Master of Health Care Management
PostgraduateMUR-HCM-MAS2026
Become a champion of change in health care
Designed for health care professionals to dive deep into management, quality, and safety. Gain the knowledge you need to become a leader of excellence in health care. Prepare for management opportunities in community, mental health, primary and aged care.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Applications close
- 12 July 2026
- Credit available
- Yes
- Duration
- Approx. 1.5 years full time or part time equivalent
- Total subjects
- 12
- Available loans
- Australian Higher Education Loan Program (HELP)
- CSP available
- Yes
Master of Health Care Management
About this degree
Upon the successful completion of this degree students will be able to:
- Articulate a body of current theoretical and practical knowledge in Health Care Management, Quality, Safety, Leadership, and emerging health priorities and trends
- Critically analyse all available information to inform advanced decision making within current professional, ethical and legal frameworks
- Demonstrate effective communication and research skills to evaluate and apply best available evidence to improve outcomes for all stakeholders
- Apply critical thinking, autonomy and accountability to facilitate effective healthcare teams
- Create respectful and collaborative interdisciplinary relationships to facilitate holistic and culturally safe health care
- Identify complex organisational problems and develop solutions using a systems based approach
- Understand and use performance metrics to direct resources for sustainable service delivery.
This course aims to cultivate excellence in quality, leadership and management in health professionals working in Quality, Safety, Risk and Middle Management roles in acute, community, mental health, primary and aged care public and private sectors. Students will, on completion of the course, have the capacity and capability of applying these skills in a range of management positions and become leaders and champions of change. Innovative and creative elective units are designed to allow different disciplines to focus on their areas of speciality. Recognition of Prior Learning: Up to 12 credit points of advanced standing is available to students who have completed a Level 8 Graduate Certificate or a Bachelors degree with Honours.
Recommended study pattern
- Year 1, Semester 1:
- SHP501
- SHP510
- SHP511
- SHP632
- Year 1, Semester 2:
- NUR603
- SHP602 or NUR500 or NUR504
- SHP541
- NUR605
- Year 2, Semester 1:
- SHP612
- NUR604
- SHP641
- SHP639
- Semester 1 notes:
- SHP632 is a pre-requisite for NUR603 (recommend part time only)
- Semester 2 notes:
- NUR603 is a pre-requisite for NUR604.
- Please contact Dr Melanie Murray (melanie.murray@murdoch.edu.au) if you have queries about the recommended study pattern.
Award requirements
To qualify for the award of Master of Health Care Management students must complete the following eleven (11) core subjects:
- SHP501 Safety and Quality in Health Care
- SHP510 Bioethics and Law for Health Care Leadership
- SHP511 Leadership in Health Care
- SHP541 Health Policy in an Australian Context
- SHP612 Managing in a Health Care Environment
- SHP632 Applied Health Research Methods: From Research to Practice
- SHP639 Financial Management in Health Care
- SHP641 Clinical Governance.
- NUR603 Literature Review for Health Care Research
- NUR604 Proposing Research in Health Care
- NUR605 Managing Innovation and Digital Technologies in Health Care
and one (1) of the following specified elective subjects:
- EDU616 Teaching, Learning and Working in Culturally Diverse Environments
- SHP502 Contemporary Issues in Ageing
- NUR500 Wound Assessment in Practice
- NUR504 Foundational Concepts in Cancer Care
- SHP602 Human Factors for Patient Safety Leadership
Exit points
Graduate Certificate in Health Care Management (comprising of 4 core subjects)
- Year 1, Semester 1:
Degrees are usually made up of core subjects and electives. Some degrees include a choice of majors, so you can focus your studies on a specialisation.
This list is a general overview. Download the full Degree Guide for more information.
Transition arrangements are changes that occur when courses are updated or phased out. This happens regularly as part of continuous improvement. It may affect you if you are currently enrolled in this course, or if you plan to use credit from previous study towards it.
2026 Changes
This program has undergone major structure change effective from Semester 2, 2026.
New Subjects:
- MUR-NUR605 Managing Innovation and Digital Technologies in Health Care (3 cp)
- MUR-NUR603 Literature Review for Health Care Research (3 cp)
- MUR-NUR604 Proposing Research in Health Care (3 cp) (to be introduced in 2027)
Retired Subjects:
- MUR-SHP603 Applied Health Services Project (6 cp) (Last offering: MUR Full Year Y 2026)
- MUR-SHP604 Reflective Practice in Health Management
MUR-SHP602 Human Factors for Patient Safety Leadership (3 cp) was moved from Core to Elective stream.
MUR-SHP641 Clinical Governance (3 cp) was moved from Elective to Core stream unit.
Added MUR-NUR500 Wound Assessment in Practice (3 cp) and MUR-NUR504 Foundational Concepts in Cancer Care (3 cp) as Elective stream options.
All students have been made aware of the course structure changes via the Post Graduate Community LMS site and a sample course plan provided in that post.
The Student Success Team at Murdoch University has been provided copies of the new course plans to facilitate enrolment enquiries made through them.
The Post Graduate Lead in the School of Nursing will contact OUA students via email with the updated FTE course plan so they may arrange their S2 enrolments.
Any student who was due to commence MUR-SHP603 Applied Health Services Project in Semester 2 2026 will be required instead to enrol in MUR-NUR603 Literature Review for Health Care Research (3 credit points) for Semester 2 2026, and then MUR-NUR604 Proposing Research in Health Care (3 credit points) in Semester 1 2027.
All subjects completed by current students in this degree will be counted.
Please contact the following for enquiries or study plan advise:
- Student Success Team at Murdoch University OR
- Academic Chair: Dr Melanie Murray (melanie.murray@murdoch.edu.au)
Open Universities Australia is a not-for-profit organisation. You will not pay any fees for using our services.
Indicative first year fee
$9,353
Indicative total fee $14,030
The amounts shown here are indicative for an Australian citizen studying full-time, which is typically 8 subjects per year.
Fees may vary depending on:
- the subjects you choose
- credit from previous work experience
- your eligibility for government funding loans or subsidies such as HECS-HELP or a Commonwealth supported place.
To learn more, go to Fees or contact a student advisor.
This research-based university in Perth has a strong interdisciplinary focus and a reputation for outstanding teaching and ground-breaking research.
Learn more about Murdoch University
Explore Murdoch University courses
- QS World University Ranking 2026, within Australia:
- 24
- Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2026, within Australia:
- 26
Entry requirements
This is a restricted degree. Subject enrolment is only available to students admitted into this degree.
Completion of a Bachelor degree (AQF Level 7) or equivalent in a health discipline.
Preparation for the degree through previous study or professional experiences will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Equivalent of an Academic IELTS overall score of 6.5 with no band less than 6.5.
Find out if you are eligible and apply at Recognition of Prior Learning.
Study method requirements
Access to adequate library resources and to the Internet is essential for external students.
*** Proof of citizenship is not required for admission; however, it is required for access to Higher Education Loan Programs (HELP). Please upload a scanned copy of your birth certificate or Australian passport or citizenship certificate along with your application.
Career opportunities
Enhanced quality, safety and management skills acquired will position students to meet consumer expectations of the healthcare system and to fulfil industry demand for increased middle management skills, mentoring, supervision and coaching skills in order to enhance the quality of services. Positions such as Accreditation Coordinator, Quality Manager, Quality and Risk Manager are essential within health services, particularly the private and aged care sectors, for their accreditation. Successful completion of this degree will put graduates in a favourable position to fill such roles.
Professional recognition
M1217 Master of Health Care Management is accredited by the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM). The School of Nursing promotes excellence and continual improvement of university training by providing a national university accreditation program. The national university accreditation standards have been developed through broad consultation with employers, industry groups, health managers and universities, to ensure that graduates who complete these programs are competent to perform the core tasks they face in employment.
Australian job snapshots
Data sourced from Australian Jobs 2023.
| Role | Earnings | Employment change |
|---|---|---|
| Health and Welfare Services Managers | Over $120K | Up 56.6% |
| Medical Administrators | Over $120K | Up 0.01% |
| Nurse Managers | Over $120K | Up 19.9% |
| Policy and Planning Managers | Over $120K | Up 53.8% |
| Practice Managers | $75K to $93K | Up 18.7% |
| Primary Health Organisation Managers | N/A^ | N/A^ |
| Tribunal Members | N/A^ | N/A^ |
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