The Graduate Diploma of Midwifery program is offered as a postgraduate degree leading to endorsement as a midwife. The program is an integrated educational sequence portraying the health care continuum of the pregnant woman and child including pre-pregnancy, antenatal care, childbirth, parenting, postnatal and specialised care needs of young infants. Within the care continuum with the pregnant woman and child in the context of ‘normality', the primary care giver is the midwife. The midwife works in and across a broad range of settings, from complex settings to community care, and makes a significant contribution to the wider public health agenda. The philosophy and conceptual framework reflect the relationship between midwifery metaparadigms (woman, wellness/health, environment and midwife) and clinical skills in achieving the program's aim and outcomes.

The study program encapsulates the knowledge and skills for the student midwife to meet the requirements of the registering body and is seen to meet state, national and international standards of midwifery practice. Its design is to produce a skilled, caring, knowledgeable and effective midwives who communicate openly and engender trust from a wide range of people and capable of working in any setting.

The breadth, depth and integration of courses within the program provides an educational experience to produce a dual educated professional who is able to meet childbearing women, and their family needs, and become active and competent midwife.

There are 10 courses offered in the Graduate Diploma of Midwifery.  Throughout the program theory content is linked to clinical practice. Each theory course will be introduced at a residential school and the relevant clinical skills and clinical attributes that relate to that learning will be demonstrated and practiced in a simulated environment prior to progressing to that stage of clinical experience.

The progressive nature of clinical experience aims to ensure learning and experience are linked through case management for women throughout their pregnancy and early childrearing experiences. The ongoing student responsibility for cases relates to the clinical experiences that the student rotates through. There will be opportunity for diverse clinical experiences that ensure the student can provide midwifery care through maternity services. These include community based and facility controlled centres and clinics. Preconception through to postpartum and child health and family support services will be involved.

The opportunity to apply theory learning directly to clinical experiences is aimed to promote decision-making and application of learning to each of the student's designated cases in an ongoing manner. The student working under supervision can propose and implement strategies and evaluate these in an immediate and coherent manner.

The clinical component is designed to carry over 54 weeks of the 72 weeks of the Graduate Diploma. The student can fulfil the requirement for Graduate Diploma by working 3 days each week for 54 weeks. Vacation periods are aligned with university closure. Students working the majority of their clinical placement in non complex environments can choose to attend complex experiences in blocks that are mutually convenient to the facility and the student. These students can achieve their continuum of practice in noncomplex facilities to 1000 hours by working 2.5 days.