This diploma program mirrors the first year of Griffith University’s Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, providing a solid grounding in criminology and criminal justice and the basic elements of the four disciplines on which it rests – law, political science, psychology and sociology.
You will benefit from the College’s close working relationship with the Queensland Police Service, providing you with guest lectures from active police officers and site visits
"I’m getting to know more about our law system and why and how things work."
Zoe L.,
Diploma of Criminology & Criminal Justice
| QTAC code | Degree code | Program | Campus | Credit granted* |
| 081071 | 1112 | Gold Coast / Mt Gravatt | 80 CP | |
| 081051 | 1625 | Gold Coast / Mt Gravatt / Nathan | 80 CP | |
| N/A | 1607 | Bachelor of Political Science and | Gold Coast/ Mt Gravatt / Nathan | 80 CP |
| Credit eligibility for other programs | ||||
| 081261 | 1619 | Bachelor of Laws (Honours) | Gold Coast / Nathan | 40 CP |
| Progression: Students will progress to their bachelor degree upon completion of their Griffith College diploma with a GPA equivalent to Griffith University’s admission rank requirement for entry to the bachelor program. Contact Griffith College for GPA to rank equivalencies. Diploma students who do not meet the progression requirements for their pathway to Griffith University can apply for a place in their preferred degree via QTAC, and be considered along with other external applicants subject to QTAC admissions requirements and processes. *80 credit points is equivalent to one year of full-time study. Completion of degrees where students obtain less than 80 credit points of advanced standing in the degree, may take additional time. | ||||
| Degree code | Program | Campus | Credit granted* | Min. GPA requirements† |
| 1112 | Gold Coast / Mt Gravatt | 80 CP | 4 | |
| 1625 | Gold Coast / Mt Gravatt / Nathan | 80 CP | 5 | |
| 1607 | Bachelor of Political Science and | Gold Coast / Mt Gravatt / Nathan | 80 CP | 4 |
| Credit eligibility for other programs | ||||
| 1619 | Bachelor of Laws (Honours) | Gold Coast / Nathan | 40 CP | 5 |
| *80 credit points is equivalent to one year of full-time study. Completion of degrees where students obtain less than 80 credit points of advanced standing in the degree, may take additional time. †International students must achieve the required minimum GPA to progress to their chosen Griffith College bachelor degree. | ||||
Students who enter with an IELTS (or equivalent) < 6.0 will be required to undertake the free Language Development Modules as part of their program.
The course offers students a broad introduction to the skills involved in acquiring information and in displaying knowledge to others. It includes the basic knowledge and skills required to successfully participate in an undergraduate degree program and to operate effectively in a professional context.
This course introduces students to criminology and criminal justice. It begins with an examination of the nature of crime, and the ways in which it is defined and explained in contemporary society. A major emphasis of the course is exploring the dimensions of crime, particularly the relationship between crime and social class (corporation and white collar crime), the links between youth and crime and youth and the criminal justice response, the relationship between gender and crime, and the reasons for the huge over-representation of indigenous people in all parts of the criminal justice system in Australia. The course also surveys the ways in which crime and criminal behaviour are "explained" via a review of the contemporary literature in criminology theory. The course concludes with an exploration of the criminal justice system as a response to crime.
This course explains the law and procedural processes which govern the way crimes are investigated, tried and punished in Australia. It begins by considering some general principles of criminal responsibility such as the aims and functions of the criminal law and its sources. The legal principles guiding police investigations are examined, including police powers and responsibilities, the rights of suspects, and the importance of obtaining reliable and admissible evidence. Finally, students learn about the ways cases can progress through the court system, from initial charge to final sentence. The course focuses primarily on the Queensland criminal justice system. Other jurisdictions are examined in passing, and general principles are common to all Australian systems.
This course introduces students to the importance of understanding social problems, such as crime, in social context. It addresses key questions about the society we live in and provides a critical analysis of the ways in which social problems become defined. This includes an exploration of the combination of objective and subjective criteria that vary across societies, among individuals and groups in society, and across historical time periods. In so doing, it will demonstrate that social problems may be seen as socially and historically constructed categories. Students will be introduced to different ways of thinking about social problems and these different perspectives will be applied to a variety of social concerns (for example, illegal drug use, domestic violence, terrorism, environmental pollution). Students will develop skills in understanding and analysing a range of concepts, theories and perspectives on social life. A key objective is to foster a critical and interpretive understanding of the dynamic relationship between the individual and society.
This course provides an introduction to the various domains of expertise of forensic psychologists. It examines the way in which psychologists produce and use psychological theory and research within the criminal justice setting. In particular, the course focuses on the use of psychological assessments in court, issues of criminal responsibility and predicting dangerousness, jury processes and decision making, eyewitness testimony, the use of psychological knowledge in prisons, and the psychology of criminal behaviour.
This course introduces students to the criminal justice process by illustration. Starting with a focus on the key elements of the crime event, students will develop an understanding of serious violent offences through the lens of offenders and victims of violence. Students then learn how the criminal justice system responds to serious violence offences with particular emphasis on lethal violence. Using a case study approach, students first learn how serious violent offences are detected and investigated by the policing arm of the criminal justice system. Students then consider how these offences are processed in the courts, which includes the criminal trial process and sentencing. Finally, students review the various forms of custodial sentencing and correctional settings. Throughout the course students review the ways that criminological theory has informed the various ways that the criminal justice system responds to serious violent offences (e.g., from policing initiatives and responses to sentencing to correctional rehabilitation).
This course introduces key ideas and institutions associated with law and its production in Australia. It examines how law is made by courts and parliaments, and the principal legal and political conventions and processes involved in law making. This knowledge provides a foundation for further study on criminal law and justice systems. This is a core, introductory course in the Criminology and Criminal Justice program. It gives students an overview of the role of law in Australian society, and how it is made, influenced and applied by courts and by governments. These concepts and processes are an essential framework for the criminal justice system and knowledge developed in this course provides a foundation for later studies in criminology and criminal justice, and for employment in the field.
This course is intended as an introduction to research in criminal justice and criminology. Some of the students taking the course will likely enter professions in criminal justice and some may move into more research-oriented professions in criminology. Therefore, emphasis is placed on the research methodologies used in the criminal justice and criminological literature. Students begin by learning the logic of research methodology in the social sciences and then learn how researchers in criminology carry out research projects.