Bachelor of Health Science in Health and Lifestyle

at Southern Cross University - Gold Coast Campus Australia

The Bachelor of Community Welfare provides you with the theoretical and practical foundations for work in the human services sector. You will gain skills in case management, community development, counselling, social research, policy work, advocacy, and grief and loss counselling.

Particular emphasis is placed on social justice and human rights as the basis for community welfare practice. Core units focus on counselling, case management, mental health, human services, research, youth work, disability and development. We'll help harness your empathy and enhance your communication skills with a view to delivering great outcomes across community welfare practice. You will also gain on-the-job experience through extensive placements, working with individuals and organisations that share your commitment and are working to improve people's lives.

Our two-year (or 18 months if fast tracked*) Master of Teaching program qualifies you to be a teacher in Australia, and many countries overseas. Teaching is a career in which you can make a positive and life-long impact on the lives of children and young people.
You can choose to specialise in early childhood education, primary education, or secondary education.  

As well as undertaking an education research project, this course includes professional experience learning via placement in early childhood education settings, schools, and/or community sites. Pre-requisites to meet national and state-based regulatory requirements, as detailed in Faculty of Education Professional Experience Requirements, must be met prior to attending professional experience placement. All professional experience learning days must be completed, and professional behaviour and conduct must be demonstrated.

All primary and secondary students across Australia need to successfully complete the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students (LANTITE) prior to undertaking the second professional experience placement.

Early Childhood

The Early Childhood specialisation qualifies you to become an early childhood teacher (six-weeks to five-years-old).

The Bachelor of Social Work is an entry-level, professionally accredited qualification to practise as a social worker. The course prepares students to work in a diverse range of fields including health and mental health, child and family welfare, cross-cultural work and work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, youth work, homelessness, domestic and family violence, disability, drug and alcohol, community development, and advocacy.

Underpinned by core principles of social justice and human rights, the course engages students in contemporary anti-oppressive, decolonised and trauma-informed approaches to social work practice. This high job growth area offers a variety of careers in client service roles, service management, research, strategy and policy development.

Core units within the course cover essential theories, methods and skills for social work practice with individuals, families, groups and communities. These are complemented by foundational studies in Indigenous world views, sociology, politics, human development and social research.

An elective stream provides opportunity for students to pursue their interests and develop knowledge in a range of disciplines, and an optional embedded Honours program is available for those interested in research and pathways to further postgraduate studies and who have maintained a credit average across the first two years of study.  Note: Eligible students who are interested in undertaking the Honours stream in 2023 should consult the Bachelor of Social Work Course Coordinator prior to enrolling in elective units.

Please note: All students, including those enrolled online, are required to participate in on-campus learning for a minimum of 20 days/150hrs over the duration of the course. This requirement is stipulated by the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards (ASWEAS). On-campus enrolled students meet this minimum requirement by participating in four units with compulsory attendance. Online students meet this requirement by attending compulsory residential schools conducted at the Gold Coast campus. Units with compulsory participation and on-campus residential schools are identified in the course structure section below (‘note 2’). Students should also refer to the enrolment information for these units.

Do you dream of coaching athletes or inspiring people to achieve better health and wellbeing? Are you fascinated by human anatomy, human physiology and how they apply to sport and exercise? Are you keen to probe the minds of elite athletes and uncover what gives them the winning edge? The Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science can turn your sporting passion into a career.

This degree provides a comprehensive study of sport sciences and how the human body responds to exercise. You’ll learn about human movement, biomechanics, movement control, exercise physiology, exercise and sport psychology, coaching and exercise prescription, with the opportunity to specialise in either business management, physical education or strength, conditioning and coaching.

Our graduates work in many areas of sport and health, including sports psychology, nutrition, teaching, coaching, performance testing, health promotion and education.

Strength, Conditioning and Coaching

This major includes areas such as advanced strength and conditioning, applied skill acquisition and training for performance.

Looking for a pathway to a Bachelor degree in business, information technology or tourism?

The one-year Diploma of Business gives you the opportunity to develop academic and business skills in areas that could include business, finance, management, economics, marketing, tourism and information technology. In addition to core units, you may choose a specialisation in either business and enterprise, information technology, tourism or business.

Successful completion of the Diploma will guarantee you entry and up to eight units of credit towards a Southern Cross University Bachelor degree in business and enterprise or information technology.

Do you want a health career that could transform the lives of others by helping them achieve tangible results?

Occupational therapists’ work is diverse. They adapt environments, activities or equipment to enhance participation in everyday tasks, assisting people of all ages and abilities to do what they need and want to do at home, work, school and in the community.

You will develop a range of clinical skills in the University’s state-of-the-art facilities and during your professional placement, preparing you for work in diverse health care environments.

As an occupational therapist you could for example develop inclusive playground experiences and environments for children of all abilities; you could recommend workplace changes that would assist an injured worker to return to work; or you could design home modifications or public transport changes that would ensure access for a person using a power wheelchair.

Indigenous Health

This major can be studied at Gold Coast and Coffs Harbour campuses and offers students the opportunity to build theoretical and practical capabilities in cultural protocols and Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Embedded placement opportunities equip graduates with the professional skills required to contribute to the improvement of health and social outcomes in Australian communities.

In order to meet the Australian occupational therapy competency standards this course is structured in accordance with professional body recommendations. All students complete studies in the following areas:

Professional Areas: occupational therapy theory and practice; occupational therapy assessments and interventions related to biomechanical, sensorimotor, psychosocial and cognitive performance, activities, engagement and participation at home, at school, at work and in the community; occupational transitions across the lifespan; evaluation of occupational therapy programs; health promotion; and professional experience/fieldwork.

Social Sciences: psychology and sociology for health sciences, Australian health care system, Indigenous studies, research methods, nutrition in health, and small business and entrepreneurship.

Biological Sciences: anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, and neuroscience.

We all understand the benefits of better health and wellbeing. This course enhances your qualifications and increases your understanding of how our bodies work, taking your career prospects to a higher and even healthier level.

The Master of Clinical Exercise Physiology is a professional-entry-level degree that produces graduates who are eligible to register as an accredited exercise physiologist (AEP). You'll explore health and exercise from cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal, metabolic, neuromuscular and psychological perspectives.

At Southern Cross University's Health Clinic, you'll receive theoretical grounding through professional placements that enable you to practise prescribing rehabilitation exercise for people with injury, disability or chronic disease.

Accredited exercise physiologists can provide exercise testing, preventative exercise programs and specialist rehabilitation exercise interventions for people living with chronic diseases, disability or injury. Career options exist in private practice, hospitals, aged care facilities and rehabilitation centres.

Early childhood education is an immensely satisfying career and a precious opportunity to give children the very best start in life.

Within 10 months, our Graduate Diploma in Education (Early Childhood) will qualify you to be an early childhood teacher to work in early childhood education and care services, long day care centres, and preschools.

Our course covers key areas of early childhood education and care, theory, principles and practices that best support children's learning and development. Admission into the course is via an undergraduate degree in any discipline, including a teaching qualification.

In the fight for justice, you need knowledge, integrity and perseverance. This degree embraces all these qualities as you learn how the law works, why specific laws exist, and how our laws impact on others.

The Bachelor of Legal and Justice Studies is an excellent degree for those wanting to work in policy development, paralegal positions, conveyancing, and in the justice sector. It provides a thorough practical grounding in legal knowledge and a strong understanding of Australian and international politics and society. If you have already been working professionally in the fields of law and justice, this course will extend your knowledge, skills and expertise. The conveyancing major, which is accredited by New South Wales Fair Trading, enables you to become a licenced conveyancer in NSW.

The Bachelor of Education qualifies you to be a teacher in Australia, and many countries overseas. Our evidence-based course draws on the Faculty of Education’s leadership and research in teacher education that is responsive to local and global contexts.
 
Graduates will be qualified as a teacher in one of the following five areas:

• Early Childhood/Primary (6 weeks to Year 6);
• Primary (Kindergarten/Prep to Year 6); English Primary Specialisation and specialisation in Science and Maths available
• Primary/Secondary (English Primary Specialisation and one Secondary specialisation);
• Secondary (Two teaching specialisations); or
• Secondary: Design and Technology (choose from Industrial Technology, or Food and Fibre, plus one Secondary specialisation).

The first year of the course provides a distinctive foundation with excellent grounding in literacy, numeracy, and subject content, as well as issues in contemporary education.
 
Within the four-year full-time equivalent degree (or 3.5 years fast tracked*), you also undertake core learning in Indigenous education, sustainability, inclusive (special) education, along with curriculum and pedagogy learning across disciplines.

Primary/Secondary

 For teaching in both primary schools and in secondary schools in one subject. Includes a compulsory English Primary Specialisation.