| Program start date | Application deadline |
| 2024-09-01 | - |
Program Overview
The Postgraduate Diploma in Child Protection and Welfare is a multidisciplinary program designed for professionals working in child protection and welfare. The one-year course emphasizes research-based practice, covering topics such as child protection perspectives, child law, and interventions with children and families. in Child Protection and Welfare.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The Postgraduate Diploma in Child Protection and Welfare is a multi-disciplinary course offering a postgraduate qualification to practitioners and service managers whose work involves the protection and welfare of children. The course aims to enhance the knowledge base of professionals in statutory and voluntary services meeting the needs of vulnerable children and families. The course places particular emphasis on the multi-disciplinary nature of child protection and family support interventions. It will assist professionals in becoming research-focused and enhance their ability to become more evidence-based in their practice.
Outline:
The Postgraduate Diploma runs for one academic year, from September-May. Students attend the university full-time for one week per month over nine consecutive months. It is also expected that the equivalent of one day per week in the participant's agency is spent on course-related work. The course consists of the following modules:
- Child Protection Perspectives and Practices
- Child Law
- Child Development
- Interventions with Children and Families
- Research Methods
- Contemporary Issues
Careers:
The diploma is undertaken by practitioners already working in statutory and voluntary organizations providing child protection and welfare service. Feedback from former course participants indicates that successful completion of the course provides them with opportunities for change and promotion within their organizations. A number of students go on to complete further study up to doctoral level. The multi-disciplinary nature of the course also provides linkage opportunities between different services, and each cohort of students represents a network of practitioners which endures long after the completion of the course and continues to promote inter-agency and inter-professional collaboration.
Other:
A second year leading to a M.Sc. in Child Protection and Welfare is available to eligible candidates who have completed the Postgraduate Diploma with a 2.1 or better result. The M.Sc. is designed to build on the Postgraduate Diploma and aims to develop applied research skills in the field of child protection and welfare and is delivered completely online.
