Bachelor of Community Services

The Bachelor of Community Services is designed to attract applicants wishing to begin or further a career in community services and welfare sectors as support workers, case managers or service coordinators.

The course aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills required to optimise effective practice in multi-disciplinary health-related community settings and health care facilities.

It aims to promote students' understanding of the societal contexts in which they work, their legal and ethical responsibilities, and associated development of skills in analysis and problem solving.

Course Aims

Candidates may enter the course without prior qualifications in health or community services. If they have prior AQF level 5 qualifications in a range of Health, Community Services and related fields, the course builds on the workplace based skills candidates have developed as a result of these previously completed qualifications. The course develops breadth and depth of contextual knowledge and associated skills required for employment and career progression as Community Development workers, Case Managers or Services Coordinators in a range of welfare and community care settings.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: gather, evaluate and synthesise information from a range of sources and apply this to facilitate use of human and financial resources to achieve optimal outcomes at an individual and organisational level in a range of community service settings; apply a range of communication and problem solving skills in interprofessional and/or transcultural community services contexts to meet organisational and individual requirements and manage change; devise, coordinate and monitor innovative, socially inclusive and culturally appropriate strategies to engage individual and group clients and professional colleagues in a range of community service settings; and apply specific knowledge and skills in Services Coordination and/or Case Management to take leadership roles in a range of community service contexts.

Graduate Attributes

Knowledge of a Discipline Community Services as a collective discipline is taught from theoretical foundations through application in practice from a range of perspectives and across a range of contexts. Graduates will have been assessed on both generalised and specific knowledge through completion of a variety of assessment tasks. Transcultural awareness and associated culturally competent practice are taught as underpinning theory and contextualised in practice across a range of community services settings. Global perspective as this applies to professional practice is assessed as a focus in specific course units and as a part of modules within a range of units throughout the course. Communication Skills Communication is taught, assessed and practised as a fundamental component of community services work. Students develop written, verbal and non-verbal interpersonal and inter-professional communication skills built upon strong theoretical foundations through sequential completion of coursework units having professional communication as their focus. Students' communication skills are developed progressively throughout the course and encompass generalised and specialised knowledge and skills appropriate for communicating with clients, co-workers, a range of interdisciplinary health professionals and members of the community. Problem Solving Problem solving skills are taught progressively throughout the course. Students apply problem solving skills to case and workplace based scenarios which form the basis of a range of assessment tasks. Graduates are equipped with a breadth and depth of problem solving skills enabling them to undertake services coordination and/or case management roles in the community sector. Information Literacy Graduates will have been taught how to recognise relevant information and use appropriate media, tools and methodologies to locate, access, analyse and apply this information. As a focus of specific units and as an aspect of a number of others throughout the course, students are assessed on the development of their capacity to critically evaluate information and its sources and apply information critically and appropriately. Ethical Conduct and Social Responsibility Ethical conduct and social responsibility are the focus of specialised course units as well as being unifying themes throughout the course. Students are taught both generalised and context specific legal and ethical principles and demonstrate the application in the community services sector. Social responsiblity is the focus of a number of unit assessment tasks and a component of a range of others. Lifelong Learning Graduates will have developed the knowledge and skills to apply their learning to a range of contexts, and to adapt to change from both within and from outside their workplace or organisation. These skills are taught as a focus of specific course units and as components of a number of others, and are assessed and practised through a range of case based activities. Graduates will have the capacity to apply these skills in an ongoing and self-reflective capacity throughout their professional and personal lives. Independence and Collaboration Working independently and as a member of a team are taught as fundamental skills in community services contexts. Independent and collaborative skills are developed progressively as a focus of specific course units and as components of a range of other units throughout the course. Independent and collaborative work is practised in a range of workplace and related or simulated contexts beginning with theoretical foundations and progressing to more complex, case based scenarios.