Diploma of Business

The Diploma of Business at VIT (Victorian Institute of Technology) is a one-year qualification for people who want a grounding in how organisations run, and a credential they can use to get into the second year of a bachelor degree. It sits at the diploma level of the Australian Qualifications Framework, which is below a bachelor degree and above a certificate IV. Because it is registered on CRICOS under course code 117634E, it is available to international students on a Student visa.

You study the core areas of business administration: how organisations are structured and managed, how money moves through a business, how to read and prepare financial information, how marketing works, how to manage people, and the legal and ethical rules that apply to commercial dealings. Assessment is a mix of assignments, case studies, tests and exams, and you will do group work, the kind you would actually do in an office. The diploma is normally delivered over two semesters, though VIT may also run it across trimesters. Each unit carries credit points, and you need to pass all required units to graduate. Ask VIT directly about the exact unit list, credit point values and whether a capstone unit is included, because these details are set by the institution and can change.

The point of a diploma like this is credit. If you finish it, you can usually apply for credit towards a bachelor degree, often around a year's worth, which means you start in second year rather than first. That pathway is common in Australia and it is worth confirming with VIT and with whichever university you plan to articulate into, because credit is granted unit by unit and not automatically. Some students use the diploma to test whether business study suits them before committing to three years. Others use it to get a qualification quickly and go straight into work.

Who it suits: school leavers who did not get the ATAR they wanted, people returning to study after time away, and international students who want an Australian qualification and a route into a degree. English requirements for international applicants are typically IELTS Academic 6.0–6.5 overall for courses at this level, with TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic and Cambridge C1 Advanced accepted as equivalents. The Department of Home Affairs sets its own separate English threshold for the Student visa, so check both. While studying, a Student visa generally allows 48 hours of work per fortnight, and after completing the diploma you may be eligible for the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream, depending on your circumstances. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register, check there and on VIT's official page for current fees, intake dates and unit details.

• Administration officer or business support officer, keeping an office running: records, correspondence, scheduling, reporting. Hired across government, health, education and private firms.
• Accounts or payroll clerk, processing invoices, reconciling accounts, running payroll. Common in accounting practices, small businesses and shared-services teams.
• Customer service or client services officer, banks, insurers, utilities, telecommunications and local councils.
• Sales support or retail team leader, retail chains, wholesale distributors and business-to-business sales teams.
• Marketing or events assistant, agencies, professional services firms, not-for-profits and membership organisations.
• Operations coordinator, logistics, transport, manufacturing and hospitality groups.
• Pathway to further study, many graduates use the diploma for credit into a bachelor degree in business, commerce, management or a related field, then move into roles such as business analyst, human resources officer, project officer or account manager.