University of Notre Dame Australia
Graduate Diploma of Midwifery
- Delivery: Face to Face
- Study Level: Postgraduate
- Duration: 18 months
- Course Type: Graduate Diploma
Develop the knowledge and clinical capability for woman-centred maternity care through integrated academic study and supervised professional experience in contemporary midwifery settings.
Course overview
The Graduate Diploma of Midwifery from The University of Notre Dame Australia prepares registered nurses for contemporary midwifery practice through a program that combines academic study with professional experience. With a strong emphasis on woman-centred care, the curriculum explores the knowledge, skills and professional responsibilities required for midwifery practice.
Delivered full-time over 1.5 years, the program combines academic learning with supervised professional experience completed through participating in maternity services. Throughout the course, you will explore areas including primary maternity care, complex maternity care, newborn care, professional practice and research, while developing knowledge relevant to contemporary midwifery settings.
Approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), the program enables eligible graduates to apply for registration as a midwife with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
CSP Subsidised Fees Available
This program has a limited quota of Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP). The indicative CSP price is calculated based on first year fees for EFT. The actual fee may vary if there are choices in electives or majors.
Key facts
Broome
Darlinghurst
Fremantle
12th July, 2027
What you will study
To earn the Graduate Diploma of Midwifery, you must successfully complete units totalling 200 credit points, as detailed below. Unless otherwise noted, each course is worth 25 credit points.
Core units
- Midwifery Foundations
- Beginning Midwifery Practice (50 credit points)
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women and Communities
- Midwifery Partnerships
- Complex Midwifery Practice (50 credit points)
- Midwifery Clinical Reasoning
- Advancing Midwifery Practice (50 credit points)
Entry requirements
Academic requirements
To be eligible for admission to this program, applicants must meet the following requirements:
- A bachelor's degree in nursing or the equivalent and registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
- Registered nurses who do not have a level 7 AQF qualification in nursing may be admitted with an alternative mode of entry assessment and recent clinical nursing experience.
Recognition of Prior Learning
You may be eligible for recognition of prior learning if you have previously studied or have relevant work experience. This will help to reduce the number of units that you need to study to finish your course. Contact the university for more information.
Outcomes
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the Graduate Diploma of Midwifery, graduates will be able to:
- Meet the National Competency Standards for the Midwife and gain registration as a midwife with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
- Critically review emerging local, national and global maternity care priorities and apply midwifery evidence-based knowledge to provide holistic and woman-centred care across the childbirth continuum, to pregnant and childbearing women and their families, focusing on continually improving the quality and delivery of care.
- Reflect on knowledge and belief to share practice and foster self-regulated behaviours to implement life-long learning, which will assist in the professional growth and development of self and others.
- Practice as competent professionals and industry-ready graduates who can critically appraise and problem-solve in practical and creative ways, enabling them to practice in diverse midwifery settings.
- Integrate knowledge, humanistic values, clinical skills and reflective thinking to an advanced level of critical analysis to provide safe, culturally congruent, equitable, high-quality midwifery care for women, babies, families and communities.
- Demonstrate ethical responsibility by actively and continually participating in the development of the midwifery profession at the individual, national and global level.
- Provide safe, culturally congruent, equitable and just midwifery care by practising and promoting a culture of reflective and reflexive midwifery care to the individual woman, her supporters and other healthcare team members.
Career outcomes
The Graduate Diploma of Midwifery will enable you to register as a midwife with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.
Fees and CSP
Indicative annual fee in 2026: $4,736 (Commonwealth Supported Place).
Indicative annual fees are based on your first year of study.
A student’s annual fee may vary by:
- The number of units studied.
- Choice of units.
- Credit from previous study or work experience.
- Eligibility for government-funded loans.
Student fees shown are subject to change. Contact the university directly to confirm.
Commonwealth Supported Places
The Australian Government allocates a certain number of CSPs to the universities each year, which are then distributed to students based on merit.
If you're a Commonwealth Supported Student (CSS), you'll only need to pay a portion of your tuition fees. This is known as the student contribution amount – the balance once the government subsidy is applied. This means your costs are much lower.
Limited CSP spaces are offered to students enrolled in selected postgraduate courses.
Your student contribution amount is:
- Calculated per the course you're enrolled in.
- Dependent on the study areas they relate to.
- Reviewed and adjusted each year.
Student fees shown are subject to change. Contact the university directly to confirm.
HECS-HELP loans are available to CSP students to pay the student contribution amount.