Graduate Certificate in Disability Studies

Strengthen your understanding of the diverse experiences, needs and perspectives of people with disability in this graduate certificate. You will historical and contemporary views and first-person narratives on disability to work alongside people with disabilities and understand their perspectives more effectively, placing their lived experienced at the centre of your understanding and practice. This is a program that is guided by inclusion and civil rights and the knowledge that disability is just one influence shaping people's lives.

You will explore policy, program, service and practice issues such as the history and purpose of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS); global and Australian historical and contemporary responses to disability rights; contemporary case-management and person-centred approaches to service delivery; and the development of inclusive practices that value lived experiences and meet the diverse needs of all Australians with a disability.

You will be immersed in accounts of the lived experiences of people with a disability, gaining insight from the insider perspective and examining personal narratives including memoirs, autobiographies and documentary films of, or by, people with a disability. It's this perspective that is crucial to delivering patient-centred services such as health and education to people with a disability. Working alongside student-peers, you'll engage with these topics in seminars, online forums and through groupwork under the supervision of some of Australia's leading academics in this field.

This is an attractive credential if you are already working with, or wish to work with, people with disability in a range of fields including rehabilitation, human services, disability support, health, and disability and health insurance. People from a range of professions benefit from the lessons of this degree, from nurses, doctors, teachers, social workers, carers, and many more.

Study anytime, anywhere - This degree is available online through our Digital campus, giving you more room to fit university with your work and social life.

This graduate certificate is for people who are already working with or wish to work with people with a disability. It may allow you to upskill to meet the needs of your current role, to improve the care you can provide to one of your own family members, or to move into and entirely different career. That could be in healthcare, teaching, social work, criminal justice, and many other areas.

• Healthcare and Social Assistance
• Public Administration and Safety
• Education and Training
Potential job outcomes
• Carer
• Specialist teacher
• Nurse
• Allied health professional
• Social worker
• Disability advocate
• Policy adviser

*Source: Australian Government Job Outlook.

Griffith University grants credit and recognition of prior learning which may relate to prior formal learning or prior informal and non-formal learning. For more information, please visit the following website:

• Credit transfer

Griffith's innovative Credit Precedent Database allows you to find out what credit decisions have been made in the past. These precedents will give you an idea of what you can expect.

• View credit precedents for this program

To apply, add this program to your shortlist at the top of this page or apply for this program now (a maximum of three preferences is allowed).

Griffith will assess your first preference and will only assess subsequent preferences if you are not successful.

Once you have submitted your application, you will be sent an email about how to track your application.

For a full list of your incomplete or submitted applications, please view your application list.