Career Change Courses - Get New Skills & Training
Short courses and qualifications can help you gain practical skills and experience quickly across a range of industries when thinking about a career change.
Course Finder
Course Finder lets you search for online courses offered by multiple universities, TAFEs as well as private and community colleges across Australia.
The Course Finder website:
- compares over 300 accredited online and distance learning options
- lists courses ranging from accounting to youth work, with many available as short, single unit subjects
- allows you to filter your search by industry, study mode or education provider.
Explore over 400 accredited online courses across Australia at Course Finder.
TAFE NSW
In addition to its regular courses, TAFE NSW has developed a number of free online courses that can generally be completed in just days or weeks. Note that:
- eligibility requirements apply
- there is a limit of 2 free courses per person
- each short course requires various levels of commitment and time to complete.
The free short courses are broadly divided across these categories:
- developing administration skills
- enhancing your digital impact
- increasing health and medical knowledge
- improving leadership performance
- strengthening practical business skills.
Apart from the free short courses, other subsidised training is also offered, including:
Learn more about the full range of online and classroom study at TAFE NSW.
University short courses
Open Universities Australia (OUA) is a partnership between many Australian universities offering a wide range of single subject units of study that do not have entry level requirements.
They cover a range of subjects, including:
- arts and humanities
- business, education and health
- information technology
- law and justice
- science and engineering.
These short course single subjects, many of which can be completed in weeks, also allow you to:
- expand your existing knowledge base
- upskill to boost your chances of getting a new job
- earn credits towards a degree
- consider a possible career change.
Learn more about single-subject study and online short courses at Open Universities Australia.
Community and continuing education colleges
The community and continuing education sector has a unique focus on making learning affordable and accessible. Its wide variety of courses and training can help you:
- improve or expand existing skills
- gain new training in preparation for a career change
- explore a personal interest for individual growth or development.
Classes are often scheduled across multiple weeks and can be held during the day, evening and on weekends.
An increasing number of courses are now being offered online as adult and community education (ACE) providers:
- update courses with a greater mix of digital content
- develop their technical and teaching resources to improve online delivery.
Find your nearest campus or learning centre at Community Colleges Australia.
Open Colleges
Open Colleges is an Australian company providing online and face-to-face training and education services.
Their online courses cover a wide range of workplaces and skills that help students retrain, change or take the next step in their careers.
There are both certificate and diploma level courses plus nationally recognised qualifications offered across:
- health
- business
- trades
- childhood education
- design.
Learn more about retraining and online education options at Open Colleges.
Information technology courses
The Australian Computer Society (ACS) has compiled a list of free online technology courses.
They're offered by Australian and overseas universities as well as teaching academies from across the world.
Courses cover many topics, from digital transformation and coding to 3D game development, and are aimed at all levels of learning.
Some of the participating institutions include: