Course Overview
The Master of Nutrition and Dietetics is designed to meet workforce needs, equipping you with the knowledge, skills, and attributes required to succeed as a dietitian in regional, rural, or remote Australia. Using the latest evidence, you will be prepared to deliver generalist, relationship-focused dietetic care across the lifespan to individuals, groups, and communities. You will develop the skills to navigate complex health and social systems to provide safe and ethical services across the broad landscape of dietetic practice. You will be supported to develop culturally responsive practice, team communication, clinical reasoning, critical thinking, counselling and behaviour change techniques, as well as digital literacy, leadership, advocacy, and management skills.
The Master of Nutrition and Dietetics course will be open for enrolments from July 2027 and can be completed in two years. To support access and equity, this course can also be completed part-time.
This course is delivered online to enable you to study remotely. For engagement, networking, and to optimise your learning experiences, you will also attend intensive residential schools at the North Rockhampton campus, undertake hands-on learning experiences (completed in Rockhampton or in your home community), and professional placements (completed in regional, rural, and remote settings, with the majority near your home location). Information on residential schools and placements will be available in the Handbook.
This course also offers a Pathway to Doctorate entry, opening doors to advanced research training. The pathway includes completing three research-focused units and placements, as well as achieving a first-author publication in a high-quality peer-reviewed journal.
Please note that CQUniversity is seeking accreditation from Dietitians Australia (DA), and delivery of this course will be subject to accreditation outcomes from DA.
Career Information
Graduates from this course are eligible for registration as Accredited Practising Dietitian with Dietitians Australia.
| Duration | 2 years full-time or 4 years part-time |
|---|---|
| Credit Points that Must be Earned | 96 |
| Number of Units Required | CQUniversity uses the concept of credits to express the amount of study required for a particular course and individual units. The number of units varies between courses. Units in postgraduate courses normally consist of 6 points of credit or multiples thereof (e.g. 12, 18, 24). |
| Expected Hours of Study | One point of credit is equivalent to an expectation of approximately two hours of student work per week in a term. |
| Course Type | Postgraduate Award |
| Qualification (post nominal) | MNutr&Diet |
| AQF Level | Level 9: Masters Degree (Coursework) |
| Course Fees |
Indicative Year - 2023
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Admission Codes
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Domestic Students Tertiary Admission Centre Codes (TAC) Codes |
Not Applicable |
|---|---|
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International Students CRICOS Codes |
Units offered via MIX mode are delivered online and require compulsory attendance of site-specific learning activities such as on-campus residential schools, placements and/or work integrated learning. See Course Features tab for further information. Online units are delivered using online resources only.
Please Click Here for more information.
Domestic Availability
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Term 2 - 2027
International Availability
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Term 2 - 2027
To be eligible for entry into this course, applicants must hold:
A completed Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) equivalent three-year Bachelor's degree in Nutrition, Biomedical Sciences or Health Sciences, with a minimum overall Grade Point Average of 4.5, which has been completed within the last 10 years. The completed degree must demonstrate successful completion of the following:
- At least 8 units (equivalent of 1 year of full-time study of Bioscience (including chemistry, biochemistry, human physiology, and pathophysiology). Units in psychology, social science, and First Nations' knowledges may also be considered; and
- At least 4 units (equivalent of 0.5 years of full-time study) of food and nutrition science units.
Students will be required to complete the Self-Assessment checklist available from the course page.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Admissions Pathway:
Students who identify as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander may choose to enter the course via the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Admissions Pathway.
For an offer through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Admissions Pathway, applicants must:
- complete a Semi-Structured interview, and
- hold a completed Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) equivalent 3-year Bachelor's degree which has been completed within the last 10 years; or
- can demonstrate academic preparedness from prior learning and/or professional experience.
For further information, please refer to the Semi-Structured Interview Panel details on the course page.
If you were not born in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa or the United States of America, you are required to meet the English language proficiency requirements set by the University.
You are required to provide documentation confirming completion of:
- a secondary qualification (Year 11 and 12, or equivalent), or
- a completed Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Certificate IV or Diploma level qualification, or
- a Bachelor level qualification study for a period of at least 2 years fulltime with a minimum overall GPA 4.0.
These qualifications must be completed within Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Ireland, or the United States of America to meet the English language proficiency requirements.
If you do not satisfy any of the above, you will need to undertake an English language proficiency test and achieve the following scores:
- an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic) overall band score of at least 6.0 with a minimum 5.5 in each of the four components (listening, reading, writing and speaking), or
- a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) iBT overall score of at least 75 with no score less than 17 in each of the four components (listening, reading, writing and speaking), or
- a Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) overall score of at least 54 with no less than 46 in each of the four components (listening, reading, writing and speaking), or
- an Occupational English Test with a minimum result of 'B' in each of the four components (listening, reading, writing and speaking).
English test results remain valid for no more than two years between final examination date and the date of commencement of study, and must appear on a single result certificate.
Each application will be assessed individually.
Awards and Accreditation
| Interim Awards | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Exit Awards | CL89 - Graduate Diploma of Nutrition |
| Accreditation |
|
Residential School Requirements
| Compulsory Residential School | The following units have compulsory residential schools: NUTR28002 (3 days) NUTR29012 (2 weeks) |
|---|---|
| Click here to view all Residential Schools | |
Practicum/Work Placement
| NUTR28002 - This unit provides students with the opportunity to participate in a 5 day observational placement in an inter-professional health setting. This placement can be completed as part of a First Nations cadetship. |
| NUTR29012 - This unit provides students with the opportunity to attend 8 x 1/2 days at the CQUniversity Clinic to observe and participate in dietetic consultations. |
| NUTR29011 - This unit provides 30 days of placement in a Public Health setting. |
| NUTR29004 - This unit provides 30 days of placement in a regional healthcare setting where students are managing more complex cases. |
| NUTR29006 - This research placements enables students to contribute to a research or quality improvement project in a work setting across the broad landscape of dietetics. This unit provides 20 days of placement. |
| NUTR29013 - This placement is aligned with the focus of our dietetics course and integrates regional/rural/remote setting placements, providing 50 days of placement. |
| NUTR29009 - This capstone placement unit supports students to transition to the workforce providing opportunities for networking and to showcase their potential to future employers. This unit provides 20 days of placement. |
Predicted Enrolments
| Year | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| First Year | 25 |
| Second year | 30 |
| Third Year | 35 |
Please note that in some instances there may be similarities between course, entry and inherent requirements.
If you experience difficulties meeting these requirements, reasonable adjustments may be made upon contacting accessibility@cqu.edu.au. Adjustment must not compromise the academic integrity of the degree or course chosen at CQUniversity or the legal requirements of field education.
Examples are:
- Demonstrating and being accountable for ethical behaviour in all academic and professional contexts in accordance with Dietitian Australia's Code of Conduct.
- Adhering to privacy and confidentiality requirements when handling sensitive information, including client data.
- Reflecting on ethical dilemmas and issues, and taking responsibility for maintaining awareness of ethical behaviour.
- Operating within one’s own role and responsibilities in the clinical setting.
- Demonstrating honesty and trustworthiness to facilitate safe and competent interactions and professional relationships.
Examples are:
- Reflecting on practice and responding appropriately to constructive feedback.
- Managing own emotions and behaviour effectively when dealing with individuals and /or groups in the academic environment, and clinical or health setting.
- Undertaking reflective practice and seeking personal and professional support and/or assistance when needed.
Examples are:
- Demonstrating competent practice to the standards described by the Dietitians Australia Competency Standards for Dietitians 2021.
- Complying with all relevant policies, procedures, and frameworks applicable to delivery of professional practice in nutrition and dietetics, including those from CQUniversity (e.g. National Police Checks, immunisations, privacy and confidentiality agreements, internship learning agreements, confirmation of insurance notifications and working with Child Check (Blue Card).
- Complying with relevant child protection and safety, health and safety, and anti-discrimination legislation.
- Recognising and responding to any legal compliance issues that arise and bringing them to the attention of the appropriate partners.
Examples are:
- Constructing coherent written communication to an academic and professional standard as appropriate to the circumstances.
- Advocating for the needs of others and facilitating change and empowerment of health in others.
- Actively participating in group discussions e.g. case conferences and information discussions concerning patient or client care.
- Recognising and interpreting non-verbal cues of others.
- Demonstrating sensitivity to individual and cultural differences during all forms of communication; conveying sensitivity, empathy, and respect for others.
Examples are:
- Calculating measurements from data e.g. anthropometric measurements, nutritional requirements, enteral/parenteral feeding regimens and therapeutic prescriptions.
- Interpreting clinical, nutritional and health data to form a nutritional diagnosis and making priority nutritional management decisions.
- Making safe, appropriate, and evidence-based decisions and recommendations in the clinical context.
- Producing accurate, concise, and clear documentation, which meets professional and legal requirements in nutrition and dietetics.
Examples are:
- Communicating respectfully with people of different gender, sexuality and age and from diverse cultural, religious, socio-economic and educational backgrounds.
- Creating and developing rapport with peers, academics and professional staff conducive to effective working relationships.
- Cultural responsiveness, sensitivity and willingness to work with individuals in complex and diverse Australian education settings.
- Assessing patient/client/group reactions to facilitate appropriate nutritional care.
Examples are:
- Using reflection to process and generate action plans to support growth in knowledge and skills learnt during the course of study, including for situations that may be difficult or sensitive.
- Sharing and responding to reflections in a respectful and growth-oriented manner.
- Reflecting on personal values, beliefs, and biases and adjusting your approach to interactions and decision-making accordingly.
- Recognising when a practice issue is outside your scope or expertise and seeking appropriate avenues of support.
- Recognising when your practice may be negatively affected by personal experience and/or reactions and seeking appropriate avenues of support.
Examples are:
- Remaining focussed and providing consistent responses over the course of a professional placement.
- Performing multiple tasks in an assigned period with a level of concentration that ensures a capacity to focus on the activity until it is completed appropriately.
- Attending work-integrated learning in a range of settings and for the required number of hours, within a reasonable period.
Examples are:
- Addressing all partners in a professional and respectful manner.
- Using effective communication skills to report on findings, activities and outcomes.
- Communicating with key policy and decision makers to influence decisions or reverse decisions.
- Advocating for the nutrition and health needs of individuals, groups, organisations or communities as appropriate.
- Demonstrating willingness to learn new technologies and adapt to evolving digital environments.
- Having sufficient technology skills to engage in the digital learning environment, which includes participating in online forums, completing relevant online assessments, preparing documents and presentations, and responding to emails.
- Having sufficient digital literacy skills to engage in the professional environment (e.g., documenting in an electronic health record, conducting telehealth sessions, using food analysis software, using current scientific literature databases).
- Troubleshooting basic technology issues independently and/or identifying appropriate avenues for support.
- Navigating ethical and effective use of artificial intelligence while recognising its limitations, including risks to academic integrity and clinical safety.
You are required to complete Professional Placements during the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics. During placement, you will work with patients/consumers at hospitals, clinics, or within the community. You must satisfy specific pre-placement health and safety checks prior to each placement and must disclose any condition that may put yourselves or the public at significant risk whilst on placement. You need to ensure that all immunisations as per the requirements of the placement provider are completed before you proceed on work placement. Details of the compulsory pre-placement requirements are outlined in the 'CQUniversity Work Integrated Learning Mandatory Check Guide'. Since professional placements commence from Term 1 in the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics course, you will need to address the pre-placement health and safety checks as soon as possible after you have accepted your letter of offer into this course.
You must satisfy specific security requirements prior to each placement, including a criminal history check, a working with children check and an NDIS worker screening clearance. You are required to disclose any condition that may put yourselves or the public, at significant risk whilst on placement. If you have a criminal history check disclosure prior to commencing the course or recorded in the duration of the course you are required to have your fitness for placement assessed. This is done on a case-by-case basis by the University or in conjunction with the placement provider or State Health Department (as appropriate). Where you have a criminal history identified prior to enrolment in the course, you may be required to apply for clearance through the applicable State Health Department to determine fitness for placement prior to enrolment in the course. You may be declared ineligible for placement based on the nature of the criminal history disclosure, the inability to perform required tasks, or if a risk is determined to clients, staff, or other partners.
Prior to placement you will also need to complete worksite preparation modules to ensure you are familiar with worksite codes of conduct and cultural competency frameworks. You must adhere to the privacy, confidentiality, and documentation requirements of each organisation. As a Master of Nutrition and Dietetics student, you will be required to sign a 'Student Placement Declaration and Confidentiality Agreement' before you commence your professional placement program.
During placement, students will be working with patients/consumers at hospitals, clinics, or within the community. Students must satisfy specific pre-placement health and safety checks prior to each placement and must disclose any condition that may put themselves or the public at significant risk whilst on placement. Students are required to ensure that all immunisations as per the requirements of the placement provider are completed before they proceed on work placement. Details of the compulsory pre-placement requirements are outlined in the 'CQUniversity Work Integrated Learning Mandatory Check Guide.' Since professional placements commence from Term 1 in the Master of Nutrition and Dietetics course, student should address the pre-placement health and safety checks as soon as possible after they have accepted their letter of offer into this course.
Students must satisfy specific security requirements prior to each placement, including a criminal history check, a working with children check and an NDIS worker screening clearance. Students must disclose any condition that may put themselves or the public, at significant risk whilst on placement. Students who have a criminal history check disclosure prior to commencing the course or recorded in the duration of the course are required to have their fitness for placement assessed on a case-by-case basis by the University or in conjunction with the placement provider or State Health Department (as appropriate). Where a student has a criminal history check prior to enrolment in the course, the student may be required to apply for clearance through the applicable State Health Department to determine fitness for placement prior to enrolment in the course. A student may be declared ineligible for placement based on the nature of the criminal history disclosure, the inability to perform required tasks, or if the student may be determined a risk to clients, staff, or other partners.
Students will also be required to complete worksite preparation modules to ensure students are familiar with worksite codes of conduct and cultural competency frameworks. Students must adhere to the privacy, confidentiality, and documentation requirements of each organisation. Master of Nutrition and Dietetics students will be required to sign a 'Student Placement Declaration and Confidentiality Agreement' before they commence their professional placement program.
- 1. Communicate effectively with diverse audiences using strengths-based language across multiple modes to build trust, support behaviour change and improve health and nutrition outcomes for individuals, communities and populations.
- 2. Apply ethical principles to interpret, design, conduct and disseminate research to improve nutrition and dietetics outcomes.
- 3. Critically implement the nutrition care process using evidenced based practice, clinical reasoning and a socioecological systems-based approach across the broad landscape of dietetic practice.
- 4. Collaborate inclusively and equitably with key partners to provide relationship-focused services navigating the complexities of health and social systems.
- 5. Strategically engage in professional activities demonstrating effective leadership and management capabilities, and safe, ethical and culturally responsive dietetic practice.
- 6. Synthesise professional standards to effectively apply the five interconnected cultural capabilities described in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework (2016).
| Course Learning Outcomes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Qualifications Framework Descriptors | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1. KNOWLEDGE Have a body of knowledge that includes the understanding of recent developments in a discipline and/or area of professional practice | ||||||
| 2. KNOWLEDGE Have an understanding of research principles and methods applicable to a field of work and/or learning | ||||||
| 3. SKILLS Have cognitive skills to demonstrate mastery of theoretical knowledge and to reflect critically on theory and professional practice or scholarship | ||||||
| 4. SKILLS Have cognitive, technical and creative skills to investigate, analyse and synthesise complex information, problems, concepts and theories and to apply established theories to different bodies of knowledge or practice | ||||||
| 5. SKILLS Have cognitive, technical and creative skills to generate and evaluate complex ideas and concepts at an abstract level | ||||||
| 6. SKILLS Have communication and technical research skills to justify and interpret theoretical propositions, methodologies, conclusions and professional decisions to specialist and non-specialist audiences | ||||||
| 7. SKILLS Have technical and communication skills to design, evaluate, implement, analyse and theorise about developments that contribute to professional practice or scholarship | ||||||
| 8. APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS Be able to use creativity and initiative to new situations in professional practice and/or for further learning | ||||||
| 9. APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS Be able to use high level personal autonomy and accountability | ||||||
| 10 APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS Be able to plan and execute a substantial research-based project, capstone experience and/or piece of scholarship. | ||||||
| APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS Communicate, interact and collaborate with others effectively in culturally or linguistically diverse contexts in a culturally respectful manner | ||||||
- Complete the core structure
| Number of units: 12 | Total credit points: 96 |
|---|
Please note that CQUniversity has obtained Program Qualification status from the Australian Dietetics Council. However, graduates are only eligible to apply for registration status to become Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) from courses with full accreditation from Dietitians Australia. CQUniversity is applying for full accreditation with accreditation documents due on the 1st April 2026.
The Master of Nutrition and Dietetics is offered as a mid-year entry, two years full-time, with part-time options available.
Students can commence the course online and study remotely. However, they must attend the North Rockhampton campus for intensive residential schools. Students will also be required to participate in hands-on learning experiences and professional placements in regional, rural, and remote settings, including hospitals, community organisations, and private practice settings. Where possible, these can be completed close to their home location. Information on residential schools and placements will be available in the Handbook.
This course also offers a Pathway to Doctorate entry, opening doors to advanced research training. The pathway includes completing three research-focused units and placements, as well as achieving a first-author publication in a high-quality peer-reviewed journal.
Students must pick one of the following two units:
| Available units | ||
|---|---|---|
| Students must complete 1 from the following units: | ||
| NUTR29009 | Nutrition and Dietetics Capstone | |
| MEDS21006 | Medical Science Research Project 2 | |