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3007084 | CRICOS: 102203G | Provider: 01241G

Bachelor of Digital Media

In partnership with Southern Cross University

Get the advanced digital media skills required to launch your career in film, television and radio, newspapers and magazines, online media, graphic design, marketing, advertising or public relations.

Apply now
STUDY LOCATIONS Gold Coast
WAYS TO STUDY On campus
NEXT INTAKE Start date: 10 Mar 2025 Duration: 3 years View all intakes
ANNUAL INDICATIVE COST
Domestic
$14,500

Course overview

Advance your skills and career prospects with this specialised course in digital media. You'll graduate with the core communication and marketing skills required for a future in the digital media industries of today.

According to the Australian Government's Job Outlook service, the number of people working as advertising and marketing professionals is growing strongly. This very large occupation is expected to create around 53,000 new job openings over the next five years, ensuring your skills will be in high demand. 

This course will prepare you to tell the stories that matter, while you develop the creative and production skills required to forge a career in today’s fast-paced media environment. You'll develop skills in visual communication and design, digital video production and storytelling, journalism and news writing, and media theory and analysis. 

Successful completion of this course will prepare you to launch your career in digital media in fields such as film, television and radio, newspapers and magazines, online media, graphic design, marketing, advertising and public relations.

What can I do?

  • Advertising Professional
  • Digital Communication Specialist
  • Digital Content Designer
  • Digital Content Producer
  • Marketing Analyst/Coordinator
  • Media Advisor
  • Media Planner/Buyer
  • Media or Communications Adviser
  • Social Media Coordinator

Course outcome:

3007084 Bachelor of Digital Media

State-of-the-art equipment

As a TAFE Queensland student you'll have access to a variety of industry-standard equipment and facilities. Get the skills you need to launch your career with access to the latest technology including high-tech computers, cameras, microphones, sound mixers, and lighting equipment.

Industry skills and experience

Throughout your studies you'll gain access to work experience opportunities and networks of industry professionals across the media and communications spectrum. Our experienced teaching staff are still heavily embedded in the digital media industry, so they know where the industry is headed and what skills employers are looking for. 

What you will study

To be eligible to receive the Bachelor of Digital Media, you must complete the equivalent of 24 units (288 credit points) comprising:

  • 20 core units (240 credit points), and
  • 4 university-wide equivalent elective units (48 credit points).

Please note not all units are offered in each teaching period, and the below study plan is for new students. More Course Structure information is available on the Southern Cross University website.

  • UNIT CODE
  • UNIT NAME

  • UNIT CODE
  • WRIT1003
    Written Communication
    UNIT CODE :
    WRIT1003
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to active practices of reading and writing, different forms of writing and critical reading strategies that will enable them to analyse and critique meanings in the written word. Reading and writing skills are introduced with a particular emphasis on critical thinking and essay writing as forms of academic practice.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Written Communication

  • UNIT CODE
  • MDIA1001
    Media Studies
    UNIT CODE :
    MDIA1001
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to a critical analysis of media practices and uses in everyday life. From social networking to watching telly, from political campaigning to going to the movies; particular consideration is given to how we engage with media, and what impact it has on our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us. Students are encouraged to fashion their assignments around their own media interests and uses, thus making it clear that their studies are not something remote from their daily lives.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Media Studies

  • UNIT CODE
  • MDIA1002
    Visual Communication and Design
    UNIT CODE :
    MDIA1002
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to the principles of visual communication and design through the analysis and production of digital media. Students acquire skills in image capture, creation and manipulation, and in layout and typography, and apply them using industry standard software in response to design briefs.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Visual Communication and Design

  • UNIT CODE
  • CRTV1002
    Create: Innovate: Change
    UNIT CODE :
    CRTV1002
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to six important skills needed for contemporary society: innovative problem solving; creativity; analytic thinking; collaboration; effective communication and ethics (action and accountability). By utilising curiosity and engagement, this unit introduces students to the concepts and practices of creative and innovative thinking through collaboration and problem solving. This unit will unpack the skills and strategies needed, through collaboration and co-design with other students, to solve real-world problems in innovative and creative ways. These methods and fluencies include a range of conceptual approaches, as well as communication strategies, to explore and reconsider the context in which we learn, work and create change.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Create: Innovate: Change

  • UNIT CODE
  • MDIA1004
    Journalism in the Digital Age
    UNIT CODE :
    MDIA1004
    Unit description :
    Through the lens of our engagement in everyday life as digital citizens, students gain a critical understanding of the news media's role in society today and the challenges facing journalists and their audiences in the digital age. Students develop skills in newswriting and production techniques that may be applied broadly across a range of digital news media formats. Practical activities and assessments give students exposure to professional digital journalism workflows.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Journalism in the Digital Age

  • UNIT CODE
  • MDIA2006
    Film Studies
    UNIT CODE :
    MDIA2006
    Unit description :
    Addresses film as a major communication medium in terms of its form, history and its social, cultural, economic and political contexts. By examining the production and reception of film texts in their cultural contexts students are given an understanding of the place of film in everyday life - its passion, politics and pleasures. Films are not just made in Hollywood and so different styles, traditions and aesthetic concerns from around the globe shall be considered.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Film Studies

  • UNIT CODE
  • ARTD1004
    Photography and Digital Imaging
    UNIT CODE :
    ARTD1004
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to digital photographic and imaging techniques, concepts, materials, and processes. Photography and Digital Imaging is designed to develop an approach to digital tools that aligns with contemporary art practices. While this unit provides a practical introduction to the basic digital photography tools and materials there is an emphasis on the creative and experimental potential of these tools and how they are utilised within a broader creative practice.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Photography and Digital Imaging

  • UNIT CODE
  • MDIA1003
    Digital Media Practices
    UNIT CODE :
    MDIA1003
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to the skills and concepts essential to the production of a range of contemporary media forms. The unit emphasises important narrative principles operating across contemporary media forms, and the production processes that are shared by all creative digital forms.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Digital Media Practices

  • UNIT CODE
  • MRKT1001
    Marketing Principles
    UNIT CODE :
    MRKT1001
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to the world of modern marketing - creating and delivering value in both profit and non-profit organisations. Examines strategic marketing planning and analysis within a dynamic environment, buying behaviour, target market selection and marketing mix strategies. Emphasises practical and ethical perspectives. Equips students to build a marketing plan for a sustainable offering.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Marketing Principles

  • UNIT CODE
  • INDG1004
    Aboriginal Cultural Strengths
    UNIT CODE :
    INDG1004
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to the reality that conceptions of culture differ. The Aboriginal conception of a living culture is presented through examples from traditional historic and contemporary events. Practices in Aboriginal cultural strengths and resilience, from spiritual connection to everyday humour, are investigated.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Aboriginal Cultural Strengths

  • UNIT CODE
  • MDIA2004
    Making Radio and Podcasts
    UNIT CODE :
    MDIA2004
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to the skills and concepts essential to the craft of audio storytelling as practiced in the fields of radio and podcasting. Learning activities and assessment emphasise practical skill development including interviewing, program planning, scriptwriting for audio, sound design, audio editing, and program distribution. Students will produce an engaging short audio-based narrative project.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Making Radio and Podcasts

  • UNIT CODE
  • MRKT2004
    Marketing Communications
    UNIT CODE :
    MRKT2004
    Unit description :
    Explores strategies used in marketing communications with an emphasis on branding. Topics cover the nature of today's modern marketing communication tools, including social media and examine their practical implementation for communication strategy decisions. Legal and ethical implications of communication strategies are considered and practical application of the principles form an essential part of assessment and learning activities.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Marketing Communications

  • UNIT CODE
  • COMM2002
    Screenwriting
    UNIT CODE :
    COMM2002
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to the theory and practice of scriptwriting with introduction to the concepts of character, plot, dialogue, and script presentation. By being exposed to and analysing examples of scripts, the student will be able to select appropriate form and content as applied to radio, film, video, television, and multimedia.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Screenwriting

  • UNIT CODE
  • MDIA2002
    Essential Screen Skills
    UNIT CODE :
    MDIA2002
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to the theory and practice of video production: research, scripting, budgeting, directing, producing, camera operating, sound design, editing and presenting. Students will design and shoot a short video in a given genre.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Essential Screen Skills

  • UNIT CODE
  • COMM3004
    Independent Project
    UNIT CODE :
    COMM3004
    Unit description :
    Provides students with an opportunity to pursue in depth a topic of particular interest to them arising from theoretical or practical issues raised in earlier units of the Major being undertaken within their Bachelor degree. A supervisor chosen from their field of study will review progress towards a major project. Research/creative projects will be closely supervised by an interdisciplinary team chosen from the School and can be undertaken independently or as a group activity.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Independent Project

  • UNIT CODE
  • MDIA3001
    Advanced Screen Production
    UNIT CODE :
    MDIA3001
    Unit description :
    Concentrates on the development of advanced filmmaking skills: the aim of the unit is to develop skills, both practical and theoretical, in the pre-production, production, and post-production of audio-visual media. These skills and knowledge will include research, scripting, producing, directing, camera operation, editing, and experimentation with new media techniques and processes, and will use the music video form to focus their application.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Advanced Screen Production

  • UNIT CODE
  • MDIA2005
    Video Journalism
    UNIT CODE :
    MDIA2005
    Unit description :
    Introduces students to contemporary video-based journalism production models and their application on broadcast, online and mobile platforms. This unit critically analyses the forms, styles and features of video-based reporting in the contemporary digital and broadcast news environment. Practical exercises and assessment tasks contribute to the development of students' research, planning and video production skills.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Video Journalism

  • UNIT CODE
  • COMM3002
    Professional Placement
    UNIT CODE :
    COMM3002
    Unit description :
    Students spend 70-100 hours in an appropriate organisation using knowledge and skills acquired in their undergraduate degree. Students undergo workplace supervision thereby gaining an understanding of how their skills and knowledge can be applied in professional environments.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Professional Placement

  • UNIT CODE
  • ARTD3005
    Advanced Digital Imaging
    UNIT CODE :
    ARTD3005
    Unit description :
    Builds on the curriculum of Photography and Digital Imaging, using advanced creative techniques and ideas for camera work, lighting and personal expression. Students are encouraged to use these in a context of their own choosing to complete a finished suite of artworks.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Advanced Digital Imaging

  • UNIT CODE
  • COMM3003
    Media Project
    UNIT CODE :
    COMM3003
    Unit description :
    Students undertake a major media project, individually or in a team, and a critical evaluation of the outcome. The production will be designed for a professional media context, whether as a print, online, radio or audiovisual product. Students will undertake weekly workshops with team members and relevant staff and experts.
  • UNIT NAME
  • Media Project
Ways to study
  • You’ll primarily learn face to face with a teacher in one of our learning spaces such as a classroom or simulated workplace environment. Some of your training may also take place via video or Zoom. Learn more

  • demo View comparison chart
CAMPUS STUDY MODE START DATE DURATION WORKLOAD ANNUAL INDICATIVE COST
Coomera
On campus with some online
10 Mar 2025
3 years
Full time
  • Domestic: $14,500
demo

Coomera

On campus with some online

  • Online Time

    How much of the course will be delivered online. 

    20%
  • On Campus Time
    80%
START DATE

The date the course starts. Apply early as intakes fill up quickly. 

10 Mar 2025

The date the course starts. Apply early as intakes fill up quickly. 

DURATION

The total length of time it takes to complete the course.

3 years

The total length of time it takes to complete the course.

Workload

The average amount of time students will need to allocate to study each week.

Full time

The average amount of time students will need to allocate to study each week.

ANNUAL INDICATIVE COST
  • Domestic: $14,500
Class format

Some courses include classes at scheduled times while others can be completed in your own time.

Teacher-led, Scheduled

Some courses include classes at scheduled times while others can be completed in your own time.

VIRTUAL CLASS

Scheduled online classes using video conferencing software (such as Zoom).

No

Scheduled online classes using video conferencing software (such as Zoom).

ASSESSMENT

The primary location assessments will take place. Some courses also require vocational placement.

Online, On-Campus

The primary location assessments will take place. Some courses also require vocational placement.

TEACHER COMMS

The different ways you can contact your teacher throughout the course.

  • Phone, Email, Face-to-face, Zoom

    The different ways you can contact your teacher throughout the course.

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Bachelor of Digital Media (3007084)

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Bachelor of Digital Media

COURSE CODE: 3007084
Payment Options

How can I pay for this course?

No matter what your circumstances, TAFE Queensland has a payment option to suit you. If you are unsure of what’s right for you, get in touch. We’re here to help. 

Payment plan

If you have difficulty paying for the full cost of a course upfront, you may be eligible for a payment plan.

Learn more
Upfront payment

This may be the full fee for the course, or the student contribution amount if you are eligible for a subsidy or concession.

Learn more
HECS help

HECS-HELP is an Australian Government loan scheme for eligible students studying in a Commonwealth Supported Place, that covers the cost of your tuition fees on your behalf.

Learn more

 

Entry requirements

Selection criteria

Entry into this course is based on an entrance rank. A rank can be achieved by the following means:

  • Year 12 ATAR 60
  • Diploma pathway
  • other Australian qualification
  • work experience
  • overseas qualification

Second year entry requirements for this qualification are:

  • Completion of a relevant Diploma, including:
  • CUA51020 Diploma of Screen and Media - Post-production
  • CUA51020 Diploma of Screen and Media - Animation, Gaming and Visual Effects
  • CUA50720 Diploma of Graphic Design

These qualifications award a full year's credit towards this degree.

For additional information about the admissions criteria for Southern Cross University and for this course, refer to Southern Cross University website.

Resources required

It is recommended that students have access to a reliable internet connection to access the online learning system Blackboard Learn and a computer with up-to-date software, including Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat Reader. This equipment and software is available for students to use at all TAFE Queensland locations.

Recommended text books will be listed under "Prescribed Texts" for each unit

Placement

Professional Placement
This program includes a compulsory 100-hour professional placement that allows you to gain invaluable workplace experience across the media and communications spectrum: at radio or television stations, in newspapers and publishing houses, on film shoots, at film festivals or in graphic design or post-production companies. 

Completing placement is compulsory, and you will be expected to manage family and work commitments in order to complete your shifts. 

Important information

This qualification is delivered in partnership with Southern Cross University. Please see the below links from Southern Cross University for further advice regarding student policies, procedures and any additional course information.

International important information

CRICOS Provider: 01241G
CRICOS Course Code 102203G

 

Assessment methods

Skill and knowledge assessments are an essential step in progressing through your course. You may be assessed in a number of ways while you are studying at TAFE Queensland, including observation, written assessment, questioning, portfolios, work samples, third-party feedback, and through recognition of prior learning. Read more about assessment methods.

How to apply

Direct application

If you're ready to get started, simply hit the Apply Now button on your preferred course information page and get your application underway online. 

Apply through QTAC

You can apply to study this course through the Queensland Tertiary Admission Centre (QTAC). You will need to submit your application on the QTAC website. It will be assessed, and if you are successful you will receive an offer directly through QTAC. You will need to accept your offer from QTAC before enrolling with TAFE Queensland.

Course disclaimer

All information was accurate at time of publication, however TAFE policies, tuition fees and course content is subject to change without notice. Course commencement is dependent on sufficient enrolment numbers. Timetable information is subject to change prior to commencement and/or during the duration of your course.