Master of Public Policy

Complete the following eight courses for 96 credit points:

• Introduction to Policy: Concepts, Debates and Practices
• Global Governance
• Social and Political Theory
• Policy Making
• Social Policy
• Research Strategies - Social Sciences
• Policy Design and Implementation
• Policy Making and Indigenous Peoples

Complete the following four courses:

• Policy Impact: Monitoring and Evaluating
• Evidence, Policy and Practice
• Ethics, Values and Public Policy    
• Integrated Policy and Research Project (24 Credit Points)

AND

Select and complete 36 credit points from Option Clusters.

Select and complete 36 credit points from any of the following Option Clusters:

Research

• Master's Minor Thesis 1
• Master's Minor Thesis 2
• Master's Minor Thesis (24 Credit Points)

Public Policy

• Policy Futures
• Policy Communication
• Environmental Policy and Governance

Human Services

• Advanced Advocacy and Social Action
• Conflict Resolution and Mediation
• Discourses of Care, Control and Protection
• Working with Violence and Abuse
• Group and Community Work Strategies

Urban and Regional Planning

• Strategic Planning issues
• Planning for Community Development
• Natural Resource Management
• Statutory Planning
• Indigenous Sovereignty and Contemporary Land Policy
• Social Planning

Environment

• Climate Change Responses
• Sustainable water management
• Ecosystems and Human Impact
• Sustainability, Governance and Social Change

International Development and Global Studies

• Gender in a Global Context
• Disasters and Humanitarian Assistance
• Governance and Democracy in Development
• Humanitarian Intervention in an Age of Crisis
• Human Trafficking

Justice and Legal Studies

• Comparative Criminal Justice Systems
• Criminal Law
• Introduction to Applied Human Rights
• Applied Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples
• Introduction to Criminology

As a graduate of this program, you will be able to:

• Critically analyse the social, political, ethical, institutional, economic and environmental factors that both enable and limit policy change.
• Make use of complex theories, diverse evidence and modes of reasoning, to extend and challenge knowledge and practice in policy and social innovation.
• Demonstrate research literacy in terms of recognising and accounting for the potential and limitations of research findings and their application to policy problems.
• Value ongoing professional development, diverse stakeholder engagement and collaborative relationships in the design and implementation of policy initiatives.
• Use problem-solving skills/methodologies to develop creative responses to contemporary social problems/policy issues.
• Demonstrate well-developed written and oral communication skills and confidently construct, debate and critique policy arguments.
• Independently develop and manage a professional project designed to contribute to policy change or social innovation.

As a graduate, you will be able to make sense of critical issues in society, confidently argue about the nature of policy problems and engage in policy development and implementation practices that contribute to positive policy outcomes.

Graduates often work as policymakers, advisors, managers and advocates.

Graduates are highly employable in human services organisations, community-based agencies, various levels of government and increasingly, in corporate and private enterprises.

Relevant organisations include:

• Federal, state and local government
• Trade unions
• Large community sector organisations (such as the Salvation Army, the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Victorian Council of Social Service)
• Specialist research and policy centres
• Other organisations such as the Council for Homeless Persons and the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria Inc.