University of Notre Dame Australia
Graduate Diploma of Midwifery
- Delivery: Face to Face
- Study Level: Postgraduate
- Duration: 18 months
A comprehensive, practice-focused pathway for aspiring midwives, combining academic rigour with immersive clinical experience to support safe, woman-centred maternity care.
Course overview
Are you a registered nurse with a desire to become a midwife? The University of Notre Dame Australia’s 18-month full-time postgraduate qualification will give you the confidence to embark on a career where woman-centred care is a priority. This Graduate Diploma of Midwifery includes a significant proportion of practical hands-on experience and contemporary best practices in various midwifery settings.
The Graduate Diploma of Midwifery is a unique program that follows the philosophy of ‘woman-centred’ midwifery practice and will enable you to develop a high level of critical thinking, technical competence and interdisciplinary teamwork skills. You will experience a variety of placements, including public and private settings, from large teaching hospitals to small healthcare centres. This quality professional practice experience will give you the confidence and competence to adapt quickly to the midwifery workplace.
This blended-learning program includes immersive online learning experiences combined with intensive on-campus study blocks each semester. It enables midwifery students to undertake this program whether located in metropolitan or regional/remote locations.
CSP Subsidised Fees Available
This program has a limited quota of Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP). The indicative CSP price is calculated based on first year fees for EFT. The actual fee may vary if there are choices in electives or majors.
Key facts
What you will study
The Graduate Diploma of Midwifery requires the completion of the following courses equivalent to 250 units of credit. Unless otherwise indicated, each course is valued at 25 units of credit.
Compulsory courses
Complete the following courses:
- MIDW5021 Midwifery Foundations
- MIDW5022 Beginning Midwifery Practice (50 units of credit)
- MIDW5023 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women and Communities
- MIDW5024 Midwifery Partnerships
- MIDW5025 Complex Midwifery Practice (50 units of credit)
- MIDW5026 Midwifery Clinical Reasoning
- MIDW5027 Advancing Midwifery Practice (50 units of credit)
Entry requirements
The following entry requirements apply to this program:
- A bachelor's degree in nursing or the equivalent and registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
- Registered nurses who do not have a level 7 AQF qualification in nursing may be admitted with an alternative mode of entry assessment and recent clinical nursing experience.
Recognition of Prior Learning
Advanced Standing is a way the university recognises the studies you've already completed. Instead of repeating subjects, you get credit for them, saving you time and money. You might be eligible for this credit if you've completed studies at any university (even here at Notre Dame), including single subjects. Contact the university for more information.
Outcomes
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the Graduate Diploma of Midwifery, graduates will be able to:
- Meet the National Competency Standards for the Midwife and gain registration as a midwife with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
- Critically review emerging local, national and global maternity care priorities and apply midwifery evidence-based knowledge to provide holistic and woman-centred care across the childbirth continuum, to pregnant and childbearing women and their families, focusing on continually improving the quality and delivery of care.
- Reflect on knowledge and belief to share practice and foster self-regulated behaviours to implement life-long learning, which will assist in the professional growth and development of self and others.
- Practice as competent professionals and industry-ready graduates who can critically appraise and problem-solve in practical and creative ways, enabling them to practice in diverse midwifery settings.
- Integrate knowledge, humanistic values, clinical skills and reflective thinking to an advanced level of critical analysis to provide safe, culturally congruent, equitable, high-quality midwifery care for women, babies, families and communities.
- Demonstrate ethical responsibility by actively and continually participating in the development of the midwifery profession at the individual, national and global level.
- Provide safe, culturally congruent, equitable and just midwifery care by practising and promoting a culture of reflective and reflexive midwifery care to the individual woman, her supporters and other healthcare team members.
Career outcomes
The Graduate Diploma of Midwifery will enable you to register as a midwife with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
Fees and CSP
Estimated total fee in 2025: $5,780 (Commonwealth Supported Place)
The estimated total fee is based on a full-time study load of 250 units of credit.
Student fees may vary depending on:
- The number of courses studied per term.
- The choice of major or specialisation.
- Choice of courses.
- Credit from previous study or work experience.
- Eligibility for government-funded loans.
Student fees shown are subject to change. Contact the university directly to confirm.
Commonwealth Supported Places
The Australian Government allocates a certain number of CSPs to the universities each year, which are then distributed to students based on merit.
If you're a Commonwealth Supported Student (CSS), you only need to pay some of your tuition fees. The student contribution amount is the balance once the government subsidy is applied. This means your costs are much lower.
Limited CSP spaces are offered to students enrolled in selected postgraduate courses.
Your student contribution amount is:
- Calculated per course you're enrolled in.
- Depending on the study areas they relate to.
- Reviewed and adjusted each year.
HECS-HELP loans are available to CSP students to pay the student contribution amount.
