Associate Degree in Culinary Management

The Associate Degree in Culinary Management at William Angliss Institute is a two-year qualification that sits between a trade qualification and a full bachelor degree. It is built for people who can already cook, or who want to cook at a professional level while also learning how a kitchen, a restaurant or a food business actually makes money. The course is registered on CRICOS (course code 117778M), so it is available to international students studying in Australia.

You will spend time in production kitchens and in classrooms. Practical cookery units sit alongside management subjects: food and beverage operations, cost control, rostering and labour, purchasing and storage, menu design, and the legal side of running a venue, food safety, responsible service of alcohol, and workplace obligations. Assessment is a mix of practical service, written work, and projects where you cost a menu or plan an event. The qualification is structured as an Australian associate degree: two years full time, usually split into semesters, with each unit carrying a set number of credit points. You need to pass the required units and accumulate the credit points set out in the course structure to graduate. There is no honours year attached to an associate degree, and it is not a research degree.

Work-integrated learning is central to this field, and William Angliss has long-standing relationships with hotels, restaurants, catering companies and event operators across Melbourne and beyond. Placement or industry-based project work lets you apply what you learn in a real commercial kitchen or food business, supervised by people who do the job every day. If you later want to continue studying, an associate degree often gives you credit towards a bachelor degree, how much depends on the receiving institution and the units you have completed, so ask before you enrol.

This course suits someone who wants more than a cookery certificate but is not ready for, or does not need, a three-year bachelor degree. It suits people already working in kitchens who want to move into supervisory or management roles, career changers who want a practical qualification with a business edge, and international students who want an Australian qualification in a field where the country has a strong hospitality industry. English requirements are the standard undergraduate level: IELTS Academic 6.0–6.5 overall is common, with TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic, Cambridge C1 Advanced and the institute's own English programmes accepted as equivalents. The Department of Home Affairs sets a separate English threshold for the Student visa. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register. Check the official course page for current fees, intake dates, unit lists and English entry requirements.

• Chef de partie or sous chef, running a section or the whole kitchen in restaurants, hotels, pubs and clubs.
• Restaurant or venue supervisor, managing service, staff rosters and day-to-day operations.
• Food and beverage manager, overseeing bars, restaurants and functions in hotels, resorts and conference centres.
• Catering coordinator, planning and running food service for events, airlines, hospitals and aged care.
• Kitchen manager, stock control, ordering, food safety compliance and cost management.
• Small business owner or operator, cafés, food trucks, catering businesses and takeaway outlets.

These roles sit across Australia's hospitality sector: hotels and resorts, restaurants, event and catering companies, clubs, aged care and healthcare food service, and tourism operators. Melbourne, where William Angliss is based, has one of the country's largest hospitality and events industries. After graduating, international students may be eligible for the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream, which allows you to stay and work in Australia for a period after your course. While you study, your visa generally lets you work up to 48 hours per fortnight. Always check current visa conditions with the Department of Home Affairs.