Overview 2022
Location
Commonwealth Supported and Full Fee Paying places available (check your Letter of Offer for details)
Location
- What is an ATAR
- CRICOS: 098199C
The Master of Public Health will provide you with the tools necessary to make a difference in your community. You’ll learn to be a systems thinker and confidently navigate the research policy- practice interface. You will have the skills to design, implement, and evaluate complex evidence-based policy and practice interventions in local and global contexts.
This course will introduce you to epidemiological monitoring, health promotion, designing interventions to prevent or reduce the burden of disease and disability, health systems planning, management and evidence-based public health practice. The course also covers environmental health, non-communicable disease prevention, communicable disease epidemiology, and health economics.
The Master of Public is equally relevant to those who work within health as well as those wanting to move into the field of public health.
The duration of this course can be reduced with recognition of relevant skills and prior experience. This means you can study this degree in as little as 1.5 years.
Course objectives
In year one of the Master of Public Health, you’ll develop knowledge for a globally recognised qualification by studying topics such as global health systems, public health intervention practice, health research, and systems thinking.
In year two you’ll develop specialised knowledge in the areas of environmental health, noncommunicable disease prevention, communicable disease epidemiology, and health economics. You’ll also have the choice of completing elective coursework units, or undertaking an individual research project supervised by an expert in the field which can be a pathway for entry to a PhD.
In the final year of the Master of Public Health, you’ll be able to choose from an elective coursework or major research project pathway.
Learning outcomes
- Source, Assess, analyse and communicate public health intelligence to inform decision making about public health action
- Design, implement and evaluate interventions and systems to detect, prevent and control communicable and non-communicable diseases among human populations, including in public health emergencies
- Design, implement and evaluate interventions and systems to promote, develop and support physical interventions which ensure a safe and healthy environments
- Design, implement and evaluate health promoting interventions and systems that build capacity in populations to address social, economic, cultural and physical determinants of health.
- Design, implement and evaluate policy, legislation, regulation, governance and/or fiscal measures to promote efficient and equitable gains in population health
- Demonstrate professional conduct and leadership in public health practice, that includes a commitment to reducing health inequity and culturally competent, ethical, collaborative and evidence-based practice that builds capacity for public health action
Career outcomes

"Tasmania faces a combination of health, social, and economic challenges, and the team at the University of Tasmania is invested in – and passionate about – trying to solve these challenges and teaching the next generation of clinicians, policy professionals, and advocates."
Public health graduates play vital roles in ensuring health system resilience and reform in all countries. Graduates find employment in local, state, and national government ministries and health services, non-government health agencies, international health agencies, humanitarian organisations and universities. The many career options include:
- Health policy analyst and advisor roles leading strategy and policy development, monitoring and evaluation and health system reform
- Epidemiologists and health data analysts involved in surveillance and monitoring of infectious and non-communicable conditions and epidemiological reporting the patterns of disease
- Public health expertise within the disciplines of medicine, nursing, midwifery, and allied health
- Program managers designing, implementing, and evaluating health promotion and prevention interventions
- Emergency, disaster, and humanitarian response coordinators
- Public health academics teaching across the public health discipline and leading public health research
Professional Recognition
Our program is professional recognised and has been benchmarked against the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australasia (CAPHIA) standards and the Royal Australian College of Physicians.
Course structure
Year One
Globally, health systems are tasked with responding to contemporary challenges and the related disease burden and health needs of their population. This unit takes a systems approach to examine how health systems are designed, the key components, who pays, and…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
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Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 |
This unit explores the principles, theories and practice of epidemiology. Students are provided with a comprehensive introduction to the collection and interpretation of epidemiological data within the framework of health, health care delivery and human services. The unit content covers…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 |
This unit introduces the scope of public health practice in the 21st century and the social, political and economic context within which public health practitioners operate. The unit combines theoretical and practical material to assist students to understand the social…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 |
Evaluation is a core function of public health and health system leadership. It provides evidence to improve the design, delivery, reach and impact of health interventions in the many different contexts of the health system. This unit developsstudent competencies in…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 |
Systems thinking is an approach to public health that allows us to understand and manage complex problems. The purpose of this unit is to introduce key systems thinking concepts and practical methods to address complexity to improve the health of…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
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Hobart | Semester 2 |
View all details for CAM530 Systems Thinking in Public Health
The aims of this unit are: to introduce fundamental concepts of biostatistics and provide a background in descriptive and analytical methods that are used to estimate association between variables. This unit covers statistical theory, data entry and manipulation methods, data…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
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Hobart | Semester 2 |
This unit provides students with the conceptual, analytical and strategy planning basis for effective public health intervention management and capacity building practice. Intervention management (assessing, building capacity, planning, implementing and evaluating public health interventions) is a core function of public…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 2 |
View all details for CAM633 Public Health Intervention Practice
This unit will equip students with an understanding of the research methods used in health disciplines in order to interpret published research, and design research of their own. The Unit content includes the theoretical underpinning of both qualitative and quantitative…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 |
Year Two
This unit will provide a broad understanding of current environmental health concepts. Students undertaking this course will gain insight into how our health is influenced by our environments and ecology, and the likely impacts of climate change and benefits of…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 |
This unit focuses on the practical development of interventions and strategies to reduce the major risk factors for the major non communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart and lung diseases, cancers and diabetes, including tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 |
View all details for CAM624 Non Communicable Disease Prevention
Communicable Disease Epidemiology will explore communicable diseases of humans from an epidemiological perspective. It will provide an introductory overview of the basic biological knowledge needed to understand the interactions within and between populations of microbes, human and other animals. Students…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
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Hobart | Semester 2 |
View all details for CAM626 Communicable Disease Epidemiology
This unit aims to provide participants with a basic understanding of health economics, its value and limitations. It will familiarise participants with the application of economic theory to health and health care issues, and review and analyse policy and practice…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 |
Elective Coursework Pathway:
This unit provides an introduction to the Healthcare in Remote and Extreme Environments. It starts by considering the characteristics of different types of remote populations and remote medical practice, the understanding of which is vital to providing appropriate health care.…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 2 |
View all details for CAM503 Operational Aspects of Healthcare in Remote and Extreme Environments
This unit provides a framework for understanding the links between knowledge and practice. It is about considering the when, why and, importantly, how of translational research in practice. It is also designed to encourage the development of the capacity of…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
Hobart | Spring school (extended) |
View all details for CAM538 Translational Research and Health Service Innovation
This unit provides health and human service professionals with the opportunity to critically analyse a range of contemporary leadership frameworks and theories. There is a focus on the exploration and practical application of theories and techniques to improve understanding of…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 |
View all details for CAM539 Leadership in Health and Human Services
This broad unit introduces students to the interrelationship between health law and ethics, strategic planning, financial resourcemanagement and health policy development. It aims to help students develop a clear understanding of the dynamics of the healthcare environment and the importance…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
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Hobart | Semester 2 |
View all details for CAM620 Management in Health and Human Services
This unit is concerned with the practice of health-care in extreme environments. It starts with generic considerations before moving on to examine the following extreme environments in detail: cold, high altitude, desert, maritime, underwater, aviation, and space. The challenges of…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 |
View all details for CAM619 Medicine in Extreme Environments
This unit aims to provide a broad understanding of governance, clinical governance and risk management within the field of health and human services covering the relatively recent development and changes that have occurred in these areas. The Unit will also…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 |
Remote and Extreme Environment Health-care practice requires health care providers to have an extended skill set and perform various tasks that are conventionally performed by other health care professionals. This unit provides a framework for learning and assessment in the…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 |
View all details for CAM630 Practical Skills for Remote Health Care
This unit is an intensive, residential course providing practical skills development to support on-line units offered in the Healthcare in Remote and Extreme Environment courses. The unit commences with a focus on basic knowledge and skills in the following domains:…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
Hobart | Spring school (extended) |
This Unit explores the nature of change within the broader environmental and organisational context. It will include exploration of current theories and research around issues relating to leading and managing as well as diffusion of innovation.Strategies for successful implementation of…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 2 |
View all details for CAM722 Leading and Managing Change in Health and Human Services
Explores the changes occurring in the structure and delivery of health services as a result of technologies such as the Internet and telehealth. The unit considers the impact of such technology on consumers, communities, health professionals and health services.…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Launceston | Semester 1 |
Extreme environments are so named due to the unique challenges they pose to human performance. In this online unit you will learn about the factors that characterise an environment as extreme, and how living and/or working in an extreme environment…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 |
View all details for KHB701 Human Behaviour in Extreme Environments
Traditional approaches to food safety assurance are failing to keep up with the modern food industry. In response, and to harmonise international trade in food, food safety management is moving to a "risk-based approach that relies strongly on synthesis of…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 2 |
This unit provides essential background on the different types of surveillance systems used in public health, and the strengths and limitations of the data held within those systems. Students will learn the skills and knowledge required to perform descriptive analyses…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 2 |
This unit provides essential background to professionals working in local, state and national settings for effective outbreak response. Students will learn the skills and knowledge required to respond to communicable disease outbreaks and other public health incidents. This includes: the…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 |
Research Pathway
Major Projects Part A and B are the final part of your Masters degree that provide an opportunity to undertake a substantial piece of original, independent research, building on and focussed on the topic or topics that are of particular…
Credit Points: 12.5
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 |
Major Projects Part A and B are the final part of your Masters degree that provides an opportunity to undertake a substantial piece of original, independent research, building on and focussed on the topic or topics that are of particular…
Credit Points: 25
Location | Study period | Attendance options | Available to | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hobart | Semester 1 | ||||
Hobart | Semester 2 | ||||
Rozelle - Sydney | Semester 2 |
Entry requirements
For Domestic Students
Successful completion of an AQF 7 bachelor degree in health or equivalent.
For International Applicants Only: you are also required to have IELTS 7.0 (no individual band less than 6.5)
For International Students
Admission to most postgraduate coursework courses at the University of Tasmania require qualifications equivalent to an Australian bachelor degree. Applicants must achieve the required grade in their qualifying studies, meet any prerequisite subjects, and meet English language requirements to be eligible for an offer.
English Language Requirements
For students who do not meet the English Language Requirement through citizenship, evidence of an approved English language test completed within the last 2 years must be provided. See the English Language Requirements page for more information.
Course Specific Requirements
Successful completion of an AQF 7 bachelor degree in health or equivalent.
Fees & scholarships
Domestic students
Domestic students enrolled in a full fee paying place are charged the Student Services and Amenities Fee but this fee is incorporated in the fees you pay for each unit you enrol in. Full fee paying domestic students do not have to make any additional SSAF payments.
Detailed tuition fee information for domestic students is available at Scholarships, fees and costs, including additional information in relation to a compulsory Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF).
Domestic students enrolled in certain postgraduate coursework programs may not be eligible for student payments through Youth Allowance and Austudy. Visit the Department of Social Services website to find out more about eligibility for Centrelink support and the list of eligible courses
International students
2022 Total Course Fee (international students): $ 65,018 AUD *.
Course cost based on a rate of $31,950 AUD per standard, full-time year of study (100 credit points).
* Please note that this is an indicative fee only.
International students
International students are charged the Student Services and Amenities Fee but this fee is incorporated in the annual rate. International students do not have to make any additional SSAF payments.
Scholarships
For information on general scholarships available at the University of Tasmania, please visit the scholarships website.
How can we help?
Do you have any questions about choosing a course or applying? Get in touch.
- Domestic
- 1300 363 864
- International
- +61 3 6226 6200
- Course.Info@utas.edu.au
- Online
- Online enquiries