Get the recognition you deserve
Turn the leadership capabilities you’ve acquired through learning and experience into a formal qualification.
Strengthen your leadership skills
Consolidate and expand your leadership capabilities through guided self-analysis, workplace-based research, applied practice and feedback.
Fit your study around your work
Our 100% online Professional Practice courses can be accessed around your schedule and availability.
Build knowledge from your existing experience, not from the ground up
Deakin’s Graduate Certificate of Leadership is an innovative, first-of-a-kind* qualification that recognises your leadership experience and develops your leadership skills.
This 100% online course is suited for experienced leaders who value the importance of effective leadership and who want to be recognised for their leadership capabilities. It will provide you with an opportunity to:
- gain a thorough understanding of key leadership concepts
- develop your leadership practice through reflection and evidence-based decision-making
- apply your skills in the workplace to deliver positive change.
You will apply what you've learned, as well as analyse and validate your leadership strengths, with course content that goes beyond theory into practice-based learning.
Entry requirement
Entry into the Graduate Certificate of Leadership will be based on:
- Bachelor's degree in any discipline and two years relevant experience#
OR - three years relevant work experience^
* Deakin is the first university in Australia to develop Professional Practice degrees, combining online coursework units along with several Professional Practice credentials, which recognise capabilities: the skills and knowledge you already have and which you apply in your work. This recognition is gained through written and video testimonies and a portfolio of evidence.
# Applicable to applicants with a bachelor's degree. Work experience must be in a managerial or professional role with evidence of leading teams, including either direct or indirect reports as a supervisor or manager, and operational implementation of strategy.
^ Applicable to applicants without a bachelor's degree. Work experience must be in a managerial or professional role with evidence of leading teams, including either direct or indirect reports as a supervisor or manager, and operational implementation of strategy.
How the course is structured
You complete two coursework units, two Professional Practice Credentials and two stackable short courses.
Download the course guide to learn more about the course structure.
Leadership Practice with Impact
The purpose of this unit is to deliver a thorough grounding in the main leadership theories, concepts, and issues. It is intended as an introduction to leadership and will be the theoretical foundation that the other leadership units are built on.
The Deakin Advantage: Leadership and Professional Development
This unit brings together career development, personal development and professional development. Students commence with a personalised 360-degree feedback diagnosis which provides the foundation for the selection of personal and professional development opportunities that are completed over the duration of their study program.
Please note: As part of any postgraduate degree at Deakin University, you need to complete the compulsory, zero-credit-point unit Academic Integrity. This unit requires you to pass an online multiple-choice test.
Download the course guide to learn more about the coursework units and the course structure.
Flexible and 100% online
This leading-edge postgraduate degree is designed for leaders who need flexibility for when and where they complete their studies.
- This course has no exams and is designed specifically for a 100% online experience.
- Study while you work and immediately apply what you learn to your workplace.
One-on-one support
You’ll be supported every step of the way.
Each student is provided with a Student Success Adviser, who offers non-academic advice and support from enrolment through to graduation.
From tackling the course-work unit readings to submitting a Professional Practice credential testimony, your academics are also available to provide support whenever you need it.
