Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy
GDBT
The Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy is designed to prepare graduates to deliver evidence-based, ethical, and rights-focused behaviour support across disability, education, community, mental health, and allied health contexts.
Grounded in counselling foundations, neurodiversity-affirming principles, and contemporary positive behaviour support, the course emphasises quality of life, autonomy, and the reduction of distress through skill development, environmental adjustment, and ethically sound practice rather than compliance-based or deficit-oriented approaches.
Students develop advanced capabilities in functional behaviour assessment, formulation, and the design of implementable support strategies informed by behavioural science, ethical and legal frameworks, and stakeholder collaboration. Learning experiences foster professional judgement, communication, and practice leadership applicable across diverse service systems, including regulated funding environments such as the NDIS, while maintaining a broad, transferable foundation for work in human services and progression to further postgraduate study.
Undergraduate (Bachelor) degree in any field.
FEE-HELP is a loan scheme for eligible students to pay their tuition (subject) fees.
Pay your subject fees direct to the institute each semester for each subject in which you are enrolled.
Split Payments. This means you can pay a portion of your subject fees yourself, and the remaining portion using FEE-HELP (if eligible).
Pay via Credit Card or Direct Debit.
Request Course Guide
By submitting this form, you agree to receive marketing emails from AIPC. You can opt out at any time.
Course Recognition
Why study our Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy
Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy provides a flexible and affordable alternative to traditional tertiary education.
Career ready
A specialist graduate course is your chance to step up with advanced knowledge in a focused area of counselling practice. These qualifications give you real-world, immediately applicable expertise to enhance your current role or prepare you for future study — putting you on a clear pathway if you decide to pursue full counselling qualifications later on.
Extremely applicable
Our specialist graduate courses are designed for professionals who want to elevate their impact. You’ll gain powerful knowledge that integrates seamlessly into your career — helping you better support others, deepen client communication, and stand out as a specialist in your field.
Counselling education specialists
We believe you're better off learning from a specialist than a generalist. Many training providers deliver courses across a variety of industries. At AIPC, we prefer to concentrate on counselling and community services education.
Flexible learning
With so many demands on our time it can be difficult to fit study in around other commitments, that's why our Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy has been designed to maximise your learning from home where you can progress through your studies in a full-time or part-time pace.
Career ready
A specialist graduate course is your chance to step up with advanced knowledge in a focused area of counselling practice. These qualifications give you real-world, immediately applicable expertise to enhance your current role or prepare you for future study — putting you on a clear pathway if you decide to pursue full counselling qualifications later on.
Extremely applicable
Our specialist graduate courses are designed for professionals who want to elevate their impact. You’ll gain powerful knowledge that integrates seamlessly into your career — helping you better support others, deepen client communication, and stand out as a specialist in your field.
Counselling education specialists
We believe you're better off learning from a specialist than a generalist. Many training providers deliver courses across a variety of industries. At AIPC, we prefer to concentrate on counselling and community services education.
Flexible learning
With so many demands on our time it can be difficult to fit study in around other commitments, that's why our Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy has been designed to maximise your learning from home where you can progress through your studies in a full-time or part-time pace.
Course Outline
Prerequisite: NIL, EFTSL: 0.125
This unit provides students with the theoretical grounding and fundamental elements of counselling practice through an integration of counselling processes and skills. Students will learn about the importance of the therapeutic alliance and develop discrete micro-counselling skills with an emphasis on relationship development and change facilitation. Students will be supported to explore and reflect on their own values and beliefs and how these may affect the counselling relationship and process.
Prerequisite: NIL, EFTSL: 0.125
This unit discusses the importance of ethical and legal frameworks and the obligations of the counsellor within the therapeutic context. Students will examine confidentiality and other core ethical principles with consideration of culture and identity within an Australian context. Record keeping, note taking and general client management are included to ensure student understanding of these legal and procedural elements.
Prerequisite: GCCORE01, GCCORE02, EFTSL: 0.125
This unit introduces students to the core concepts of neurodivergence and neuro-affirming counselling practices, focusing on communication strategies, sensory processing considerations, and environmental adaptations. Students will explore legal, ethical, and therapeutic perspectives while engaging in reflective practice to deliver client-centred, neuro-affirming care. By the end, they will have a foundational understanding of how to integrate neurodivergent perspectives into therapeutic frameworks.
Prerequisite: GCCORE01, GCCORE02, EFTSL: 0.125
This unit develops capability in behavioural assessment and measurement as a foundation for evidence-informed ethical Positive Behaviour Support practice. Students learn to define behaviour precisely, select appropriate measurement methods, and design practical data systems suited to real-world support environments. The unit emphasises interpreting behavioural data to inform meaningful, person-centred decisions while ensuring consistency, usability, and integrity in practical implementation. By the end, students will be able to integrate behavioural measurement, ethical safeguards, and decision-making processes into a coherent assessment approach that supports accountable, transparent, and person-centred practice.
Prerequisite: BTAM01, EFTSL: 0.125
This unit develops advanced skills in functional behaviour assessment and contextual formulation within rights-based, neuro-affirming Positive Behaviour Support. Students learn to gather and analyse information from multiple sources to develop clear, evidence-informed functional hypotheses and prioritise meaningful support goals. The unit emphasises collaborative engagement with participants, families and teams, alongside clear, respectful communication. Ethical, transparent and culturally responsive practice is embedded throughout to support defensible decision-making in complex contexts.
Prerequisite: BTAM01, EFTSL: 0.125
This unit develops skills in translating assessment and formulation into practical, ethical behaviour support plans. Students learn to design functionally aligned strategies that prioritise skill development, environmental adjustments, and meaningful participation. The unit emphasises collaborative, rights-based practice and prepares students to create feasible plans suited to real-world service contexts. Students also build capability in monitoring and review, using data and feedback to support ongoing person-centred improvement.
Prerequisite: BTSF02, BTSP03, EFTSL: 0.125
This unit prepares students to apply behaviour support practice within complex and regulated environments. Students learn to manage implementation across teams, build workforce capability, strengthen safeguarding responses, and support restrictive practices reduction while maintaining rights-based outcomes. The unit emphasises professional judgement, communication and adapting practice under real-world constraints.
Prerequisite: BTSF02, BTSP03, EFTSL: 0.125
BTAB05 is the capstone unit, where students demonstrate integrated capability across the full behaviour support process. Through an applied portfolio, students evidence skills in assessment, formulation, intervention planning, implementation, and review. The unit emphasises ethical, rights-based decision-making, coherent professional reasoning, and clear stakeholder communication. Positioned as a transition-to-practice experience, it prepares students to produce defensible, practice-ready work aligned with contemporary Positive Behaviour Support standards.
Below are the upcoming intake periods for the Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy.
Trimester | Commences | Census | Residential School | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Term 1, 2026 | 2nd Feb 2026 | 16th Feb 2026 | - | 5th April 2026 |
Term 2, 2026 | 20th April 2026 | 4th May 2026 | - | 21st June 2026 |
Term 3, 2026 | 13th July 2026 | 27th July 2026 | - | 13th Sept 2026 |
Term 4, 2026 | 5th Oct 2026 | 19th Oct 2026 | - | 6th Dec 2026 |
Course | Year | Tuition Fee per unit | Total Course Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy (8 units) | 2026 | $2,990 each | $23,920 |
On your Application Form, you chose one course payment option to pay for your course. You are able to:
Option 1: Pay for your course using FEE-HELP (if you are eligible).
Option 2: Pay for each term of your studies upfront.
Option 3: Pay for a portion of your fees upfront and the remaining portion using FEE-HELP.
If your application is successful and you accept your placement, the investment for each unit is payable via the following methods after accepting your placement:
If you are choosing to pay all or part of your unit fees through FEE-HELP, you will need to return your Request for FEE-HELP Assistance form for the term by the due date indicated in your term enrolment letter. You can find out more about FEE-HELP from the following publication: Fee Help Information – 2026
Payment by credit card, cheque or money order for the term by the due date indicated in your term enrolment letter (usually within two weeks of the term commencing).
If you are paying some of your fees yourself and some through FEE-HELP, then returning your Request for FEEHELP Assistance form and payment of the remaining amount by credit card, cheque or money order by the due date of the term.
If accepted into the course, you nominate your preferred payment method on your Confirmation of Acceptance form to confirm your place in the course. Please note that the unit fees, and any other associated fees, are current only for the units in which you are presently enrolled, and can be reviewed and changed at the Institute’s discretion for future terms.
Subjects where credit is granted
Students are able to apply for credit of previous studies and experience as described in the RPL and Credit Transfer Policy and are not required to pay the unit fee for each unit in which credit is granted.
Additional and Non-Tuition Costs
The following additional and/or non-tuition costs apply:
Current textbook lists are found on the Higher Education Learning Portal which can be accessed upon enrolment. Students are encouraged to submit their online textbook order through Booktopia prior to commencing their studies for the trimester. Students are able to source textbooks from other suppliers if they choose. Students are able to choose from textbooks or e-books, depending on availability, and further information is provided each trimester as to where these can be sourced from.
Students have access to comprehensive online library of texts and resources.
External students borrowing hard copy library resources will need to pay for postage to return the borrowed item/s to the Institute at Locked Bag 15, Fortitude Valley 4006. Please refer to the Australia Post postage calculator for current indicative pricing: http://auspost.com.au/apps/postage-calculator.html.
For students living overseas, please check postage costs with your chosen postal or courier service. Overdue items are charged at $1 per day until the item is returned.
Students are able to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) or Credit Transfer to receive credit for one or more units** of the Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy (up to a maximum of 2 units).
This enhances student progression through the course and provides recognition for students entering the course with relevant prior studies and work experience. Students granted RPL or credit are not disadvantaged in achieving the expected learning outcomes of the course, and the integrity of the qualification must be maintained.
RPL recognises that students, due to relevant life and work experiences, may already possess the requisite skills and knowledge for unit/s in the Bachelor course. Students who have been working within a counselling environment for a number of years are able to apply for recognition of this prior learning or experience. Exemption can be applied for one or more course units** (up to a maximum of 2 units).
Assessing credit from prior experience takes into account the authenticity, currency, quality, relevance, transferability and comparability of the experience to the requirements of the unit for which credit is being applied.
Credit Transfer
Credit Transfer refers to obtaining credit towards another course on the basis of having completed previous study of an equivalent subject or unit. Students who have completed similar units to those included in the Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy are welcome to apply for Credit Transfer. Students who have completed or partially completed another counselling course are particularly encouraged to apply for Credit Transfer.
Credit will not normally be granted for formal study completed more than 10 years prior to application unless there is evidence of continued relevance of this study for the course towards which credit is sought. Credit is granted where there is substantial overlap with the content and/or learning outcomes of the unit for which credit is being applied.
When assessing credit based on prior study, consideration is given to the objectives of the course, methods of delivery and assessment, admission requirements, course durations, the breadth and depth of the course material, practical training requirements, and experience requirements.
**Students can only obtain credit for a total maximum of 2 units inclusive of whether this credit has been obtained via RPL or credit transfer.
Below is a list of policies and procedures that apply to students enrolled in the Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy.
Request a Course Guide
Please complete this form and we will respond within 24 working hours.
By submitting this form, you agree to receive marketing emails from AIPC. You can opt out at any time.
Census Date Guarantee
Cancel before your census date and you won't be charged any fees.
Zero Risk
We understand that sometimes you may find yourself in a situation where you are unable to continue with your studies. If you need to withdraw from a subject, simply follow our formal withdrawal process prior your census date and you will not be charged the subject fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Behaviour therapy helps people change patterns of behaviour that are causing them distress or limiting what they can do. Contemporary practice focuses on improving quality of life and autonomy rather than enforcing compliance. Practitioners work by teaching new skills and adjusting the environment around a person to support sustainable behaviour change. You’ll find behaviour support practitioners working in disability, education, community, mental health and allied health services.
You’ll learn to provide behaviour support that is evidence-based, ethical and centred on a person’s rights. Over eight units, you’ll develop advanced skills in functional behaviour assessment and formulation, then use both to design support strategies people can realistically follow. You’ll draw on behavioural science, work within the relevant legal frameworks and involve everyone around your client in the plan.
You’ll learn to design strategies that improve a person’s quality of life. You’ll explore how teaching new skills and adapting a person’s environment can help reduce distress, build capability and support greater autonomy. You’ll also learn neurodiversity-affirming principles to guide your work. A good strategy also has to be practical, since family members, support workers and other people involved in a client’s day-to-day support may also play an important role in putting strategies into practice.
Functional behavioural assessment is the core skill here. You’ll learn how to work out what a behaviour achieves for a person before you decide how to respond to it. From there, you move into formulation, drawing what you’ve observed into an explanation that guides your support strategy. You’ll make every decision within the relevant ethical and legal frameworks, which is especially important in regulated environments like the NDIS.
The diploma is designed to build specialist behaviour support expertise rather than provide a general counselling qualification. Behavioural support practitioners, disability support coordinators, learning support staff, allied health assistants and case managers all use these skills in the roles they already have. The qualification can help you build skills relevant to more specialised responsibilities within those roles. You’ll also cover leadership, which suits you if you supervise or want to supervise others.
Effective behaviour support often involves collaboration with the people who are part of a client’s everyday life. You’ll learn to design strategies with families, teachers, support workers and allied health colleagues instead of just handing them a finished plan. Professional communication and judgement are a big part of the course so you can establish the right working relationships for your plan to succeed.
You can study the Graduate Diploma in Behaviour Therapy fully online with AIPC from wherever you are in Australia. Full-time students generally complete all eight units in one year, but you can also choose to study part-time so you can continue working.
This graduate diploma could suit you if you already work in disability, education or mental health and want formal training in behaviour support. You’ll need a bachelor's degree in any discipline to apply. The approach you’ll learn centres on a person’s rights, autonomy and quality of life rather than focusing primarily on compliance. Bear in mind that the course develops specialist expertise and doesn’t qualify you to practise as a counsellor.
Related Courses
Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy
The Graduate Diploma of Behaviour Therapy is designed to prepare graduates to deliver evidence-based, ethical, and rights-focused behaviour support across disability, education, community, mental health, and allied health contexts.
Graduate Diploma in Neuro-affirming Practice
Meet the growing demand for professionals who can truly support neurodivergent individuals. AIPC's Graduate Diploma in Neuro-affirming Practice builds advanced knowledge and practical skills to support neurodiverse clients within a counselling framework, grounded in ethical best practice and tailored communication strategies, while recognising neurodiversity, including autism, ADHD and dyslexia, as a natural part of human variation.
Graduate Diploma in Rehabilitation Counselling
With 4.4 million Australians living with a disability and rising demand driven by the NDIS, rehabilitation counsellors are needed now more than ever. AIPC's Graduate Diploma of Rehabilitation Counselling equips you with the knowledge, skills and ethical foundations to support clients through injury, illness and disability, promoting their wellbeing, independence and social reintegration.