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Unit Synopsis
This capstone unit aims to facilitate your transition to graduate midwifery practice by consolidating the integrated knowledge, clinical capabilities, and professional values cultivated throughout the program. You will engage in in-depth analysis of the scope and responsibilities of the graduate midwife, with a focus on autonomous decision-making, clinical leadership, advocacy, and ethical accountability within diverse maternity care contexts. Drawing upon contemporary research and theoretical frameworks, you will critically appraise the evidence base underpinning safe, woman-centred, and culturally responsive care. Emphasis will be placed on evaluating midwifery strategies that promote informed decision-making through advanced communication, interprofessional collaboration, and adaptive responsiveness to the individual needs of women and families. The unit interrogates the structural, interpersonal, and emotional dimensions of entering the profession, equipping you to navigate organisational systems, address multifaceted practice challenges, and foster resilience and sustainability. Through reflective inquiry and strategic career planning, you will articulate your professional identity, evaluate pathways for lifelong learning, and position yourself as an emerging leader committed to advancing midwifery practice through innovation and transformative care.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 9 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 1 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-reqs: Midwifery Practice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families Co-reqs: Midwifery Professional Experience 3
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Group Discussion | 30% |
| 2. Presentation | 30% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 40% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Analyse contemporary evidence and professional frameworks to lead advocacy that supports women’s rights and informed decision-making in diverse maternity contexts, demonstrating ethical sensitivity, autonomy, and a commitment to equity and culturally responsive care
- Design and evaluate evidence-informed strategies that promote safe, ethical, and woman-centred care across a diverse range of maternity care settings
- Integrate and synthesise advanced knowledge to critically evaluate the professional identity of the midwife, relevant resilience frameworks, and self-care strategies within multidisciplinary contexts to advocate for sustainable and accountable midwifery practice
- Critically analyse and synthesise strategies to support lifelong professional development and strategic career advancement to innovatively lead and uphold sustainable midwifery practice within dynamic maternity care systems.
Content in this unit incorporates a number of professional requirements, including the following:
The ANMAC Midwife Accreditation Standards (2021)
Standard 3 Program of study
The NMBA Midwife Standards for Practice (2018)
Standard 1: Promotes evidence-based maternal health and wellbeing
Standard 2: Engages in respectful partnerships and professional relationships
Standard 3: Demonstrates the capability and accountability for midwifery practice
Standard 5: Develops plans for midwifery practice
Standard 6: Provides safe and quality midwifery practice
The NMBA Code of Conduct for Midwives (2018)
Principle 1: Legal Compliance
Principle 2: Woman-centred practice
Principle 3: Cultural practice and respectful relationships
Principle 4: Professional behaviour
Principle 7: Health and wellbeing
The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) International Code of Ethics for Midwives (2014)
Midwifery relationships
Practice of midwifery
Professional responsibilities of midwives
Advancement of midwifery knowledge and practice
The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (2021)
Clinical governance
Partnering with consumers
Medication safety
Comprehensive care
Communicating for safety
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Group Discussion | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Presentation | • | • | ||
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Communication | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Research | • | • | • | • |
| 5 - Self-management | • | • | • | • |
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | • | • | • | |
| 7 - Leadership | • | • | • | • |
| 8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | • | • | • | • |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |