Human resources courses
Help me choose a courseIntroduction to Human resources
Are you detail-oriented, people-centred and curious about how businesses operate?
In human resource management (or ‘HR’) you can use your communication and agile thinking skills to shape positive working cultures. Above all, human resource managers are passionate about people. You’ll be the momentum that keeps businesses moving forward, coordinating, planning and improving things like workplace processes and employee engagement with your eye on the bottom line.
If this is you to a tee, open the door to a new career or build on your existing skills through Open Universities Australia. We’ll help you find and enrol in online courses delivered by leading Australian universities.
Explore human resources courses
Discover human resources courses
Online human resources subjects and short courses
UndergraduateTAS-BMA121
100% online
No ATAR required. Start with a subject.
Starts 22 Jul 2024, 16 Sep 2024
UndergraduateUSA-BUSS3111
100% online
No ATAR required. Start with a subject.
Starts 16 Sep 2024
UndergraduateLTU-MGT3RPM
100% online
No ATAR required. Start with a subject.
Starts 29 Jul 2024
UndergraduateGRF-EHR202
100% online
No ATAR required. Start with a subject.
Starts 04 Nov 2024
Online human resources degrees
UndergraduateGRF-BUS-DEG
Get the professional skills employers are looking for
Learn how organisations work and visualise where you fit in. Get familiar with financial documents, risk, and business comms. This business course gives you a 360-degree view of business strategy. Specialisations include marketing and management.
100% online
3 years full time or part time equivalent
No ATAR required. Start with a subject.
Available majors
- Marketing,
- Human Resource Management,
- Management,
- Innovation and Entrepreneurship,
- Sport Management,
- Logistics and Supply Chain Management
UndergraduateUSQ-HRM-DEG
Get to know the business of people and culture
Study HR online with this accredited business degree. You’ll explore a range of HR topics including workforce design and employment relations. Learn how to recruit, retain, and develop talent in the workplace. Help organisations move forward.
100% online
3 years full time or part time equivalent
UndergraduateUSA-BHR-DEG
People skills to manage people
Core business theory underpins this human resource management specialisation where workready graduates become accredited HR practitioners. Explore current industry practice as you develop classic HR skills to support people and organisations to succeed.
100% online
3 years full time or part time equivalent
UndergraduateUSC-BUS-DEG
A business degree with industry experience
Start with core business topics including accounting, management, and marketing. Then choose your major. Specialisations include HR and small business management. Explore new opportunities. Innovate. Be your own boss or lead a team.
100% online
3 years full time or part time equivalent
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Human resources study FAQs
Human resources (or ‘HR’ as it is commonly known) is an industry that focuses on improving workplace engagement. HR professionals manage people, refine processes, assess businesses for the risk of turnover and aim for constant positive workplace cultures. This field has more recently gone by the terms ‘people and culture’ as well as ‘people experience’ or ‘PX’.
It depends on what—and how—you choose to study.
As a general guide:
- A bachelor degree is equivalent to 3 years of full-time study.
- A graduate certificate is equivalent to 6 months of full-time study.
- A graduate diploma is equivalent to a year of full-time study.
- A masters degree is equivalent to 2 years of full-time study.
That said, if you choose to study online through Open Universities Australia, you can control how long it takes to complete your qualification. You have the flexibility to choose how many subjects you take at once, and scale them up and down as it suits you. While some universities will require you to complete your course in a set time period, other universities have no limit at all.
If you’d like to find out more about this, reach out to us directly and our friendly student advisors can help you out.
Here at Open Universities Australia, we make enrolling online as straightforward as possible. To get started, find the course for you by browsing the options on this page. You can also compare different qualifications using our handy comparison tool, or request help from one of our student advisors.
When you’ve made your choice, click ‘Apply now’ on the relevant course page and follow the prompts to begin your enrolment. We’ll ask you to supply some supporting documentation, including proof of your identity, your tax file number, and a unique student identifier (USI) during this process.
Your university will get in touch with you via email to confirm whether or not your application has been successful.
If you get stuck at any time, reach out to us and we’ll talk you through it.
You can also take a look at our online self-service enrolling instructions.
Before starting an enrolment, it’s important to read the entry requirements for your chosen course to ensure that you’re eligible to apply. If you don’t quite meet the requirements, we may be able to help you find a pathway into your course through open-entry subjects, which anyone can study.
Chat with us to find out more.
There are a lot of reasons to study your course online through us.
- You can enrol without entry requirements
We have a unique open-door policy that makes it possible for everyone to enrol in university study, no matter their academic history. If you don’t meet the entry requirements for a degree, we’ll help you get in through single undergraduate subjects and transition into a qualification from there. - You have total control over how you study
Upskill without committing to a whole degree upfront. Or enrol in a full degree, but take it a subject at a time. We’ll introduce you to flexible study options you didn’t even know about, so you can fit uni around what matters to you. - You’ll graduate with the same qualification as an on-campus student
Once you enrol through us, you’ll study online with the university that provides your degree. This means that when you complete your qualification, you’ll graduate with the same degree as on-campus students. - We’ll help you navigate the university world
Our friendly student advisors will be your guide every step of the enrolment journey. They'll help you compare universities, choose a course, provide documentation and understand your finance options.
- You can enrol without entry requirements
What you'll learn in an HR course
Human resources is a combination of academia, street smarts and learned experiences. A HR course will enable you to become the person businesses need at the helm of their resourcing and employee experience decisions.
Depending on your past experience, you can choose to study HR at either an undergraduate or postgraduate level. An undergraduate degree, like a Bachelor of Business (Human Resource Management), is a fantastic base to get you started, because you will build your business knowledge and people skills from the ground up.
Meanwhile, a postgraduate degree in HR, like a Master of Management (Human Resource Management), is the best route for those with existing skills in the space. You will enhance your understanding of this rapidly changing industry. Of course, what you’ll cover depends on your specialisation and study plans.
In general, you will learn how to:
- make strategic decisions that impact the wider business and employees
- develop training plans that help employees thrive, learn and live out their career goals
- communicate in a way that engages employees and increases productivity.
You can also explore how to:
- develop and measure employment value propositions
- use the process of job design to establish an employee’s roles and responsibilities
- understand the value of employer branding.
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