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ACM30117
Certificate III in Animal Studies
General Animal Care
ACM30117
Learn How to Care for Companion Animals!
Nationally Recognised Training
This certificate is delivered in conjunction with UQ Skills RTO: 1511.
Get the right skills to care for companion animals in shelters, pet shops, boarding facilities or at home.
Kick start your career in animal care – this course gives you the perfect foundation for success. Our ACM30117 Certificate III in Animal Studies (General Animal Care) is available as direct entry, or after completing a Certificate II in Animal Studies. Learn how to care for animals housed in various facilities, including preventative healthcare, general husbandry, infection control and nutrition.
This course gives you great skills for building your animal care career or working in a wide range of animal care facilities.
To get the practical skills required for completing this course successfully, you’ll need to allow time for a minimum of 30 days of work experience at an animal shelter, boarding facility, or other approved animal care facility.
The best thing? You can study when it suits you. Our distance education courses are delivered via our online Learning Centre in a self-paced format, with printed learner’s guides and access to our experienced Animal Care Educators to support your learning.
- Access to both our online ‘Learning Centre’ and printed learner’s guides, means you can fit study around your life, and work.
- Gain practical skills through placement in an animal care workplace close to you, no need to attend campus.
Get the Brochure
Complete this quick form and we’ll send you the brochure
along with some info to help you decide if this course is for you.
Please note:
Due to Christmas Holidays there will be no intakes in December.
The next intake will start on January 13, 2020. If you want to start your studies in January, make sure we receive your application by November 30.
What Will I Study in the
ACM30117 Certificate III in Animal Studies?
Please note: You can get credit for some subjects if you’ve already completed a Certificate II in Animal Studies. Talk to us for more information, as this will vary from student to student.
Complete the following core subjects:
Animal Restraint & Transport
Handling Animals is a entire subject devoted to the correct handling and restraint of the animals in our care. Although a large focus is on dogs and cats – rabbits, guinea pigs and birds are also covered. Providing safe and low stress animal handling is a vital skill for any animal care worker. Students will also learn the basics of reading animal body language.
Working Safely in Animal Care
Health and safety are vital aspects of working in any animal care workplace. We’ll introduce you to Work Health and Safety legislation and how it applies to employees, and teach you the basics of risk management and controls. We’ll also show you how to deal with sharps, allergies, noise, dangerous chemicals and drugs, emergencies, biological hazards and zoonoses. Then we’ll finish off with a closer look at animal hazards and manual handling when it comes to animal care workplaces and how you can minimise injury.
Animal Care & Husbandry
Part of any job in the animal care industry is monitoring the animals under your care for signs of ill health. It ensures animals get veterinary treatment quickly, and that any potentially infectious diseases are halted before they spread to other animals close by. You’ll learn how to monitor animal health and provide animal husbandry requirements to promote healthy animals.
Infection Control in Animal Care
This is a vital element in animal care facility – you’ll learn how to set up and use an isolation facility, how to handle potentially infectious animals, how to assemble and maintain an Infectious Disease Control Kit, plus notifiable diseases and procedures for notifying government departments of infection.
Sustainable Work Practices
This short subject aims to increase awareness sustainable work practices and is a government requirement. It takes a look at the resources you’re likely to use each day and how to minimise the impact on our environment. You’ll take a practical ‘audit’ of a workplace to see what resources are used and how to implement measures that reduce waste.
Communications
This short subject will equip you with vital workplace communication skills so you can talk ‘shop’ with your colleagues, then switch to client friendly terms. It also helps ensure you can communicate your point clearly as clear communication is vital for great team work.
Nutrition & Feeding Plans
Animals need correct nutrition for optimal health, so we’ll teach you the basics on nutrition and animal digestive systems. You’ll be able to advise owners on how to keep their pets in tip top shape and select appropriate foods for those animals you care for. After completing this subject you’ll understand exactly what makes up a nutritious diet, how to feed for particular life stages, how to read pet labels, the diseases that are influenced by nutrition, and how to calculate how much food to feed.
Hydrobath and Groom Animals
Many animal care facilities have hydrobathing facilities, either because they offer grooming services, or they use for the animals under their care. This subject will take you through what a hydrobath is, the various setups available, how to set up, use, clean and maintain, and of course, how to bath and dry animals correctly.
Work Placement
To ensure you really understand what you are learning, and master the necessary practical skills, you will undertake 30 days (8 hrs each) of vocational placement in an approved workplace. These 30 days are split into three two-week placements, covering various skills necessary for the subjects related to them.
We are very flexible – you can change the structure of the placement to suit you and the workplace, whether you do a day a week, or blocks of weeks.
Prior to starting your placement, you must successfully complete both the WHS and Handling Animals subjects, and the placement arrangement forms.
OVERSEAS STUDENTS WELCOME!
Don’t live in Australia? That’s no barrier to studying with us. We’re more than happy to have you as a student, and we don’t charge huge fees either. Before enrolling with us, we’d like you to be fully informed. Please read the Overseas Student Information by clicking the button below.
Entry Requirements
Direct entry available!
To be eligible to enrol in this course, you must:
- Be at least 18 years of age.
- Have successfully completed Year 10, or equivalent (such as a Certificate II level qualification).
- Be able and willing to undertake the vocational placements at appropriate animal care facilities (30 days required). You don’t need this organised before enrolling, but you must be able to commit to undertaking the placements.
The Enrolment Process
Enrolling could not be easier!
- Click on the ‘Apply Now’ button below.
- Enter in all your details and press submit.
- Wait for our Educators to review your application – takes about a business day – then check your email for your enrolment pack. (You might need to check your spam folder).
- Fill out the forms in the enrolment package, and post or email it back into us.
Once we have confirmed your payment and enrolment (within a few days), you will receive an email containing your online access details. You can get started straight away! Your printed learner’s guides will be couriered out after you complete your student induction.
Course Price
What’s my investment?
Option 1: Save $300 when you pay in full – Pay only $4600!
Save $300 when you pay for your course in full, up front. Reduce the stress of having payment plans to juggle and just concentrate on your study. International students do not receive the discount (as we allocate those funds to additional postage and bank charges).
Option 2: Spread out the cost on an Interest-Free Payment Plan.
You can also choose to pay for your course through a payment plan. Please note, however, that we can’t graduate you until you’ve paid for your course in full, and even if you decide to not continue the course, you must still pay as per the payment plan.
Secure your place with the first instalment of $495. Then pay just $440.45 /month for 10 months, starting 30 days later for a total of $4900.
Important notes on Payment Plans:
- Payment Plans are only available to Australian residents. Overseas based students must pay in full prior to starting.
- If you fly through the course and finish early, you must pay for your course in full before a certificate is issued.
- If you decide the course is not for you and want to withdraw, you must still pay for the course cost in full. If you have issues with the course, we urge you to talk to us before withdrawing – we have many solutions!
- Your payment plan will start 30 days after your enrolment is activated and then will be every month until paid in full. Payments are by direct debit from a credit card or Australia bank account only.
- It’s important to contact us if you are struggling with your payments – if you fall behind by 14 days or more without making alternative arrangements, you may be withdrawn from the course.
PLEASE NOTE:
Prices current from 30th Dec 2018. All prices include resource fees, tuition costs, and administration fees. Additional fees may apply if you do not pass an assignment after two attempts, you need to re-enrol in a subject for any reason, or you need longer than 12 months to complete the course.
Course Dates
Start anytime it suits you!
We start off new students on the first Monday of every month. Enrolments close approximately 2 weeks prior.
Units of Competency
ACM30117 Certificate III in Animal Studies
For this qualification to be awarded, you must complete 12 units of competency. Seven of these are core units, and the remaining five are electives. Some of your electives are set within our course structure and cannot be changed. This allows us to deliver the ACM30117 Certificate III in Animal Studies holistically.
The core units you will cover within your subjects are:
- ACMGAS202 Participate in workplace communications
- ACMGAS203 Complete animal care hygiene routines
- ACMGAS301 Maintain and monitor animal health and wellbeing
- ACMGAS303 Plan for and provide nutritional requirements for animals
- ACMINF301 Comply with infection control policies and procedures in animal work
- ACMWHS301 Contribute to occupational health and safety processes
- ACMSUS201 Participate in environmentally sustainable work practices
Your set electives are:
- ACMCAS304 Capture, handle and transport companion animals
- ACMSPE305 Provide basic care of domestic cats
- ACMCAS306 Provide grooming services for companion animal comfort
- ACMCAS307 Provide companion animal hydrobathing services
- ACMGAS205 Assist in the health care of animals
FAQs
We’ll give you 12 months to complete the course. We find most students need to dedicate at least 5-10 hours per week to study. This will give you enough time to finish the required reading and complete assessment tasks. If you’re a quick study, you can also complete the course faster if you wish.
Additional fees apply if you want to extend your study time past 12 months.
This is a distance education course delivered entirely through our Online Learning Centre with printed learner’s guides sent to you at no extra cost.
As you don’t need to attend any on-campus classes, online study gives you extra flexibility to fit the course around your schedule and lifestyle.
Once the course starts, you’ll receive printed learner’s guides to take you step by step through your studies and prepare you for assessments. There’s also extra study resources available via our Online Learning Centre – you’ll submit assignments through this website, too.
Each subject contains various assessment tasks. You can expect to complete written assignments, video assessments, worksheets and placement diaries. Each subject also has learning activities to help you check your own learning. Of course, if you need help, you can contact our Animal Care Educators via phone, email, livechat or facebook.
Workplace-based assessments for practical skills are completed during your work placement.
Completing the vocational placements (work experience) is an integral feature of our courses, designed to build up your practical skills and make you work ready. You’ll be required to find you own placements, but we’ll also assist where we can, and help you with vital tools such as writing cover letters and resumes. Plan to do your placements in two-week blocks at animal shelters, boarding facilities, pet shops or other animal-related workplaces. Some students may require additional days of work experience to complete the skills component of the course. We can arrange for this at no extra charge. If you need more flexibility, you can break up your placements into smaller chunks – just as long as you complete a minimum 30 full time days over the duration of the course (e.g. 1 day per week or 6 x 1-week blocks). During your placement, you’re fully covered by the RTO’s insurance.
Ready to learn more? After you’ve completed this course you can move on to:
- ACM30117 Certificate III in Animal Studies (Veterinary Nursing)
- Certificate III or IV in Companion Animal Services
- ACM30617 Certificate III in Pet Grooming
- ACM40418 Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing