Domestic and International students
The below placement requirements apply to both Domestic and International students:
If you are not currently employed or volunteering in industry, during your course you will be required to complete vocational placement so you can start practising your new skills in a real-world environment. You’ll be required to work shifts determined by your placement provider, and these can include early mornings or late nights, any day of the week, including public holidays. TAFE Queensland may be able to assist in arranging suitable placements.
Completing placement is compulsory, and you will be expected to manage family and work commitments in order to complete your shifts. You are required to complete 360 hours of placement to satisfy this component of your qualification.
Vocational placement is conducted Monday – Friday between the hours of 6am and 9pm. There is 120 hours placement per semester, starting from semester 2 and continues in semesters 3 and 4. TAFE Queensland will negotiate with hospitals in your local area (where possible) to find a placement position for you.
Please note: due to the high number of students completing placements, you are required to be flexible and may have to travel outside your immediate area to attend placement. It is your responsibility to provide your own transport and be prepared to accommodate residential blocks at an approved regional facility, which may be outside of the Brisbane metro area, including regional Queensland. It is also understood that students may have preferences for specific hospitals and/or periods of times, however there is no guarantee this is possible and is determined by industry availability.
Blue Card
To successfully satisfy all course requirements you will be required to apply for a Blue Card (Working with Children check).
Please note: TAFE Queensland wishes to warn you, as a Blue Card applicant, that it is an offence for a disqualified person to sign a Blue Card application. For further information regarding 'disqualified' persons, please contact Blue Card Services.
If you cannot obtain a Working with Children Check (Blue Card), you will be ineligible to undertake placement and any related assessment, which will affect your course outcome. If you think this might impact you, please speak to the relevant Vocational Placement Coordinator or a Course Teacher for further information.
Criminal History Check
Prior to placement you may need to complete a Criminal History Check (yellow card); this will be confirmed by your course educator.
If your police check identifies that you have a criminal history, you may be disqualified from being eligible to undertake placement and assessment, which would affect your course outcomes. If you think this might impact you, please speak to the relevant Vocational Placement Coordinator for further information.
Vaccination requirements
Vaccinations may be required by the owner or operator of the facility providing your placement.
These requirements will be provided to the student, prior to arrangements being made for the completion of vocational placement.
It is recommended that you undertake screening for vaccination (and meet any costs incurred) against the following Queensland Health Mandatory vaccination requirements:
- Hepatitis A and B
- Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) (persons born during or since 1966 who have only received one dose of the MMR vaccine should have a second dose)
- Chickenpox (if not previously infected)
- Pertussis (whooping cough -an adult booster dose)
- Influenza (annual vaccination)
- COVID-19 Vaccination (strongly recommended)
