Planning
Turn your passion for just and sustainable futures into a meaningful career.
Planners are professionals who help shape our communities to be more sustainable, liveable, and equitable.
In this professionally accredited course, you’ll learn theoretical, technical and communication skills required by planning professionals. You’ll develop a range of essential planning competencies, from the legal to the strategic. These two sides, legal and big picture, combine in a powerful way to enable planners to envision and action more sustainable futures.
There are also many opportunities for hands-on learning and contact with the wider planning community. These happen in class, on professional placements, and in your individual research tasks.
Supported by your teachers, as well as the Planning Institute of Australia’s Young Planners, your course will bridge from a learning environment into workplaces. This helps grow your professional network and actively shape your career path.
Course Options
Master of Planning
2 years min, 5 years max
Hobart, Online* CRICOS 089608K
View course details Master of Planning
Graduate Diploma of Environmental Planning
1 year min, 3 years max
Hobart, Online*
View course details Graduate Diploma of Environmental Planning
Graduate Certificate in Protected Area Planning
0.5 year min, 2 years max
Hobart, Online*
View course details Graduate Certificate in Protected Area Planning
*domestic students only
Build your own industry network with placements and close contact with Tasmania’s planning professionals.
This course is professionally accredited by the Planning Institute of Australia.
Learn in a varied environment, exploring diverse ecosystems within 30 minutes of our campuses.
Study options
Critical Planning: Theory, Process and Applications
Learn to think critically about the philosophical and historical underpinnings of planning as a discipline, as well as the interactions between planning theory, wider social theory and planning practice. You’ll examine different planning methods such as strategic planning, adaptive planning, and community engagement.
Statutory Land Use Planning
Gain insight in the legal basis of planning in Tasmania. You’ll undertake case studies covering natural justice and sustainability (social, economic, and environmental). This unit is a core component of the educational requirements of the Planning Institute of Australia.
Professional Placement
In this unit, you choose a government or private sector organisation with which you negotiate your placement. You’ll work on one or more practical tasks under the supervision of a qualified professional. This will allow you to develop an understanding of organisational structures and functions, administrative processes, and the roles and responsibilities of planners/environmental managers.
Climate Change
In this unit, you will engage with climate governance at different scale; how decisions on climate change are made at global, regional and local levels, and who and what influences these decisions. You will also learn about different economic, political and social perspectives and approaches to addressing climate change, including market-based economics, Green New Deal, degrowth and decolonisation.
Urban Planning and Design
The principles and practices of urban planning and design shape the physical spaces and social lives of our towns and cities. In this unit you will learn the historic and theoretical context of contemporary urban planning, and deepen your knowledge through local and international case studies. Key issues that you will explore include liveability, affordability and built heritage conservation.
Professional Research Methods
This unit focuses on learning research methods to solve real problems. You will come to understand how to design research, define an argument in response to the problems, use scholarly databases, consider ethical issues in data collection, generate field data, analyse and present these data, interpret results, and reflect on all these processes and their application to, for example, policy and professional contexts.
Course breakdown
This degree is made up of course work units, a research component, and a semester long professional placement.
This degree gives you the option to study a variety of planning subjects for you to choose your own career path, from planning and managing for sustainable systems, urban planning and design, to environmental justice, politics and policy.
There is flexibility in the program, particularly for students who already have work experience.
1
Graduate Diploma
100 credits points
- 50 credit points: part A units
- 50 credit points: part B units
2
Master of Planning
200 credits points
- 150 credit points: core units
- 50 credit points: research stream
3
Graduate Certificate
50 credits points
- 50 credit points: core units
Career outcomes
With career paths ranging from town planning to environmental conservation, planners contribute to building a better world for present and future generations.
Working at various scales – from individual neighbourhoods to the macro-level of cities and regions – planners are a vital part of the way we drive the physical, social, and economic development of our communities.
The job market for planners is strong across public and private sectors with high demand by local and state governments, planning consultancies and community organisations in Australia and around the world. Planners are needed now more than ever, from the smallest housing
developments to large project management on major projects.
Completing this course could see you working in the field of urban and regional planning developing plans for housing, transport or infrastructure, in Local government ensuring projects comply with environmental laws and regulations, or opportunities in higher level policy advice and research roles.
* ABS Labour Force Survey, National Skills Commission trend data to May 2019 and projections to 2024.
Policy and Planning Managers
projected job growth to 2024
Urban and Regional Planners
projected job growth to 2024
Planners, Surveyors, Architects and Designers
projected job growth to 2024
Entry information
Entry requirements
Entry requirements vary across courses. You'll find the requirements on our individual course pages. These can be accessed from Course Options, which is located at the top of this page.
We encourage you to apply for the courses you most want to study. If you're not eligible to enter your chosen course right now, our admissions team will work with you to find the best pathway option.
Credit for prior learning
The University of Tasmania aims to provide you with credit for approved prior study or equivalent professional experience which exceeds standard entrance requirements for courses. For more information please visit Recognition of Prior Learning.
English language requirements
For those applicants who are nationals of and currently residing in a country where English is not the official language, evidence of an IELTS or TOEFL test must be provided. For more information, please visit International Future Students.
