Bachelor of Human Services/Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice

The Bachelor of Human Services/Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice is offered full-time and part-time at the Gold Coast and Logan campuses (for the Human Services component) and the Mt Gravatt and Gold Coast campuses (for the Criminology component).

There are two modes of study for this program.

On-campus
As a full-time on-campus student, you will generally attend 10-15 hours of scheduled classes per week throughout the trimester. Classes may be scheduled during the day and evening throughout the week. The program includes a practical professional placement during which you must be available for five working days each week. Some of the courses in this program may be run in trimester 3 or in an intensive block format. It is important to check course profiles and your timetable carefully to ensure that all course requirements are fully understood.

Distance Education
As a Distance Education student, you will study online which may include online coursework, readings, research, discussions and other course related study. You should check the minimum computer specifications for studying online and the complete the short self-assessment test "Are you ready to study online?" which can be found on the New students website.

Students can enrol in the external offering of the Human Services program and will be able to complete the program online with the exception of three courses which have compulsory five-day face-to-face intensives which are offered at the Gold Coast campus.

Your compulsory attendance is in the form of one five-day intensive course per year held at the Gold Coast campus as follows:

• Year 1 - 1008HSV Interpersonal Skills (offered in T3 only)
• Year 2 - 2027HSV Group Facilitation (offered in T3 only)
• Year 3 - 3020HSV Counselling Individuals and Families (offered in T1 only)

Domestic students studying off-shore will be required to attend the compulsory face-to-face intensives on-campus in Australia.

Criminology component
In this program, almost all the courses in the Criminology component of this degree are delivered in a variety of ways and you can choose how you wish to undertake a course - with only a very small number of courses limited to on-campus delivery. If you enrol in an on-campus offering of a course you will be required to attend 2-3 hours of classes per course per week throughout the trimester at the Mount Gravatt campus (some larger courses are conducted at Nathan campus) or Gold Coast campus.

If you enrol in a Distance Education offering of a course you will be provided course materials via a variety of means including printed materials and via Learning@Griffith. You may be required to use the internet or other electronic media during your enrolment in this course and access to a reliable computer with internet connection is advantageous. Alternative arrangements can be made for students who cannot access the internet. There will be no requirement for on-campus attendance for an Distance Education student.

Some listed elective courses are offered in trimester 3 which allows you to study in intensive mode.

Student Income Support

To be classed as a full-time student, you are required to enrol in a minimum number of credit points each standard study period. The minimum credit points for full-time enrolment in this program is 30 credit points.

Trimester 1 and Trimester 2 are deemed standard study periods. As Trimester 3 is a non-standard study period, continuing students moving from one year to the next will not be required to study during this trimester to be eligible for student income support.

Domestic students who commence in Trimester 3 may be eligible for student income support from the onset of study provided they are enrolled full-time in this study period.

Please refer to the Australian Government website for more details.

Work-integrated learning activities (professional placements) integrate theoretical learning with its application in the workplace. The inclusion of work-integrated learning activities in the degree program demonstrates Griffith's commitment to preparing its graduates for success in their working life.

In this program, you will spend 400 hours (four days per week) in the work/professional environment during trimester six of the full-time program or equivalent. Placements may be outside of the Brisbane metropolitan/Gold Coast area including Northern New South Wales and (by negotiation) interstate or overseas.

Key employment sectors* 

• Health Care and Social Assistance 
  • Child protection 
  • Welfare services 
  • Family support 
  • Mental health services 
  • Social services 
  • Rehabilitation services 
• Public Administration and Safety 
  • Policing and security 
  • Intelligence 
  • Justice services 
  • Probation and parole 
  • Government agencies 
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 
  • Criminology research organisations 

Potential job outcomes 

• Community welfare officer 
• Youth worker 
• Mental health support worker 
• Probation and parole officer 
• Child Safety Officer 
• Crime analyst 

*Source: Australian Government Job Outlook.

The Bachelor of Human Services is accredited by the Australian Community Workers Association (ACWA).

Bachelor of Human Services graduates will be eligible to apply for registration with the Australian Community Workers Association (ACWA) subject to meeting any additional requirements that may be stipulated by the ACWA. As these requirements may change from time to time, students should contact the ACWA to confirm registration requirements.

There are placements associated with this program and before undertaking professional experience placements, all students in this program are required to have completed the following by the end of their first trimester of study:

• Vaccinations and Health Tests
• Licenses and Certificates
• Online Training
• Health Placement Requirements

Students should refer to the checklist of professional practice requirements for their Health discipline on the Health Placement Support Hub for full details of the requirements regarding professional placement to ensure that they meet eligibility for placement.

If you are enrolled in the Distance Education offering of the program, you must be aware that if you live in a remote or rural area, you may be expected to travel to a professional placement and this may also incur accommodation and living expenses to you. A Griffith University Placement Officer will work with you to find a suitable local placement. However, this cannot always be guaranteed. Domestic students studying off-shore can complete the placement (by negotiation) interstate or overseas.