Diploma of Community Services
CHC - Community Services
Mid-level community-services qualification covering case management, client assessment and program coordination across welfare and family services.
Entry requirements
- Police Check
- Working With Children Check
What you will learn
The CHC52021 prepares case managers and program coordinators for work across community services - housing, family support, youth services, AOD, financial counselling and homelessness sectors. Core units include developing and implementing service programs, managing legal and ethical compliance, facilitating workplace debriefing and support processes, managing work health and safety, working with diverse people, recognising and responding to risk of suicide, and building rapport with vulnerable clients. Specialist streams allow focus on case management, statutory services, alcohol and other drugs (AOD), or community sector management.
Skills you build
- Case management and care plan development
- Client assessment and intake screening
- Group facilitation and program delivery
- Suicide intervention and crisis response
- Cultural safety with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients
- Workplace supervision and reflective practice
- Program evaluation and outcome reporting
How the course runs
Most students study full-time over 12 months or part-time over 18 to 24 months. Around 800 to 1,000 hours of formal training plus a mandatory minimum 200 hours of supervised work placement. Theory and practical split roughly 60/40, with strong emphasis on reflective practice, case studies and group facilitation. Many students are concurrently employed in support worker roles.
How you will be assessed
- Case management plan development assignments
- Reflective journals on workplace practice
- Written knowledge tests per unit of competency
- Group facilitation roleplay assessments
- Workplace observation during placement
Workplace and placement
Minimum 200 hours of supervised work placement in a community services setting (housing, family support, youth services, NDIS, AOD, homelessness). Placements arranged through RTO industry partnerships with major service providers. You hold a Police Check and Working With Children Check before placement begins. Wages follow the SCHADS Award with above-award rates common in not-for-profit major providers.
Typical employers
- Family support and family violence services
- Homelessness and housing support services
- Youth services and out-of-home care providers
- AOD residential and outreach services
- NDIS case management and support coordination
- Statutory child protection and youth justice
Pay after this qualification
$62,000 - $82,000 per year
Source: https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/explore-careers/occupation/welfare-support-workers. Last reviewed 2026-05-21.
Is this the right course for you?
You probably thrive here if
- You can hold space for hard stories without burning out
- You can document complex cases clearly
- You can manage your own self-care and boundaries
- You can work with statutory and non-government partners
- You can pass Police Check and Working With Children Check
It is probably not for you if
- You absorb client trauma without seeking supervision
- You struggle with documentation and report writing
- You react impulsively to challenging client behaviour
- You cannot handle bureaucratic process and forms
After you finish
After the Diploma you can progress to the Advanced Diploma of Community Sector Management (CHC62015) for senior leadership roles. Bachelor of Social Work programs at Western Sydney, Victoria University, ACU, Charles Sturt and many others offer significant credit. Bachelor of Behavioural Science, Bachelor of Counselling and Bachelor of Human Services are common progression pathways. Many graduates progress to team leader and service manager roles within their first three years post-Diploma.
Careers this leads to
Credit into a uni degree
Common articulation pathways. Confirm credit transfer with the receiving university directly.