Graduate Certificate of Creative Arts
2025 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2026 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Graduate Certificate of Creative Arts |
| Deakin course code | A559 |
| Course Credit Points | 4 |
| Course version | 1 |
| Faculty | |
| Course Information | For students who commenced from 2015 onwards |
| Campus | Offered at Burwood (Melbourne) |
| Online | No |
| Duration | 0.5 year full-time or part-time equivalent |
| Course Map - enrolment planning tool | This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2026 Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central. |
| CRICOS code | 083983B Burwood (Melbourne), Waterfront (Geelong) |
| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 8 |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Work experience
- Research and research-related study
- Fees and charges
Course overview
Study the Graduate Certificate of Creative Arts to build on skills developed at the undergraduate level and explore contemporary approaches to creativity. Focus on practical skills that prepare you for career growth while collaborating with creatives from diverse disciplines.
Want the skills to unlock new opportunities in your creative industry?
The Graduate Certificate of Creative Arts allows you to hone your creative practice alongside students from our six creative arts disciplines: visual arts, photography, animation and motion capture, visual communication design, dance and theatre. By collaborating with artists from different fields, you will broaden your understanding of creativity while developing transferable skills that employers value, such as imaginative thinking, problem solving and leadership.
On top of your core unit of study, you will strengthen your creative repertoire with three elective units. Your electives can play to your strengths, or help you upskill in an unfamiliar discipline. Some of your elective options include:
- Writing with the Camera
- Documentary Production Practice
- Arts Marketing
- Introduction to Digital Photography
- Design Thinking and Problem Solving.
Electives units provide lots of practical experience, including industry-relevant creative projects that challenge you to apply theoretical frameworks in teams and as an individual. You can also get hands-on in our professional standard facilities, including TV broadcast studios, dance and theatre studios, a professional photographic light studio, visual arts and design studios and dedicated gallery spaces.
While there are many exciting career pathways for graduates, there are also opportunities for further study upon successful completion of the course. If you want to continue building your creative expertise, you can articulate into Deakin’s Master of Creative Arts.
Career opportunities
Graduate with specialist knowledge, transferable creative skills and real-world experience that prepares you for a diverse range of creative roles in areas such as:
- entrepreneurship and management in the creative arts
- design
- video, sound and multimedia production
- freelancing as a creator or artist
- art production and curation
- consulting.
Your skills will be sought-after in museums and galleries, all levels of government, boutique art companies and design agencies. You can also explore opportunities in festivals, community events and curatorial projects typically funded by government and philanthropic entities.
For more information go to DeakinTALENT.
Participation requirements
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Apply and extend specialist knowledge and technical and creative skills in creative arts practice in one or more disciplines or areas of creative arts including drama, dance, photography, visual arts, animation, and design. |
| Communication | Use specialist creative arts technologies and skills to communicate complex ideas to a range of audiences in academic and non-academic contexts. Harness specialist creative arts technologies, skills, and discourse to communicate complex ideas to a range of audiences in academic and non-academic contexts. |
| Digital literacy | Draw on, analyse, and assess digital technologies to produce, document, present and publish in the creative arts. |
| Critical thinking | Evaluate, interpret, and synthesise complex ideas within creative arts drawing on discourse and practice. |
| Problem solving | Address theoretical and methodological challenges in the creation of work that is discursive and reflective and engages in creative decision-making processes within the relevant field. |
| Self-management | Develop systematic and episodic reflective approaches to creative work practices. |
| Teamwork | Apply advanced interpersonal and communication skills to participate effectively in the critical culture of production, completion, and presentation of creative arts projects. |
| Global citizenship | Establish ethical approaches that interrogate the value of art and performance in diverse communities and cultures and transfer creative practice outcomes into real world contexts. |
Approved at Faculty Board November 2018
Course rules
To complete the Graduate Certificate of Creative Arts you must pass 4 credit points and meet the following course rules to be eligible to graduate:
- DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) to be completed in the first trimester of study
- 4 credit point of course electives.
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.
Course structure
Core units
Compulsory 0-credit point module
To be completed in the first trimester of study:
| DAI001 | Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin |
Electives
Select 4 credit points of course electives from:
| ACA701 | Creative Studio A |
| ACA702 | Creative Studio B |
| ACA711 | Methods and Design for Creative Arts Research (2 credit points) |
| ACF700 | Writing with the Camera |
| ACF705 | Documentary Production Practice |
| ACG708 | Design Strategies |
| ACI700 | Digital Art and Photography |
| ADS720 | Culture, Arts and Sports as Community Development |
| ALC708 | Social Media Content Creation |
| ECP711 | Creativity and the Arts |
| MMK792 | Arts Marketing |
| MMM790 | Arts Management |
Work experience
Elective units may provide the opportunity for Work Integrated Learning experiences.
Course duration
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as failing of units or accessing or completing placements.
Research and research-related study
Independent research components are embedded across a number of units.
Fees and charges
Tuition fees will vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, your study load and/or unit discipline.
Your tuition fees will increase annually at the start of each calendar year. All fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD) and do not include additional costs such as textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment, mandatory checks, travel, consumables and other costs.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.
Further information
Contact Student Central for assistance in course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements. Student Central can also provide information for a wide range of services at Deakin. To help you understand the University vocabulary, please refer to our Enrolment codes and terminology page.