6 Best Public Health Courses Online in Australia

Explore the best online courses in public health from Australian universities and pave your way to a rewarding career. Online study is a pathway to jobs in epidemiology, health promotion, public policy, and more.

Learn how to promote community health and contribute to a happier, healthier Australia with the right online course. Whether you're interested in bachelor degrees, graduate certificates, diplomas, or master's degrees, your educational journey can begin right here.

What Public Health Officers Do

The goal of a public health professional is simple: to improve the health and welfare of the community. With the right training, you can lay the foundations to contribute to a happier and healthier Australian population.

The job usually relies on tools such as community education, health regulations, community programs, and advancements in our knowledge base. While professionals in this field rarely handle patients directly, they work in various ways to advance the health interests of people everywhere. The impacts can be profound, as demonstrated in our responses to pandemics.

People launch public health careers through diverse pathways, often transitioning from other sectors within the healthcare industry. Whether you have a science, healthcare or administration background, courses are available to help you develop the skills needed for future roles.

Best Courses in Public Health in Australia

For anyone serious about a career in community health, a university education is essential. Most people begin with a bachelor's degree in another discipline before specialising through postgraduate study.

The clearest path for career advancement is to do a master's degree with a specialisation in your desired sub-field. In-demand specialisations include epidemiology, data analytics, health promotion, environmental health, nursing, and policy development.

However, there are excellent postgraduate options available aside from master's degrees. Graduate certificate and graduate diploma courses are shorter and can better target your specific learning goals. These programs are often integrated into master's programs, enabling successful students to seamlessly continue their studies towards a master's degree.

Related: What Is a Master’s in Public Health?

What You'll Study (Course Structure)

University programs may be general or specialised. For a general course, you'll cover key topics such as epidemiology, research, use of statistics, communicable disease, non-communicable disease, inequality, and health promotion.

A bachelor degree is made up of 24 subjects and takes three years while graduate certificates, graduate diplomas and masters degrees normally consist of 4, 8 and 12 subjects respectively. Most programs are a combination of core subjects and electives. For bachelor and master's degrees especially, electives may be drawn from related disciplines such as health science, management, or data analytics.

If you're a working professional, flexible study options are available. Postgraduate programs are generally designed for students to learn online part-time while working full-time. Students typically complete one subject at a time over a 6-7 week study period. With accelerated study, you can complete six subjects annually as a part-time student.

Related: Healthcare Courses in Australia

Learning Outcomes

University courses offer opportunities to gain foundational, specialised, and advanced learning in public health. Students delve into different issues and examine the available tools to improve community wellness.

Foundational knowledge and skills are typically acquired through bachelor degrees, graduate certificates, and core subjects in a master's degree. These programs provide essential knowledge of the Australian health system, evidence-based practices, major threats posed by communicable and non-communicable diseases, as well as intervention principles and strategies.

For advanced education in a specific area, you can opt for a specialised short course or choose a major within a longer program. You can build expertise in fields such as epidemiology, biostatistics, health economics, and healthcare leadership.

Career Opportunities

If you have a professional skillset already, you may be able to use that as part of your future job. The field is multidisciplinary and attracts people from areas such as healthcare, health management, law, the social sciences, and data analytics.

Job titles for graduates include community health and wellbeing officer, data analyst, epidemiologist, health coordinator, health planning and evaluation officer, health researcher, policy analyst, program manager, health promotion officer, and public health nurse.

Where are professionals employed? According to a University of Melbourne alumni survey, common employers of graduates are non-government organisations (such as global health and disease-specific agencies), government-affiliated organisations such as hospitals and health agencies, governments at multiple levels, universities and research institutes, and health and communications consultancies.