Diploma of Hospitality Management

The Diploma of Hospitality Management is a practical qualification for people who want to run the show in hotels, restaurants, events and food service. You learn how the industry actually works: rostering and managing staff, controlling stock and food costs, planning menus, handling customer complaints, and keeping a venue compliant with health, safety and licensing rules. Alongside that you pick up the business side, budgets, marketing, and the reporting a manager has to sign off on.

Australian diplomas are nested qualifications. They usually run across two or three study periods a year (semesters or trimesters), and you complete a set number of units of study, each worth credit points. This one is 1.5 years full time. Because it sits at diploma level on the Australian Qualifications Framework, it can also be a pathway: many students use it to enter a bachelor degree and get credit for the units they have already passed. Check with the institution about how much credit you would receive.

Expect a lot of the learning to happen in a commercial kitchen, a training restaurant or a front-office simulation, plus a work placement where you apply what you have practised under a real supervisor. Assessment is competency based, you have to demonstrate the skill, not just write about it. Graduates often move into a bachelor programme afterwards, or into supervisory roles straight away.

This suits school leavers who know they want hospitality, career changers who have worked in a kitchen or on a bar and want the management ticket, and international students looking for a qualification that is recognised across Australia. If you are an international student, the Student visa lets you work up to 48 hours per fortnight while you study, and after you finish you may be eligible for the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream. Confirm the current requirements on the official page and the CRICOS register before you apply.

• Duty manager or shift supervisor in a hotel, motel or resort
• Restaurant or café manager
• Food and beverage supervisor
• Front office supervisor
• Events or functions coordinator
• Banquet and catering supervisor
• Kitchen manager or head of section in a commercial kitchen
• Venue or club operations supervisor

These roles sit across Australian hospitality: hotels and resorts, pubs and clubs, restaurants and catering companies, event venues, aged care and hospital food services, and tourism operators. Many graduates also go on to further study in hospitality, tourism or business management.