Australia's best online courses in data analytics open up exciting career opportunities in this growth field.
Data analytics training is the foundation for a career in data-driven decision making. Analysts bring expertise in technology, statistics and business together to extract value from data assets. Here are 12 different types of online courses.
Types of Courses
Bachelor of Data Analytics
You can major in data analytics or data science in an online bachelor degree. Typically, a data major is available within computer science or IT undergraduate programs.
A bachelor course will teach you important core skills and set up your career. Almost every analyst and data scientist around has a bachelor degree of some kind, usually in a technology field.
Most programs are flexible and allow you to adjust your study direction from year to year. You can also combine disciplines. Students often complement data analysis or data science with business or maths studies… READ MORE
Graduate Certificate in AI Management
An important and growing way of using data is to produce artificial intelligence or AI. You can learn the fundamentals of harnessing the potential of AI with a Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence Management.
Knowing when and how to solve a business problem using AI starts with understanding data analysis. You can then deploy machine learning to generate artificial intelligence.
A graduate certificate course could provide early mover advantages for managers with technical aptitude. You'll be able to grasp AI opportunities that competitors may overlook or struggle to implement... READ MORE
Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics
The application of data analytics to business problems is a key learning goal when you do a business analytics course, such as a Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics.
Online business analytics courses are popular among professionals with backgrounds in business, technology, engineering and science. A 4-subject Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics takes 8 months of online study that you can do while working full-time.
By choosing the right electives, you can design a course to match your career ambitions. Students learn data analysis skills as well as business strategy… READ MORE
Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics
A Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics is a 4-subject course providing (a) foundation studies in data analysis (b) advanced training in chosen subjects or (c) a combination of introductory and advanced units.
Students often enrol part-time in a grad cert course to gain entry into a masters program. They might continue beyond the course, to go for an 8-subject graduate diploma or 12-subject masters, if the learning experience is a good one.
A data analyst course may be open to graduates (any bachelor degree) or professionals with relevant experience. You need strong math ability to do well… READ MORE
Graduate Certificate in Data Science
A graduate certificate in data science is a 4-subject course normally embedded within a masters program. It introduces foundational topics and may contain units that are prerequisites for advanced studies.
A grad cert in data science is often a pathway course. Significant further training, either within the masters program or outside, should follow to develop the advanced programming skills that data science requires.
To be admitted, you need a relevant technology or business degree or, alternatively, professional experience as a data analyst or data scientist… READ MORE
Graduate Diploma in Analytics
Halfway in duration between a graduate certificate and masters, an online Graduate Diploma in Analytics may be just the right course for you. Consisting of 8 subjects, you can finish a graduate diploma over 16 months of part-time study.
An advantage of a Graduate Diploma in Analytics is that you can take a deep dive exclusively into the topics that interest you. Skip those subjects from the masters program that you feel carry least value for you.
An "Analytics" program allows you to specialise in data analytics, business analytics or a combination of these overlapping disciplines… READ MORE
Masters in AI Management
A cool late-stage application of data analytics is to produce artificial intelligence or AI. You can learn when and how to generate AI with a Masters in AI Management program.
An AI management program is a technology course with low to moderate technical content. You should have analytics aptitude and be willing to dive into technical content as required. But, ultimately, you're developing an ability to initiate and manage AI projects.
You can study other topics as part of the program, including foundational units on data analysis and machine learning... READ MORE
Masters in Analytics
A masters degree in analytics allows you to develop the breadth of skills required to excel as a data analyst.
Job opportunities in the data analytics field vary greatly in terms of the technical and business skills that are called upon. An online masters course is a great way to extend your capabilities and always be in high demand.
Masters degrees go by different titles, including Master of Analytics, Master of Business Analytics, and Master of Data Analytics. Most programs are 12 subjects long but also allow you to start (and potentially finish) with a 4-subject graduate certificate course… READ MORE
Masters in Business Analytics
A Masters in Business Analytics is a data analysis program that you can expect to be free of the heavy programming you might find in a data science course. As well, there should be plenty of opportunity to learn how to apply data analytics to decision-making in business.
Examples of subjects in a business analytics masters are accounting practice and tools, delivering customer value, machine learning, data processing, and financial analytics.
Demand for business analysts is high across Australian industries, with companies wanting to exploit burgeoning volumes of commercial data… READ MORE
Master of Data Science
An online masters degree in data science is a powerful way to start or boost a career in the boom field of big data. Students gain better foundation training than the majority of current data scientists.
Career opportunities abound for people with the maths and coding talent to generate business value from information assets.
An IT background is highly advantageous for postgraduate courses. Students can do a masters (12+ units), graduate diploma (8 units) or graduate certificate (4 units)… READ MORE
Masters in Marketing Analytics
Marketing is fertile field for data analysis. You can apply data analytics to help find potential customers, quantify the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, adapt your messaging based on customer responses, and so forth.
With marketing being a vital business function, demand is high for marketing analytics professionals. You can develop and demonstrate your ability to interpret data with a Masters in Marketing Analytics.
To specialise in marketing analytics, you study topics such as customer analytics, social media and digital analytics alongside generic data analysis subjects… READ MORE
MBA in Data Analytics
One of the least technical master's degrees in the field is an MBA in Data Analytics. The course develops your management and leadership skills while imparting knowledge for working with data analytics.
Managers need data analysis skills if for no other reason than to better interpret analytics presented to them. But there is also the potential to commission, lead or supervise data analytics projects.
A Data Analytics MBA is highly relevant to many careers in business given the growing significance of analytics in decision making... READ MORE
What You'll Study (Course Structure)
A data analytics course may cover core topics such as data handling, analysis techniques, visualisation and communication. Aside from that, course structure tends to vary depending on whether data science and programming are emphasised or business analytics.
Course duration is 16 subjects (including electives) for a bachelor degree, 12 typically for a masters and 4 for a graduate certificate. Here are example subject lists.
Bachelor of Data Analytics
- Introductory Data Science
- Ethics and Data Management
- Data Analytics
- Mathematics for Data Science
- Visual Basic and Excel Programming
- Data Handling and Visualisation
- Statistical Inference & Machine Learning
- Advanced Data Analysis
Master of Analytics
- Principles of Programming
- Introductory Data Analysis
- Analytics and Business
- Managing People, Analytics and Change
- Big Data Management
- Data Visualisation and Communication
- Predictive Analytics
- Data and Ethics
Learning Outcomes
You should come away from an analytics course with confidence in your ability to extract meaning and value from data sets. For a longer program, learning outcomes may include the ability to do the following.
- Apply data analysis to inform decision making about strategy, customers and services.
- Assess the potential statistical uses of industry data sets for business intelligence.
- Build predictive models to analyse data and inform business decisions.
- Create effective data visualisation and storytelling using R and Tableau and other tools.
- Demonstrate expertise on Big Data storage, databases, manipulation, and applications.
- Demonstrate technical understanding of tools and methods used in data science.
- Explain how programming can, along with testing and debugging, be used to analyse data.
- Explain machine learning methods and develop strategies for data mining and computing statistics.
- Select and apply analytical methods and tools to data sets, including for qualitative analysis.
Graduates know analytical tools, programming languages, data science techniques, how big data is handled, and how to communicate findings visually.
Career Opportunities
Graduates of data analytics university courses are often employed as data analysts, including junior and senior roles. Related jobs are business analyst, business intelligence analyst and data scientist. Here are job ad summaries to give you a flavour of the career opportunities.
Snippets from jobs ads. Random sample. Positions may be closed.
Analytics Officer – QLD Crime and Corruption
For this role for the CCC, you should demonstrate (a) data analytics knowledge and experience in developing business intelligence services (b) an ability to adapt to new and emerging data analytics concepts, use cases and technology (c) an ability to acquire, cleanse, merge, model and analyse disparate datasets using a range of applications and (d) an ability to create data visualisations and dashboards.
Data Analyst – National Storage
Our Data Analyst is a newly created role based at our corporate office in Brisbane, which has been created as apart of our IT transformation project. Reporting into the GM of Technology, you will be our data custodian for our critical business data, enabling innovative new business intelligence. You will own and drive continuous improvement through process optimisation and technology improvements.
Business Intelligence Analyst – Collabera Australia
Expert-level SQL and/or SAS Skills with a minimum of 6 or more years in the Business Intelligence/Data arena. Certifications in SAS or SQL development will be well regarded. Experience in working with raw data and drawing compelling and actionable insights. Experience in SAS Viya, Tableau, Qlikview or similar will be well regarded.
Graduate Program – Accenture
Successful candidates will: (a) have a passion for change and technology (b) be a student in their final year at university or have graduated within the last two years and (c) have experimented with programming and are keen to learn. It’s a plus if an applicant is (a) a passionate coder or developer with full stack skills (b) confident in multiple coding languages and keen to learn more (c) skilled in data analysis and visualisation and (d) interested in automating and optimising.
EL1 Data Analyst – AIHW
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has an opening for a Data Analyst to lead aspects of its work program and contribute to other analytical activities. You will be responsible for managing the National Aged Care Data Clearinghouse (NACDC) team, which involves providing high quality customised data requests (including extracts for data linkage purposes) to internal and external clients, the continuous improvement of NACDC infrastructure and processes, and high-level stakeholder management.
Data Analyst – Victorian Department of Health
Maintain and develop data sets and undertake reporting and analysis to support the COVID-19 testing and vaccination system. The role is to collate, maintain and analyse data using standard tools (e.g. Excel, PowerBI and SQL) and ensure the delivery of timely, accurate and high-quality data products and reports. High levels of communication, coordination, analytical and technical skills required.
Junior Data Analyst – Strategic Partners
We are looking for data analysts to work in a complex and technically challenging data environment. Junior data analysts will work with experienced staff in a biosecurity risk modelling team to solve data engineering and data science problems. The goal of our work is to derive meaningful insights that support decision-making to minimise adverse impacts of pests and diseases on Australia.
Entry Requirements
While admission standards vary, the typical entry requirements for a data analytics course could be summarised as follows.
- Free online data analysis course: None
- Bachelor of Data Analytics: A sufficient ATAR score, with mathematics subject achievement
- Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics: A bachelor degree or relevant experience
- Master of Data Analytics: A bachelor degree, with solid grades and/or in a relevant discipline.
To do well in a data analytics course, you need strong mathematical aptitude. Some postgraduate programs make this an entry requirement while others don't, instead allowing applicants to use their own judgement about their suitability.
FAQs
Data analytics requires coding but is not as coding-intensive as fields such as data science and computer science. Some aspects of being a data analyst require you to write code. But you can accomplish many of the tasks with moderate programming skills and by learning specific languages and algorithms on-the-job.
Degree courses in data analytics are fairly light on in terms of the amount of coding content.
- A Bachelor of Data Analytics may require little more than learning Visual Basic and Excel programming, which is coding within a spreadsheet platform.
- A Master of Data Analytics may extend into Python (an intuitive program for writing algorithms), SAS (which handles database manipulations), SQL (for database queries) and R (for statistical analysis and presentation).
Graduate jobs for data analysts generally don't require advanced programming skills. Employers expect you to be willing to learn coding as required but there are many other aspects to data analysis work. In preparation to become a data analyst, you should experiment with different programming languages and gain some familiarity with the main ones. But you don't have to be an expert in any given language or platform.
To become a fully qualified data analyst, you can complete a Bachelor of Data Analytics (or similar) in 3 years of full-time study in Australia. If you already have a degree, a Master of Data Analytics is a 1.5 year program. An accelerated master's takes 2 years of part-time study online.
You can measure also program duration by the number of subjects. Full-time on-campus students complete four subjects each semester, or 8 subjects per year. Online students in accelerated programs complete one subject every 2 months.
- Bachelor of Data Analytics: 24 subjects (3 years full-time)
- Graduate Certificate in Data Analytics: 4 subjects (8 months part-time online)
- Graduate Diploma in Data Analytics: 8 subjects (16 months part-time online)
- Master of Data Analytics: 12 subjects (2 years part-time online)
An online university degree such as a bachelor degree or master's degree in Data Analytics provides a well-rounded education. Shorter online postgraduate courses, namely graduate certificates and diplomas, offer foundational or specialised training.
Accelerated online courses are ideal for busy professionals. You can study fully online at times convenient for you. The courses are designed for part-time study, with online students only asked to focus on one subject at a time.
Once you've made a start in your data analytics career, you can do short courses online to develop skills in targeted areas. You can search for short courses by the target subject, such as Tableau, SQL, business intelligence, Python, data analytics for business, tools to interpret data, processing raw data, etc.
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