Graduate Certificate of Systems Thinking
2026 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2026 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Graduate Certificate of Systems Thinking |
| Course Credit Points | 4 |
| Deakin course code | H516 |
| Course version | 1 |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health |
| Campus | This course is only offered Online |
| Duration | Up to 1 year of part-time study. The course is only available to students on a part-time basis. |
| Course Map - enrolment planning tool | This course map is for 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. |
| 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
- Indicative student workload
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Fees and charges
Course overview
The Graduate Certificate of Systems Thinking is designed for professionals who want to build the confidence and capability to tackle some of the most pressing health and social challenges of our time. This course equips you with practical tools to understand, analyse and respond to complexity in health and social systems.
You’ll gain hands-on experience in group model building (GMB), a high-impact facilitation technique that brings stakeholders together to create shared understanding and co-design action. Through this process, you’ll learn how to clarify root causes, anticipate unintended consequences and foster collective ownership of solutions. You’ll also explore causal mapping and simulation modelling, using STICKE (Systems Thinking in Community Knowledge Exchange), Deakin’s custom-built digital platform now used by teams and organisations worldwide and Stella Architect.
Are you ready to strengthen your influence, drive systems change and create better outcomes for people and communities?
In this one-year part-time course, you’ll undertake four core units delivered online via Deakin’s premium interactive learning platform, designed to fit around your professional and personal commitments. You’ll also attend a four-day in-person intensive where you’ll practise facilitation techniques and apply systems thinking in a collaborative, real-world environment. This intensive is a cornerstone of the course, giving you the rare opportunity to work side-by-side with expert facilitators and peers from across the sector. Through real-time mapping, reflection and co-design activities, you’ll put theory into action and build the confidence to lead systems change in your own context.
You’ll be introduced to the foundations of systems thinking with a strong focus on system dynamics. Through case studies in areas such as mental health, climate adaptation, food systems, family violence and social inclusion, you’ll learn to map the system structures and relationships that shape complex challenges and identify opportunities for high-impact interventions.
Key techniques such as causal loop diagrams, behaviour over time graphs and simulation modelling will help you visualise complexity, identify leverage points and anticipate unintended consequences. You’ll develop confidence using digital tools like STICKE and learn how to critically engage with technology as part of your systems practice.
Community leadership will be explored as essential elements of systems change. You’ll learn to design and lead participatory workshops that centre community knowledge, build trust and motivate collective action, applying contemporary tools and techniques grounded in equity, inclusion and empowerment.
You’ll also examine how political, cultural and economic forces shape health and social systems around the world. In the unit Comparative Health Systems, you’ll critically analyse a diverse range of systems, including comparing Australia's approaches to health with approaches from the UK, the US, Asia, Africa, and South America. These global perspectives will strengthen your ability to evaluate system performance, equity and policy design in different contexts.
Throughout the course, you’ll deepen your ability to:
- apply systems thinking to health and social challenges, especially those shaped by social determinants and organisational dynamics
- communicate systemic insights clearly to diverse audiences using narrative, data and visual tools
- collaborate inclusively across disciplines and communities to foster shared understanding and action
- critically assess and apply digital technologies to support ethical, evidence-informed decision-making
- integrate equity, power and context into the design and implementation of system responses.
Graduates of this course leave with more than a theoretical understanding of systems thinking. They gain real-world skills, facilitation experience and a mindset that embraces complexity, values collaboration and drives innovation. Many go on to lead cross-sector initiatives, inform policy, and transform how services and programs are designed and delivered.
Whether you work in policy, community programs, research, health promotion, hospitals or health services, this course will prepare you to lead with clarity, collaborate with purpose and contribute to lasting, systemic impact. With growing demand across government, NGOs, and service providers for professionals who can think systemically, this is the ideal time to build your capability and your influence.
Indicative student workload
As an online student in the Faculty of Health you will be expected to spend 11-13 hours every week studying, interacting online and completing assessment tasks for each unit in your course. You will also be required to attend an on-campus four-day intensive learning experience in Geelong. Refer to the individual unit details in the course structure for more information.
Career opportunities
Deakin’s Graduate Certificate of Systems Thinking equips you with the digital tools, facilitation skills and practical approaches to analyse complexity and drive meaningful improvement in health and social systems. Designed for professionals working in healthcare, policy and community sectors, the course builds your capability to lead change, improve services and collaborate across organisational and disciplinary boundaries.
Apply your systems thinking expertise to:
- strengthen community and human services through deeper engagement and co-designed solutions
- lead innovative health promotion and wellbeing initiatives that address complex challenges
- drive improvement and innovation across hospitals and health services
- shape policy, planning and governance with a systems lens on equity and impact
- lead cross-sector collaboration and partnerships that create lasting change
- support organisational development and change through systems-informed strategy
- build sustainability and climate resilience across environmental and social programs.
This flexible part-time course is designed to complement the expertise you’ve already built, whether through hands-on industry experience or postgraduate study. It strengthens your ability to navigate complexity, lead change and apply systems thinking directly within your current role. For those interested in further study, it can also serve as a stepping stone toward advanced learning or research in health and social systems.
Participation requirements
You will be required to attend in person intensives live across consecutive days and will need to take time off work and other commitments to attend.
Intensive workshops are held on campus for the unit HSH736 Community Consultation and Participation across 4 days at the Geelong Waterfront campus.
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Apply systems thinking to analyse and address complex health and social challenges, with an emphasis on social determinants of health and the dynamics of organisational and community systems. |
| Communication | Using systems thinking as an interdisciplinary tool to navigate complex health and social systems data and communicate with diverse audiences. |
| Digital literacy | Critically evaluate and use digital technologies, including specialised systems thinking software, to locate, analyse, and disseminate information. |
| Critical thinking | Apply systems thinking to critically evaluate, synthesise and provide insights regarding complex information, theories, and data in health and social systems. |
| Problem solving | Identify innovative, evidence-based solutions to complex health and social problems by integrating systems thinking, leveraging diverse perspectives, and critically considering contextual factors such as power, equity, and social determinants. |
| Self-management | Demonstrate autonomy, accountability, and critically reflective self-management by applying systems thinking to adapt to new and complex challenges, balancing professional responsibilities with a commitment to ethical practice and lifelong learning. |
| Teamwork | Work collaboratively and inclusively with individuals and groups from diverse disciplines, backgrounds, and contexts, using systems thinking to foster shared understanding and navigate complexity. |
| Global citizenship | Engage ethically with diverse communities when applying systems thinking to explore multicultural approaches to understanding and addressing complex health and social challenges. |
Course rules
To complete the Graduate Certificate of Systems Thinking, you must pass 4 credit points.
This includes:
- DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in your first study period
- 4 credit points of core units
Most units are equal to one credit point. All students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.
Course structure
Core units
Trimester 1
| DAI001 | Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0 credit points) |
| HSH756 | Introduction to Systems Thinking |
| HSH736 | Community Consultation and Participation |
Trimester 2
| HSH757 | Systems Thinking for Health and Social Transformation |
| HSH769 | Comparative Health Systems |
Course duration
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as failing of units or accessing or completing placements.
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.