Recommended Study Sequence

This unit develops critical reflection on the role of theory in the social sciences. It requires the completion of four topics in areas such as: epistemology and disciplinary positioning of social theory; theories in social, cultural, historical and political contexts; current debates and theories in the social sciences. The unit is offered in flexible mode according to topic (typically one day’s attendance or equivalent per topic). Topics vary each session depending on student demand.

This unit provides core research training within a range of postgraduate courses. It requires the completion of four research topics in the following areas: research theory and design (e.g. epistemology, qualitative & quantitative) specific approaches (e.g. critical discourse analysis, feminist research); data collection methods (e.g. interviews, questionnaires) and methods of analysis (e.g. quantitative & qualitative). This unit is offered in flexible mode according to topic (typically one day's attendance or equivalent per topic). Topics vary each session depending on student demand.

This unit is the capstone for the Master of Social Science. It extends students’ critical practice in their specialist field, building on ‘Theories of the Social’ and ‘Research Methods for the Humanities and Social Sciences’. Students will undertake intensive analyses of the links between theory, research and practice and prepare and carry out an investigation negotiated with an academic advisor. The unit consists of intensive workshops and a plenary seminar in which students present their work. Throughout the semester study groups based on specialties will meet with an academic ‘advisor’. A substantial ‘research report’ of activities/ investigations, analyses and interpretations will be produced that complies with the unit’s objectives. Note: Projects are not individually supervised, but will require the production of an individually completed research project and report.

Students examine the concept of childhood particularly focusing on issues relevant to care and protection work and to agency and work methods. Concepts and skills for working in partnership with children, youth and families are studied and discussed in terms of constructing effective policy, practice and management approaches.

In this unit students build on their understanding of the legal, administrative and institutional contexts for decision making in care and protection work. Students critically examine current policy and practice models and tools for decision making in terms of the complexity and ambiguity which characterises care and protection work. Decision making processes are analysed and strategies formulated in relation to the obstacles and benefits of partnership with consumers and agencies.

In this unit the family, community and societal support are emphasised and strategies for creating a ‘child-friendly’ community explored. Students examine concepts and models for facilitating the development of a child and young-person friendly society as they apply to contemporary child welfare issues. The relationship between child welfare, care and protection and abuse is explored.

In this unit students explore the issue of child abuse and neglect and its relationship to socio-political and economic factors. The complexities and ambiguities of care and protection work are dissected at an advanced level. Reference is made to students' agencies and how they have developed particular responses to the issue of child abuse. This unit develops and defines existing knowledge and theoretical frameworks and challenges students to deconstruct various approaches to care and protection practice.

This unit aims to explore positive and negative social impacts of tourism, techniques for assessment and the importance in community development of planning for social impacts in a range of developed/ developing and urban/ non-urban settings. The unit’s objectives are to provide an understanding of the nature of social impacts associated with tourism planning and development; the paradoxes generated by and oppositional forces at play created by social impacts of tourism in a community and methods and techniques of social impact assessment and their use in tourism contexts.

This unit integrates tourism and recreation planning with the use of geographic information systems (GIS). It introduces GIS principles and develops database management and mapping and spatial analysis skills. No previous GIS experience is assumed. It examines the application of GIS to sustainable tourism planning and research. Research methods are stressed through the collection of field data and the critical examination of the representation of places through GIS and the World Wide Web. Problems of strategic environmental assessment and social impacts of development are addressed. The unit involves a problem-oriented approach, workshops, computer laboratory sessions, fieldwork, group work and presentations.

This unit introduces students to the basic theories of tourism planning in the context of sustainable development. Students will understand the critical contemporary issues in relation to sustainable tourism planning and development. The planning implications and critical problems of local participation in the planning process through a wide range of situational case studies in both developed and developing countries will be discussed. The emphasis of this unit is the dynamic and complex theories of tourism planning. The changes brought by tourism development require both public and private sectors to have specialised knowledge and training in order to achieve sustainable outcomes.

This unit introduces students to the application of tourism planning tools for impact assessment, evaluation and monitoring systems to conserve tourism resources as well as satisfy all tourism stakeholders. Case studies of sustainable tourism planning and development practices from around the world will be used to show lessons to be learned. The emphasis of the unit is on applied planning skills for integrated tourism planning in the varied developmental contexts of tourist destinations. Multi-dimensional tourism development impacts will be evaluated. Tourism master plan and strategic action plans in selected case studies will be critiqued and assessed as a student final project.

This unit explores theories and practical experiences relevant to art therapy. Consideration is given to the major theroetical frameworks of art therapy, its historical development and group processes. There is a major experiential component which provides practical experience in exploring the process of art therapy by working in a group situation led by an experienced art therapist/s. The process will be explored and examined in relation to the self, to the self as artist and to therapeutic practice.

This unit examines therapeutic approaches and their application to the field of art therapy with different client populations. Different models, techniques and processes will be explored and examined in relation to the self and to therapeutic practice. An experiential component provides practical experience in exploring the process of art therapy by working in a group situation led by an experienced art therapist/s.

This unit is a foundational unit for postgraduate counselling and therapeutic studies. It forms the first part of a 40 credit point sequence undertaken during the first year. Counselling 1 presents the foundational skills necessary for the successful inception of a productive counselling relationship. The sequenced, progressive presentation of these skills via experiential learning is framed by the simultaneous presentation of key theoretical concepts relevant to the skills in question. Students will be asked to consider how each of the major theoretical approaches to counselling and psychotherapy would conceptualise this stage of the relationship and the skills associated with it.

This unit is a foundational unit for postgraduate counselling and therapeutic studies. It forms the second part of a 40 credit point sequence undertaken during the first year. Counselling 2 offers further practice in foundational counselling skills introduced in Counselling 1. In addition, students are introduced to skills appropriate to the unfolding counselling/therapy relationship, such as confrontation and immediacy (here-and-now intervention). Continued skills practice in triads is required, plus continuing membership in the 'Here and Now' group initiated in 101328. Group work in this unit will be more challenging, inviting deeper levels of vulnerability and greater openness to giving and receiving honest feedbacfk. Assessment tasks will require analysis of group process and of students' own counselling skills over 6-8 counselling sessions with an undergraduate volunteer client. Theoretical perspectives will include concepts of problem-formation and change facilitation across the major paradigms; the significance of the therapeutic relationship across the major paradigms ('here and now' intervention vs 'there and soon' intervention); stages and change-points in the adult life cycle with appropriateness of varying therapeutic models to each stage.

The Unit examines the values, principles and processes of community development, and provides the knowledge necessary to successfully initiate and manage a community development project.

Through a series of contemporary case studies, students are introduced to a range of public health issues and practices. These may be studied in the areas of population inequalities in health, environmental health, communicable diseases, and chronic diseases. The topics may change for each cohort of students.

In this unit students study epidemiological design and analytic strategies as well as biostatistics. The unit also examines the use of surveillance and population datasets to measure and monitor population health and plan health services. Students will develop skills to critically appraise research in health and health care. A range of research studies is examined including studies of occurrence and risk factors for disease and studies evaluating intervention treatments or programs. Both the epidemiological and statistical evidence for the findings are critically assessed

Health promotion is a process that seeks to enable individuals, communities and populations to increase control over their health by addressing the determinants of health, resulting in improved health outcomes. The historical development of international health promotion efforts will be traced. Various theoretical underpinnings of health promotion are explored, factors enhancing and limiting interventions reviewed and the levels of health promoting actions demonstrated with a view to developing best practice. Evaluation of health promotion activity is also reviewed.

This unit examines the nature of public health and develops a systemic understanding of various public health policy frameworks and issues. The unit provides the context and history for understanding public health approaches, explores the cultural and social dimensions of health and illness and the economic and political environment in which health policies and strategies are developed and implemented. The unit advocates a view of health that includes an implicit recognition of the physical, social and economic environment, affirms the importance of social justice and equity in health care, and emphasises the importance of inter-sectoral collaboration.

In this unit, students will utilise skills gained in the course to assess and provide leadership for key issues in health services management, eg, corporate and clinical governance, management of multidisciplinary teams, risk management and community consultations and collaborations. The unit is designed to enable students to critically explore and analyse current issues and developments, of importance, in health services and health services management. The issues for exploration will change over time in line with contemporary developments within the sector.

The health sector must account for use of resources and ensure equity and efficiency from the cost centre level up. Managers need to consider the financial implications of decisions and are expected to understand and act on accounting information to stay on budget. This unit critically reviews the role of financing in health services. Students will focus on the use of financial tools and strategies in the day to day management of health care units.

The unit explores contemporary examples of the role of economics in the organisation, funding and provision of health services. Case examples include, Australia, America, China, Hong Kong, Scandinavia, United Kingdom and India. Students use the principles of economics to assess funding of health with a focus on the interface between economics, ethics and equity in decision making. They also consider the tendency for health systems to be organised around economic principles in areas such as, contracting out, health insurance and pharmaceuticals. Students are encouraged to reflect on the challenges and future directions of their own health system in the context of the unit components.

This unit explores the nature of health services organisations and their management in contemporary social and political contextual frameworks. It examines, and integrates, the contributions of social science, management and organisation theory to these organisations with the utilisation of applied and specific examples relevant to the need of students and within a comparative and international context. The unit provides the opportunity for practical consideration and evaluation of actual health service settings and programs. The issues for detailed consideration are chosen on the basis of students' organisational and workplace experience and learning needs.

This unit provides an introduction to the Human Resource Management (HRM) function in business and government organisations within the Australian socio-political context. It provides an overview of the function; an examination of its relationships with other business functions; a review of its foundation disciplines (psychology, sociology, law, economics, management and organisation theory); a study of the concept of professional HRM practice; and an examination of trends in HRM practice, taking into account projected legal, technological and economic change. Various models of the HR function are reviewed and an attempt is made to integrate HR and industrial relations activities into an HR employment relations model.

This capstone unit synthesises concepts and understanding developed in the core of the course. Strategic decisions are those that determine the overall direction of an enterprise and its ultimate viability in the light of the predictable changes that may occur in its environments. Typically, strategic decisions follow an analysis of an enterprise's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and external constraints. This unit examines these processes, recognising that they cannot be divorced from the interests of stakeholders and the constraints of structure and information networks. The unit places strategic management in an historical context to identify changing trends, in particular the pressures towards internationalisation, globalisation, and gaining a competitive advantage. It critically examines the major theoretical approaches to strategy and emerging trends in this field of study. It analyses how decision-making processes, leadership, and organisational politics impact on the strategic activities of managers. Drawing on various concepts, theories and approaches, a dynamic, contingent and contested view is presented of strategic management. A critical overview is provided of the frameworks and models used in strategic analysis and decision-making. Strategic decisions follow from an analysis of corporate (multi-business), business (competitive) and functional (value-added) level strategies. These strategic processes cannot be divorced from the interests of stakeholders and the negotiated order found in all organisations. Issues relating to the implementation of strategy, particularly in relation to managing change are examined.