Master of Criminology

2025 Deakin University Handbook

Year	2025 course information
Award granted	Master of Criminology
Deakin course code	A704
Faculty	Faculty of Arts and Education
Online	Yes
Duration	The time and cost could be reduced based on your previous qualifications and professional experience. This means you can fast track the masters degree from 1.5 years down to 1 year duration. See entry requirements below for more information.
Course Map - enrolment planning tool	This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2025. Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central.
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition	The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9

Course sub-headings

Course overview

Studying the Master of Criminology will challenge you to think laterally about emerging discourses in power, harm and justice. You'll develop a deeper understanding of how we can approach criminal behaviour, crime policy and prevention as a society.

Want the skills to deliver justice in a way that makes a difference to both perpetrators and victims?

Deakin's postgraduate criminology courses are designed with input from a variety of industry partners and relevant stakeholders including police, policy and regulatory agencies, so you can be confident that the skills you develop studying Deakin's Master of Criminology will be relevant to your future or existing career.

You'll push the boundaries of the way we currently look at justice and creatively examine three key areas of ongoing and emerging criminological concern: the state, the digital and the environment. Get ready to engage and debate pressing issues of local, national and global concern.

To understand the balance of state and private control, you'll dissect how corporations have become embedded in the development and delivery of security, prevention and other traditionally state-run criminal justice roles.

The cyber world and the rise of robotics, artificial intelligence and new technologies within online and virtual platforms have created immense opportunities for criminal enterprises and challenges for regulatory authorities. You'll critically examine the ways in which digital technologies are shaping offender and victim relationships, while posing challenges for authorities in the fields of detection, prevention and prosecution.

You will explore the importance of security and sustainable development of the natural environment in the context of local, national and global governance and how damage and threats to the natural environment create complex challenges.

You can choose electives to create a degree built for your unique career goals. Some of your elective unit options include:

Environmental Offenders and Victims
Human Rights in World Politics
Governance and Fraud
Computer Networks and Security
The Carceral Society and Prison Futures

While the course is conveniently offered on our premium online learning platform, there are also opportunities to engage in practical learning. During the course, you can utilise Deakin's cutting-edge immersive learning environments to experience lively and engaging content.

Career opportunities

As a graduate, your complex understanding of niche criminological situations will be in high demand by agencies focused on specific areas of the community. If you're already in the workforce, you'll be prepared for senior roles that require advanced knowledge, ensuring you're capable of making well-rounded decisions that will positively impact lives.

If you're passionate about committing to further study, organisations such as the Australian Institute of Criminology seek to promote justice and reduce crime by finding motivated individuals to undertake and communicate evidence-based research to inform policy and practice.

The graduate diploma and graduate certificate components of the Master of Criminology also give you a chance to exit the course early, with a glowing industry-recognised qualification.

As a graduate of the masters, you'll have the in-demand knowledge and real-world experience in crime science and management that industry needs. You can confidently enter the role of a corrections officer, case manager/worker, specialist adviser or criminologist, and explore a variety of areas including:

anti-corruption agencies
correctional facilities and prisons
community services
criminology research
government agencies
intelligence and security services
sociology and youth work
state and federal police

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.

Alternative exits

Graduate Diploma of Criminology (A604)

Course Learning Outcomes

Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes	Course Learning Outcomes
Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities	Engage in independent and self-directed research that leads to the application of advanced and integrated knowledge of criminological studies to review and critically analyse key issues in the definitions, history, causes, harms and prevention of different types of crime and criminal behaviour within Australia and internationally
Communication	Communicate research findings and analyses of criminological theories, concepts and their application to real-world contexts, in a broad range of written, oral and digital formats, to different audiences, including the public and individuals and groups associated with or engaged in criminological activities whilst meeting academic and professional standards
Digital literacy	Employ a broad range of digital technologies to communicate types and forms of crime and appropriate responses to a diverse range of audiences, including the public and individuals and groups associated with or engaged in criminal justice policy and practice
Critical thinking	Exercise independent research skills and critical judgement to organise, synthesise and evaluate complex theoretical approaches to defining and understanding crime and criminal behaviours in a variety of forms and contexts, and critically analyse and make creative recommendations to improve current policies and practices of governments and criminal justice agencies in Australia and overseas intended to prevent and/or respond to crime and criminal behaviour
Problem solving	Critically analyse differing perspectives and approaches to preventing and responding to crime and criminal behaviour in a variety of contexts, nationally and internationally, and employ initiative, creativity and sound judgement to investigate complex problems in a systematic manner as well as generate creative solutions to crime and criminal behaviour that are sensitive to a diversity of contextual factors and the ethical, logical political or cultural dimensions of the problem
Self-management	Critically engage in reflective practice that evidences initiative, autonomy, responsibility, accountability and a continued commitment to self-directed learning, research and skill development personally, academically and professionally in the field of criminological studies
Teamwork	Collaborate productively in teams to research and evaluate explanations for and responses to complex issues in crime and criminal behaviour in a variety of national and international contexts
Global citizenship	Critically analyse and respond to issues in criminological studies, in domestic, regional and international contexts, as a reflective scholar and practitioner, taking into account cultural and socio-economic diversity, social and environmental responsibility and adherence to professional and ethical standards in a variety of contexts

Approved at Faculty Board March 2020

Course rules

To complete the Master of Criminology students must pass 8 or 12 credit points and meet the following course rules to be eligible to graduate: The exact number of credit points you study depends on how much credit you receive as recognition of prior learning (RPL).

DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first study period
2 credit points of core units
6 or 10 credit points of study (depending upon entry point), from the following:
- one pathway option:
  - Minor Thesis - PhD Pathway
  - Research Paper - non-PhD Pathway
  - Professional Experience - non-PhD Pathway
- any remaining credit points can be chosen from the course electives list

Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements. See the enrolment codes and terminology to help make sense of the University’s vocabulary.

Course structure

Core Units

ACR702

Criminological Policy and Policymaking

ACR712

The Practice of Justice

Pathways

Minor Thesis - PhD Pathway

AIX706

Research Design

Plus 2 credit points of research units:

AIX704

Minor Thesis A

AIX705

Minor Thesis B

Plus 3 or 7 credit points (depending upon entry point) chosen from the course electives

Research Paper – non PhD Pathway^

AIX701

Research Paper

Plus 5 or 9 credit points (depending upon entry point) chosen from the course electives

Professional Experience – non PhD Pathway^

APE701

Internship Capstone (2 credit points)

Plus 4 or 8 credit points (depending upon entry point) chosen from the course electives

^ The Research Paper and Professional Experience options are not PhD Pathways.

Course Electives

ACR701

Crime and Innovative Justice

ACR703

Critical Criminological Perspectives

ACR704

Public Criminology and Criminological Knowledge

ACR705

Digital Surveillance, Law Enforcement and Civil Liberties

ACR706

Environmental Crime and Regulation

ACR707

Populism and Policing Futures

ACR709

Global Crime, Prevention and Responses

ACR713

Cybercrime: Victims and Offenders

AIP781

Political Communication: Public Watchdog Or Propaganda Machine?

AIR726

Human Rights in World Politics

AIR732

Terrorism in International Politics

SIT763

Cyber Security Management

APE700

Internship A

APE701

Internship Capstone

AIX706

Research Design

Course duration

Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as failing of units or accessing or completing placements.

Further information

Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.

Contact Student Central

Fees and charges

Fees and charges vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, and their study discipline or your study load.

Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.

Estimate your fees

For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.