Bachelor of Human Services - Queensland University of Technology

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Why choose this course?
The Bachelor of Human Services is a vocationally-oriented program which produces competent human service workers who have the essential knowledge, values, ethics and practical skills for professional practice.

Career outcomes
Human services is one of the fastest growing industry sectors in Australia. As a human services professional you will have a challenging and rewarding career helping to redress inequalities and injustice, and facilitating people's participation in social change processes.

Human services graduates will work in diverse areas and, therefore, have a range of professional titles. You may work with individuals, families and consumer groups in roles such as community development workers, care coordinators, case managers, welfare workers, counsellors, family services officers, disability services workers, youth workers, aged services workers, correctional counsellors, or community corrections officers.

Organisations employing graduates include government departments, churches and community-based organisations. Opportunities also exist for human services graduates to work in aid, development and human rights agencies both in Australia and overseas.

Specialisations
This course offers you the choice of specialisations in child and family services, aged services, corrective services, disability services, or services to young people.

You also have the option of taking a pathway in child protection or international practice. The child protection pathway prepares you for practice in statutory child protection settings such as the Queensland Department of Child Safety. The international practice pathway will provide you with the knowledge and opportunity to undertake social work practice in other national contexts, and gives you priority in undertaking a major placement in an overseas agency.

Industry links
Our teaching staff maintain close professional links with the human service industry, and guest lecturers are leaders in a range of government and community organisations.

Double degree options
You will acquire a unique combination of skills and training when you combine a Bachelor of Human Services with a second degree in arts, creative industries, or justice. The essential knowledge, values, ethics, and skills for professional practice in human services will broaden your career choices in emerging areas such as youth arts, community cultural development, crime and social justice, or international aid.

Alumni
Human services graduate, Natasha Boyle, says:
I chose a human services course because I wanted to make a positive difference to the community. I focused my studies where my interests lay - with young people and the issues they face. In my role as Youth Affairs Officer with the Office of Youth Affairs, I now have the opportunity to support and affect the development of policies, programs and services for the benefit of young people.

Facilities / technology
You will use top-class 24-hour computer facilities, wireless access, modern teaching and study areas, and an extensive library.

Convenience
Carseldine campus is located 13 kilometres north of the city centre and has convenient bus and rail services. Free on-campus parking is a bonus.

Course Outline
The Bachelor of Human Services has a strong focus on contemporary social issues and produces competent human services workers who will care for and protect the rights of people, families and communities. You will complete 24 units of study.

You will specialise in at least one service area:
- aged services
- child and family services
- corrective services
- disability services
- services to young people

You will develop a range of professional skills such as:
- casework and case management
- social policy processes
- team practice and group processes
- community work
- crisis and conflict resolution
- social research methods
- Indigenous Australia
- child protection intervention

Professional Practice Placements
You will gain hands-on experience in this course through two professional practice placements.

In first semester of your second year you will explore the diversity of practice methods through the Introduction to Practice. You will undertake a total of 140 hours of volunteer placement/s in a human service agency.

Your theoretical and practical studies will culminate in a 36 credit point Advanced Professional Practice placement in second semester of your third year. This placement will generally reflect your specialised service context area. You will develop a learning plan in consultation with your agency supervisor and a university staff member. During this 400-hour supervised placement in a human services agency, you will further develop your assessment and intervention skills and your own practice framework. It may be possible to undertake this 12 week placement with an overseas agency.

These professional practice placements provide many valuable opportunities for networking within the human services industry.

Service Contexts
AGED SERVICES
Aged services units will focus your attention on the historical, social, and cultural scene within which services to older adults operate; aspects of intelligence, memory and learning in relation to ageing; and perspectives of work and retirement. You will investigate the home environment and living with change, relations with family members, and dealing with death and grief. You will explore issues around the health and wellness status of older adults and will investigate the needs of this group of people as they grow older in the Australian environment. Throughout this unit you will develop a critical awareness of practice issues and the impact of ethical considerations.

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES
Child and family services units provide you with a firm grounding in theories, practices and processes essential for understanding and intervening in family life. You will be introduced to child and family welfare studies and will focus on approaches to supporting families and promoting change. You will also examine core processes and practice skills associated with interacting with children and parents, assessing family life and encouraging participation in decision making.

CORRECTIVE SERVICES
In corrective services units you will examine contemporary issues and practices in corrective services through empirical data and current corrective services practices. You will explore the function of prisons, prisoner rehabilitation, criminal behaviour trends, capital punishment, juvenile justice, the future of prisons, victims of crime, and restorative justice. You will develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills as well as strategies to prepare you for employment within corrective services.

DISABILITY SERVICES
Disability services units provide you with a solid foundation for understanding and evaluating the theories, principles, practices and policies underpinning services used by people with disabilities. The aim is to link the social justice, empowerment and human rights issues explored in the more generic units within the degree program to the lives of people with disabilities. You will have the opportunity to explore and evaluate the range of service models relevant to the lifestyles of people with disabilities. The units focus on the quasi-legal and policy aspects of working in disability service organisations, and address some of the ethical dilemmas inherent in human service provision to people with a disability.

SERVICES TO YOUNG PEOPLE
These units help you understand and identify the various ways youth and adolescence are understood, constructed and portrayed in mainstream media, academic literature and human services. You will critically review the situation of a diverse range of young people and will investigate the knowledge, theory and skills base of a range of contemporary practice arenas, such as juvenile justice and adolescent child protection practice, youth homelessness, youth policy analysis and development.

Professional Membership
Graduates are entitled to apply for membership of the Australian Institute of Welfare and Community Workers. (Reaccreditation application is currently in process).

Working with Children Check
As required by the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian Act (2000), students must undergo a criminal history check and be issued with a Suitability Card (Blue Card) by the Commission.

As soon as you enter your enrolment program for the course, you must submit your Blue Card application to the QUT Student Centre immediately. You must hold a Blue Card to undertake activities in any unit which involves contact with children, including the required field studies blocks.

If you do not apply for a Blue Card immediately upon enrolment in the course and allow sufficient time for the police check and issuing of the Card, you will be unable to participate in the required activities and may need to be withdrawn from the unit(s) and incur both financial and academic penalty. It may take up to 8 weeks for the Commission to issue the Card.

Course Structure

Electives (Lists B-D)