-oriented assessment. The stages of crisis and risk management are evaluated as applicable to community-based care.

Assessment : Tree of Life, Support Plan, Group Presentation, Individual Paper

Professional Placement One provides you with the opportunity to work at an intermediate level in your chosen area of interest within community services. You will apply your knowledge and skills through participation in the daily activities and operations of the selected community services agency. You will gain insights into organisational practices and processes, service user issues, professional practice frameworks as well as client interventions and outcomes.

During placement, you will undertake the duties and responsibilities of an intermediate level ‘student practitioner’ under the guidance of a placement supervisor from the host organisation. Attendance is recorded and by the placement supervisor and performance assessed against ACWA Work Practice Guidelines. You are provided   with pre-placement workshops and ongoing support from SCEI-HE liaison staff.

Assessment : Journal, Reflective essay, Learning Plan, Professional Placement report and self- assessment

Pre-requisite : HSC103A and HCS106A

Year 3All subjects are 12.5 Credit points Bachelor of Human and Community Services

Semester 1

This Unit examines the policies and practices in the delivery of aged care services. It closely examines the impact on service delivery of policies related to health care, mental health, income security, housing, employment, education, and recreation. It also critically examines ways in which aging is socially constructed and implication of this for older people.

Assessment : Case Study, Essay, Report

This Unit introduces you to the practices, regulations, planning and delivery of inclusive human and community care services. It clarifies the role of the human and community services sector in contemporary society as well as in historical and political contexts. It also examines the principal methodologies used to assess and promote community well-being including multidisciplinary care, inclusivity, indigenous health, and communities of practice and place.

Assessment : Essay, Presentation, Action Plan

This Unit helps pre-service practitioners to design a research proposal within the social science discipline. It is not a generalist, all-purpose research methods course, but rather a focused preparation for carrying out the development of a research proposal.

The course is designed to identify individual capacities relevant to conducting research, provide focused specialist input, a collective forum for debating research approaches, and assistance with locating other necessary resources.

Pre-service practitioners will be introduced to epistemological and ontological positions that inform research methodologies and examine a range of quantitative and qualitative approaches and associated data collection methods used within the social sciences. They will critically analyse current research literature, apply relevant theoretical and analytical frameworks and select appropriate methodologies and methods for the ethical conduct of social science research.

Assessment : Research Plan, Ethics Paper, Research Proposal

Pre-requisite : HCS105

This Unit examines the gender based systemic differences in a historical context and how they influence different aspects of contemporary life with reference to different theories like social constructivism. Identifying contemporary national and global issues relating to gender and social equality, it develops an understanding of the role gender plays in power, politics, and interpersonal relations. The Unit sheds a light on the gendered characteristics of sexual harassment and domestic violence. It explores the theories, principles, and recent developments in responding to and preventing domestic and family violence.

Assessment : Short paper x2, Case Study, Essay

Semester 2

This Unit introduces you to the practices, regulations, planning and delivery of inclusive human and community care services. It clarifies the role of the human and community services sector in contemporary society as well as in historical and political contexts. It also examines the principal methodologies used to assess and promote community well-being including multidisciplinary care, inclusivity, indigenous health, and communities of practice and place.

Assessment : Annotated Bibliography, Case Study, Evaluation Report

This Unit examines the physiological, psychological, economic, social, and cultural problems related to substance abuse. This includes addictions related to alcohol and drug abuse, as well as emerging addiction issues related to gambling, sex, and pornography. The public health aspects of addiction will utilise current individual, group and community-based approaches to prevention, intervention, and the treatment of addiction.

Assessment : Analysis of Argument from Reading, Research Report, Oral Presentation, Six (6) Critically Reflective Journal posts

Pre-requisite : 207A

This Unit introduces you to the central themes, critiques and theories of leadership. It supports you to construct a theoretical framework in the context of, and for, the practice of leadership in the community services sector and within their own life. The Unit will direct you in your study of leadership through self-reflection and assessment of your own personal and ethical values. The Unit will explore a broad range of leadership approaches using them as a lens through which to appraise leadership in the community services sector. You will be encouraged to critically engage with leadership research by applying leadership theory to your own experience and/or practice of leadership.

Assessment : Weekly Leadership Learning Journal, Small Group Discussion, Essay (Locating Yourself)

Pre-requisite : HCS103A and HCS105B

Professional Placement Two, builds on Professional Placement One, providing you with opportunity to work in your chosen area of interest within health and community services at an advanced level. You will apply the knowledge and skills through participation in the daily activities and operations of the selected community services agency. You will gain further insights into organisational practices and processes, service user issues, professional practice frameworks as well as client interventions and outcomes.

During placement, you will undertake the duties and responsibilities of an advanced level ‘student practitioner’ under the guidance of a placement supervisor from the host organisation. Attendance is recorded and by the placement supervisor and performance assessed against ACWA Work Practice Guidelines. You are provided with pre-placement workshops and ongoing support from SCEI-HE liaison staff.

Assessment : Journal, Reflective essay, Learning Plan, Professional Placement report and self- assessment

Pre-requisite : HCS208A

School Leaver

English Language Requirements

Successful completion of VCE. Units 3 And 4 with a Study Score of at least 25 in English, or at least 30 in English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Entry Requirements

  • Successful completion of VCE with ATAR of 65 or its equivalent in other Australian states:
    • New South Wales – Higher School Certificate (HSC)
    • Queensland – Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE)
    • Western Australia – WA Certificate of Education (WACE)
    • Northern Territory – NT Certificate of Education (NTCE)
    • Tasmania – Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE)
    • Australian Capital Territory – ACT Year 12 Certificate
  • One or more years of full-time or part-time equivalent post-secondary school studies

Mature Aged

English Language and Entry Requirements

  • Satisfactory completion of the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT)
  • Completion of an Australian diploma or higher
  • Partial completion of an Australian degree
  • Evidence of Recognition of prior learning (RPL)

Additional Requirements

  • Valid Working with Children Check (WWWC) and
  • Police Check (PC)

International Students

English Language Requirements

  • Completion of an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) at the diploma or higher
  • Completion of an Approved English Foundation Course
  • Successful attainment of the following:

Entry Requirements

  • Year 12 Certificate or Equivalent International Qualification
  • Senior secondary qualification with a pass in General English
  • A minimum of three (3) years of full-time (part-time equivalent) post-secondary school studies where the sole language of instruction and assessment was in the English language
  • International students who are citizens of (Canada (excluding Quebec), Fiji, Republic of Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), United States of America (excluding Puerto Rico), or Zambia) where English is their primary language, will be required to provide at least one assessable qualification at Senior Secondary (VCE); or higher, from one of these countries, where the qualification was taught and assessed solely in English

Professional Practice

The aim of industry placement program is to prepare you for the world of work and assist in applying your newly acquired skills and knowledge in real lifework environments.

It also allows you to make meaningful connections with potential employers that may be able to employ you upon completion of your degree, or act as a work reference for other employment opportunities.

Placement Handbook and Requirements

The placement handbook is an essential resource for students, identifying what to expect and how to conduct themselves whilst on placement, outlining the student’s preparation requirements prior to attending placement

See the handbook

Placement Contracts

For external placement organisations wishing to facilitate SCEI-HE students for placement, please download, populate and return our placement contract.

View Placement Contracts