Diploma of COMMUNITY Services

Core units:

1. 1. Elective units:

      CHCMHS005	Provide services to people with co-existing mental health and alcohol and other drugs issues	E
      CHCCDE011	Implement community development strategies	E
      CHCCSM006	Provide case management supervision	E
      CHCCSM005	Develop, facilitate and review all aspects of case management	E
      CHCCSM004	Coordinate complex case requirements	E
      CHCCSL001	Establish and confirm the counselling relationship	E
      CHCADV002	Provide advocacy and representation services	E
      CHCCCS003	Increase the safety of individuals at risk of suicide

There are no prerequisites or mandatory entry requirements hence allowing flexible entry points that reflect an entrant’s knowledge, skills and experience. The competencies in this qualification may be attained in several ways including formal or informal education and training experiences in the workplace, General life experience and a combination of the above. The entry requirements for this course are as follows:

 Entry requirements for this course are:

• • An online application or written enrolment form.
  • Successful completion of language, literacy and numeracy assessment – appropriate literacy and numeracy skills for both the demands of training and the work place are required.
  • Unique Student Identifier (USI)-done during the enrolment process
  • Pre-training Review
  • Unique Student Identifier (USI) (Ask our staff how to get this)
  • Identification documents, one of which has a photograph of the student such as a passport and/or driver license.
  • A satisfactory national police clearance certificate and
  • Working with Children Check

Students that are government funded require further identification documents that meet the criteria of the respective state government funding bodies such as:

• Proof of Australian Permanent Resident/ Citizenship
• Proof of Concession Eligibility
• Proof of Victorian Residency
• Skills First Program Declaration Form

It is preferred that a student under 25 has completed year 10. If a student is over 25, they should have relevant work/life experience

Recognition of Prior Learning is the process that recognises a student’s current skills and experience, regardless of where and when the learning occurred. Students may have existing knowledge and skills, and these could be formally recognised and credited towards a qualification from our training partners.

Credit Transfer (CT)

Our accredited training partners recognise all qualifications issued under the AQF (Australian Qualifications Framework). Original copies of certificate and transcript will need to be sighted by a trainer. There is no fee for credit transfer. If a credit transfer for ‘Provide First Aid’ unit is applied for, it must be current, including the CPR component which requires a refresher every year. Talk to our staff about credit transfer during the enrolment process.

Some assignments that you will undertake may include:

• Work Observation
• Personal Journal
• Short Questions
• Case Studies/Scenarios
• Research Activities
• Portfolio of Work
• Demonstration
• Role Playing
• Practical Exercises
• Group Activities
• Formative Assessments
• Summative Assessment

Assessment Submission

Assessments can be submitted via face to face classes or the online learning environment. Online submission is the preferred mode of assessment submission. Students receive their feedback from the trainers online or through the manual method. Support is provided by the trainers online through email, chat lines, live classes and via the telephone.

For candidates not already employed in the sector, work placements will be required to meet the evidence requirements of all of the units. The Community Services sector strongly supports the use of work placements for learning and there is an expectation that assessors will, insofar as possible, use the workplace for assessment. This approach will make assessment decisions more authentic and valid. Candidates should be given the opportunity to demonstrate how they can meet the requirements of the unit of competence/s under the conditions and variables of the real workplace. 

Work Placement is not optional. Students not working in the sector are required to complete 280 hours of work placement. Students working in the sector need to talk to their trainer to establish if their current work place will qualify for placements in this course. Those who have tried to secure Work Placement know how frustrating it can be. Well, luckily for our students, we have taken the stress out of the process by assisting you in getting work placement. The time you would have spent hassling for practical places, can now be used more fruitfully. 

The process is as follows: Upon satisfactory completion of at least 8 Units, you can apply for Work Placement by completing the written or online form at any of our campuses. On the form you indicate your availability and preferred suburbs. Although we do our best to place you in a community services facility of your choice, we cannot guarantee that this will happen every time as availability of space in these facilities is a factor. Once you submit your form, we keep checking which community services facilities are available for you. Please note that community services facilities prefer students who are flexible and reliable. On average it takes about two weeks to secure Work Placement. We also request the students to approach work place facilities near their homes to seek for placement. Ask your trainer for a letter of Introduction. Together we work towards the completion of your course. Requirements for Work Placement

The following are the pre-requisites for work placement:

• Satisfactory completion of a minimum of 8 units (Theory Part)
• HLTAID012 Provide advanced first aid
• Current National Police Check
• Working with Children’s check.