Key facts
Domestic students course information. This course is currently not available to international students.
Guaranteed ATAR: 72.55
Entry is based on recent secondary (ATAR), higher education (GPA), VET study, or work experience.
View full entry requirements- 1 year part-time
| Start Dates and Campus | Trimester 1 – February 2024 | Trimester 2 – June 2024 | Trimester 3 – October 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online | Offered | Not Offered | Not Offered |
| Armidale Campus | Not Offered | Not Offered | Not Offered |
| Sydney Campus | Not Offered | Not Offered | Not Offered |
Course information
Download course brochure
Youth and community work is a rapidly growing sector in Australia and working in this field provides the opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives. Our new Undergraduate Certificate in Youth and Community Work is designed to help you become a highly skilled professional who supports individuals, families and communities to prosper.
The course helps you to gain foundational skills in client-centred care, interprofessional practice in community health work and working with children and young people at risk.
It will prepare you to work in the youth and community sector, or to enhance your confidence and skills within your existing role. Additionally, you can continue your learning journey with advanced standing towards a range of degrees or diplomas at UNE.
Why study the Undergraduate Certificate in Youth and Community Work with UNE?
The Undergraduate Certificate in Youth and Community Work allows you to gain foundational skills in evidence-based, interdisciplinary practice within a range of youth and community settings.
It is ideal if you're currently working in the field and want to gain a tertiary qualification to complement your existing skills-based experience, or if you’re considering a future career in youth and community work.
What makes our course different?
The transferrable skills will help you to solve complex problems, communicate effectively, and enhance your provision of a wide range of youth and community work services.
This course comes with opportunities to:
- Learn how to apply individual, community and statutory considerations to identify and assess needs and deliver appropriate services to clients.
- Evaluate frameworks for optimal service delivery, including appropriate referral to alternative providers or organisations.
- Explore issues of cultural diversity and awareness, along with client issues and appropriate referral protocols you may encounter professionally.
- Use self-reflective practice to develop personally and professionally for effective community sector case work.
- Learn to effectively plan, coordinate, deliver, evaluate and improve community service activities, allowing you to more effectively help children and young people at risk.
- Gain an introduction to the history and context of health professional practice, applying principles of interprofessional practice in contextually appropriate ways.
- Explore the roles and functions of people working within health and community service organisations and how these people can work together to deliver health and social care.
- Examine ethical, moral, legal and professional standards, and reflect on your professional identity.
- Identify career opportunities.
- Continue your career and balance family life while completing your study at times that work for you.
- Learn from UNE’s industry specialists who help you put theory into practice, enabling you to take your learning directly into the workplace.
Study online
Most of our students choose to study online across three study periods with 24/7 tutor support* and fit study around work and family commitments. Uniquely, our online students are mostly over 30 and form a community of adults who share the same challenges and priorities. They bring their life and work experience together at UNE in order to become future-fit and better respond to a rapidly changing world.
* 24/7 tutor support includes: essay feedback (within 24 hours); live chat 24/7 for generic feedback on academic writing; and subject-specific help at a foundation or first-year level for subjects including mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, business, accounting, microeconomics, macroeconomics and statistics. There are also a wide range of workshops, resources and courses available in academic skills support to assist you and help you to succeed.
Entry requirements
Select the option that best describes your experience.
You are currently studying Year 12 (school or TAFE) or have done so within the past 2 years.
If you are admitted on the basis of your ATAR, you will be eligible for admission under standard entry. Please see the Course Structure (Program of Study).
Please note: all admissions are subject to UNE’s Admission, Credit and Enrolment Policy. Please read and familiarise yourself with the details of the policy. See our Glossary for help with university terms.
These requirements are in addition to the entry requirements above.
When applying you may be required to show how you satisfy the English Language Requirements for this course.
Mandatory intensive schools on campus may be a requirement of some of the units in this course. Please see the UNE Course Handbook for the specific requirements of each unit.
You have studied at UNE or other higher education institutions, completed or otherwise.
You can apply for this course if you have undertaken any of the following qualifications with an appropriate Grade Point Average (GPA):
- Undergraduate Certificates
- Diplomas
- Advanced Diplomas/Associate degrees
- Bachelor degrees
- Postgraduate degrees
If you are admitted on this basis, you will be eligible for admission under standard entry. Please see the Course Structure (Program of Study).
Please note: all admissions are subject to UNE’s Admission, Credit and Enrolment Policy. Please read and familiarise yourself with the details of the policy. See our Glossary for help with university terms.
These requirements are in addition to the entry requirements above.
When applying you may be required to show how you satisfy the English Language Requirements for this course.
Mandatory intensive schools on campus may be a requirement of some of the units in this course. Please see the UNE Course Handbook for the specific requirements of each unit.
You have undertaken VET study through a Registered Training Organisation (RTO), e.g. TAFE.
You can apply for this course if you have undertaken VET studies. When assessing your application, we will look at the following factors:
- Level and type of qualification (Certificate IV or above)
- Graded or ungraded (competency-based)
- Complete or incomplete.
If you are admitted on this basis, you will be eligible for admission under standard entry. Please see the Course Structure (Program of Study).
Please note: all admissions are subject to UNE’s Admission, Credit and Enrolment Policy. Please read and familiarise yourself with the details of the policy. See our Glossary for help with university terms.
These requirements are in addition to the entry requirements above.
When applying you may be required to show how you satisfy the English Language Requirements for this course.
Mandatory intensive schools on campus may be a requirement of some of the units in this course. Please see the UNE Course Handbook for the specific requirements of each unit.
You left high school more than two years ago or did not finish Year 12.
You can apply for this course on the basis of work and/or life experience via at least one of the following methods:
Professional Experience
If you have completed at least one year of paid professional experience, we can assess you for admission on this basis. Simply provide a resume and a Statement of Service from your employer/s in your application.
> Find out more about applying based on professional experience
> Learn about our Statement of Service requirements
Mature Age Special Entry
Tell us more about your work and life experience, demonstrating why you believe you will be successful in the course you are applying for. Simply complete the form and upload it in your application.
> Download the Mature Age Special Entry form (PDF)
Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT)
The STAT is a test that assesses a range of competencies considered important for successful tertiary study. UNE accepts the multiple-choice component provided you have completed it within the three years prior to course commencement.
> Visit ACER for more information
If you are admitted on this basis, you will be eligible for admission under standard entry. Please see the Course Structure (Program of Study).
Please note: all admissions are subject to UNE’s Admission, Credit and Enrolment Policy. Please read and familiarise yourself with the details of the policy. See our Glossary for help with university terms.
Pathways Enabling Course
This is a free (fees exempt) and 100% online course designed to help you prepare for university. It will provide you with all the skills needed to undertake undergraduate study.
> Learn more about the Pathways Enabling Course
TRACKS (Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants)
TRACKS is a preparation course run by the UNE Oorala Aboriginal Centre. Over two trimesters you will experience what university study is about and learn in a supported environment. Be part of a community of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples who share your goals and interests.
> Learn more about TRACKS
Internal Selection Program (Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants)
This program is designed for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples who have professional work or community experience, or any formal VET qualifications, e.g. TAFE study.
> Learn more about the Internal Selection Program
These requirements are in addition to the entry requirements above.
When applying you may be required to show how you satisfy the English Language Requirements for this course.
Mandatory intensive schools on campus may be a requirement of some of the units in this course. Please see the UNE Course Handbook for the specific requirements of each unit.
Some courses require you to provide documentary evidence, or interviews to support your application. The following documents are required to support your application:
- Any supporting documents related to your admission pathway. For example, if you apply based on previous study, upload evidence of your study so we can assess eligibility.
- If you are applying through Mature Age Special Entry, you will need to include a completed Mature Age Special Entry form in your online application. Learn more about Mature Age Special Entry.
- If you are applying based on professional experience you will need to provide a Statement of Service from your employer/s on company letterhead. Learn about our Statement of Service requirements.
Advanced Standing is credit or recognition of your previous study, work and/or life experience. This can reduce the cost and length of your studies.
Individual Unit Advanced Standing
If you are admitted into this course and believe you have already completed the equivalent of one or more of the units in your Course Structure (Program of Study) within the last ten years, you can apply for Individual Unit Advanced Standing.
> Learn how to apply for Individual Unit Advanced Standing
Course structure
To qualify for the award a candidate must pass units to the value of 24 credit points.
24 credit points
Complete the following units:- Introductory Client Centred Casework (HDCW114) – 6 credit points
- Foundations of Community Work (HDCW125) – 6 credit points
- Children and Young People at Risk (HDCW126) – 6 credit points
- Interprofessional Practice in Health and Social Care (HLTH102) – 6 credit points
See UNE Handbook for more details. The Handbook contains detailed course information designed for enrolled students, including course plans, exit awards, intensive schools, and work placement requirements.
Fees and scholarships
How much will it cost?
Estimated fees for your first year of study in this course are:
| Fee type | Cost |
|---|---|
| Commonwealth Supported Place | $7,236* |
| Estimated amenities fee per year if studying full-time | $351 |
What are the course fee payment options?
A Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) is a government subsidised place in a university course. The government pays part of your tuition fees, and you pay the remainder.
If you have a CSP in either an undergraduate or postgraduate (coursework) degree, you may be eligible for a HECS-HELP Loan, which allows you to defer payment of your fees until you are earning above the threshold.
UNE scholarships are open for all to apply and offer financial help while you are studying. There are scholarships for students with high academic achievement, from rural areas, studying specific degrees, in disadvantaged groups, experiencing financial hardship, who excel at sport or want to live in a UNE residential college.
UNE scholarship applications are free and confidential. You may apply for more than one scholarship.
Your career
Studying youth and community work provides you with a mix of practical and academic skills that can be used in many key community-based roles. Some careers you could consider include:
- welfare and personal support
- youth work
- health and welfare services
- community services
- family and domestic violence support.
If you're already working in a relevant position, the knowledge and skills you will gain will increase your prospects for career advancement.
Upon completion of the course, graduates will be able to apply for entry into either the Diploma in Community Welfare and Wellbeing or the Bachelor of Community Services and receive 24 credit points of specified Advanced Standing. This course also provides students enrolled in both the Diploma in Community Welfare and Wellbeing and the Bachelor of Community Services with an exit pathway, should this be needed.
Course outcomes
- synthesise and apply foundational knowledge and skills to facilitate optimal outcomes for individuals and communities;
- demonstrate a range of skills in inter-professional and/or transcultural health contexts to meet individual and community requirements;
- work collaboratively and ethically with individuals or groups to implement socially inclusive and culturally appropriate strategies in a range of welfare and community sector settings; and
- use strategies to maintain their own health and well-being when working in challenging situations.
- Knowledge of a Discipline
Graduates will possess specific theoretical knowledge and skills in community welfare and wellbeing. Graduates will be able to identify the interrelationship between the broader health and community welfare sectors to aid in the welfare and wellbeing of a range of communities and populations.
- Communication Skills
Graduates will be able to communicate, interact and negotiate with others effectively in both oral and written formats.
- Problem Solving
Graduates will apply logical, critical and creative thinking to a range of commonly occurring situations in individual and community welfare and wellbeing contexts. They will be able to make and justify decisions as well as delegate and refer appropriately.
- Information Literacy
Graduates will possess information literacy abilities to access and evaluate a wide variety of information. They will be able to use information and information technology in welfare and community as well as academic environments.
- Ethical Conduct and Social Responsibility
Graduates will have a foundational understanding of the core principles underpinning ethical practice and social justice as applied to welfare and community work.
- Lifelong Learning
Graduates will have a scholarly attitude to learning and the acquisition of knowledge and skills. They will engage in continuous inquiry and reflective practice in order to enhance their practice in providing welfare and community services.
- Independence and Collaboration
Graduates will be able to work effectively in teams and collaborate with clients, their families and communities and other service providers.
A five-star experience
Five Stars,
18 Years in a Row
UNE is the only public uni in Australia awarded 18 straight years of five stars for Overall Experience
Good Universities Guide 2007-2024
No.1 in NSW for
Student Experience
QILT (government-endorsed) ranks UNE as the top public NSW uni for Student Experience
QILT Student Experience Survey
Five Stars for
Teaching Quality
UNE rates among the top 20 per cent of universities in Australia for Teaching Quality
Good Universities Guide 2024
Studying online
At UNE we know it takes more than just being online to be a great online university. It takes time and experience. We pioneered distance education for working adults back in the 1950s, so we’ve been doing this longer than any other Australian university.
We understand the challenges faced by busy adults studying at home. We know that a vital part of online study is your engagement with the learning community. Communication with your classmates, teaching staff and university support staff will enhance your study experience and ensure that your skills extend beyond the subject matter. UNE’s teaching staff are experts in their field which is why UNE consistently receives five stars from students for teaching quality, support and overall experience.*
*The Good Universities Guide
Stay connected
Register your interest and we'll keep you updated
Why study with us?
If I were to continue studying in the field of health, I would choose UNE again. I know that I'm in safe, respectful, kind and competent hands here.
How to apply
Preparing to apply
You should always provide the details of past or current studies in your application. You may also need to include documents to support your application.
The kind of documents you need will depend on:
- Your preferred course/s
- Your personal circumstances
Important Dates
Different application methods and courses can have different closing dates. To find your correct application method click the Apply Now button below. Please check the appropriate application website for opening and closing dates.
If you are applying online direct to UNE please see below for application dates.
| Intake | Application Closing Date | Trimester Start Date |
|---|---|---|
| Trimester 1 | 16 February 2024 | 26 February 2024 |
Important Notice for Prospective Students
For accurate, up-to-date details on entry requirements, course structure, and other essential information, please consult the UNE Student Handbook before applying or enrolling. The Handbook provides comprehensive guidance to assist in your decision-making process. We apologise for any inconvenience.
