Nationally Recognised · CHC33021

Become A Disability Support Worker

Whether you help someone at home now or want a first job in care, this could be it. You'll learn to care for older people and for people with disability. Study is online and at your own pace, plus hours in a care service.

CHC33021national code
Onlinestudy, any hour of the day
From $57.56a week, zero interest
160 Hoursof placement, minimum
At a Glance

Course Snapshot

Study AreaAged care and disability
National CodeCHC33021
DeliveryOnline, with 160 hours of placement
PlacementMinimum 160 hours
PaceTwelve or eighteen months
PaymentsFrom $57.56 per week
Comes with
  • Nationally recognised, CHC33021
  • Both streams in one course
  • Dementia and palliative units included
  • Start any week, no semesters
Who It’s For

Why Do This Course

Two Doors, One Course

If you can't decide between aged care and disability work, you won't have to. The units cover both, so you'll finish able to apply for either kind of service.

Already Caring For Someone

Maybe you already help someone at home and want that to count for something. You'll put a name and a method to the things you do each day, and a certificate behind them.

Study Around Your Week

The course is online with your units open at any hour, and there are no semester intakes. You'll pick a twelve or eighteen month pace and start whenever you're ready.

Where The Skills Fit

Where These Skills Could Take You

Support work sits in homes, care homes, group houses and day programs. A shift is personal care, meals, getting out and about, and careful notes.

Disability Support Worker

Help someone run their own day, at home or out in the community.

Care Assistant

Support daily routines in a home or a service.

Residential Care Officer

Look after people living in a care home.

Roles where these skills are useful, not promised outcomes. Services set their own hiring rules. Most ask for a police check.

The Course

What You'll Learn

Safe practice first, then the care itself, then your placement hours.

01
Safe And Legal
How the work is done and why.
Communicate and work in health or community services
Follow safe work practices for direct client care
Work legally and ethically
Apply basic principles and practices of infection prevention and control
02
The Care Itself
What a shift is made of.
Provide individualised support
Support independence and wellbeing
Recognise healthy body systems
Facilitate the empowerment of people receiving support
Work with diverse people
03
Disability Support
Helping people run their own lives.
Work effectively in disability support
Contribute to ongoing skills development using a strengths-based approach
Support community participation and social inclusion
04
Aged Care And Harder Days
The parts that ask most of you.
Work effectively in aged care
Provide support to people living with dementia
Deliver care services using a palliative approach
05
Work Placement
Minimum one hundred and sixty hours.
Work Placement Preparation
Work Placement Approval Module
Work Placement
Included

What You’ll Get

In the Course

  • Personal care, showers, dressing, meals
  • Disability, strengths-based support
  • Dementia, a unit of its own
  • Palliative, care at the end of life

As a Student

  • Placement, minimum 160 hours
  • Pace, twelve or eighteen months
  • Assessment, open book and practical
  • Start, any week you like
Why This One

What Makes It Different

Three things that shape this one.

01
Both Streams Together

This one carries the aged care units and the disability units side by side. That means you'll leave with a wider field of services to apply to, instead of picking a lane before you've worked a shift.

02
Dementia And Palliative Care

There's a full unit on supporting people living with dementia, and another on care at the end of life. So the hardest shifts won't be your first time seeing them.

03
Trainers From The Floor

Rebekah, Melissa and Paris have worked aged care, hospitals and disability support between them. So the questions you bring from placement get answered by someone who has stood where you're standing.

The Credentials

What You'll Earn

NATIONALLY RECOGNISED

CHC33021 Certificate III in Individual Support

Studied across ageing and disability

CHC33021

Certificate III in Individual Support, on the national register.

Two Streams

The units are chosen for work with older people and people with disability.

Placement Record

A minimum of one hundred and sixty hours in a service, on your record.

Getting Started

How It Works

Step one

Get In Touch

Say whether aged care, disability or both appeal to you.

Step two

Ask The Questions

An advisor covers units, hours and fees.

Step three

Sort Payments

Upfront, or a weekly plan.

Step four

Start Learning

You'll work through your units online at your own pace.

The Investment

How to Get Started

From $57.56 / week
Pay upfront, or take the weekly plan.
Zero interest on the weekly plan
A set-up fee applies to the plan
A credit check applies to the plan
Plan applicants are eighteen or over
A family member at your address can apply instead
An advisor talks the options through
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Good to Know

Common Questions

Do I need experience to start?

None is needed, and the course starts from the first shift. If you've cared for someone at home already, that will help.

Do I have to do placement?

Yes, a minimum of one hundred and sixty hours, and they sit on top of your weekly study.

Where do I do my placement?

The course guide lists the suitable workplaces for this course, so download it and talk it through with your advisor.

Can I work in both aged care and disability?

That's the point of this stream. The units cover work with older people and work with people living with disability.

Are there exams?

Not one. Open book quizzes, written tasks, videos and practical activities, with some role plays where you'll need a hand from others.

How long does it take?

Twelve or eighteen months, depending on the pace you pick.

Is this nationally recognised?

Yes. CHC33021 Certificate III in Individual Support is on the national register, and the college teaches it with both the ageing and disability units.

When can I start?

Any time you like. There are no semester intakes, so once you've enrolled you can log in and begin the same day.

Delivered By

About the College

Open Colleges delivers this course online, from Australia.

You'll learn from trainers with years of aged care, nursing and disability support experience.

CHC33021Experienced trainersDementia unitStart anytime
The Shift, Yours

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Picture the morning two very different people are glad it's you at the door.

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