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Course Outline

HLT310 Leadership and Governance in Maternity Care

Course Coordinator:Elaine Jefford (ejefford@usc.edu.au) School:School of Health - Midwifery

2026Trimester 1

Online

 Online You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement.

Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.

What is this course about?

Description

In this course you will consolidate and synthesise your midwifery knowledge and skills as you work toward competence to register and practice. You will be challenged to examine your role as a midwife to enable you to practice as a future oriented professional. Specifically, you will examine the role of the midwife in leadership and governance. You will examine professional and regulatory requirements as they provide the framework for leadership in the profession.

How will this course be delivered?

Activity Hours Beginning Week Frequency
Online
Learning materials – Online asynchronous learning and teaching recording 1hr Week 1 12 times
Online – Online delivery 1hr Week 1 12 times

Course Topics

  • Promoting health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
  • Promoting health in the global context
  • Leadership in practice
  • Governance in midwifery
  • Professional issues in midwifery
  • Economic, environmental, political and social influences on maternity policies, service planning and models of care
  • Regulatory and legislative frameworks

What level is this course?

300 Level (Graduate)

Demonstrating coherence and breadth or depth of knowledge and skills. Independent application of knowledge and skills in unfamiliar contexts. Meeting professional requirements and AQF descriptors for the degree. May require pre-requisites where discipline specific introductory or developing knowledge or skills is necessary. Normally undertaken in the third or fourth full-time study year of an undergraduate program.

What is the unit value of this course?

12 units

How does this course contribute to my learning?

Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... Graduate Qualities Mapping Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... Professional Standard Mapping * Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
1 Identify the maternity care needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities, women with culturally diverse backgrounds and other vulnerable groups. Ethical 
1, 2
2 Critically analyse how global policies and programs of reform’s impact safety and quality of maternity care provision. Sustainability-focussed 
7
3 Critically reflect on the role and scope of a midwife nationally and internationally through the lens of leadership and governance. Knowledgeable
Creative and critical thinker 
2.8, 5.2
4 Analyse leadership and governance within the maternity setting. Engaged 
3.7
5 Interpret and use evidence as a basis to inform practice, policy, guidelines and decision-making. Creative and critical thinker 
1
6 Apply principles and practices of academic writing and referencing Engaged 
1.2, 1.6

* Competencies by Professional Body

CODE COMPETENCY
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
1 Standard 1: Promotes health and wellbeing through evidence-based midwifery practice
1.2 The midwife accesses, analyses, and uses the best available evidence, that includes research findings, for safe, quality midwifery practice
1.6 The midwife supports the development, implementation and evaluation of evidenced-based health initiatives and programs
2 Standard 2: Engages in professional relationships and respectful partnerships
2.8 The midwife participates in and/or leads collaborative practice
3.7 The midwife recognises and responds appropriately where safe and quality practice may be compromised
5.2 The midwife collaboratively develops plans until options, priorities, goals, actions, anticipated outcomes and timeframes are agreed with the woman, and/or relevant others
7 Standard 7: Evaluates outcomes to improve midwifery practice

Am I eligible to enrol in this course?

Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.

Pre-requisites

HLT203 and enrolled in Program SC393

Co-requisites

Not applicable

Anti-requisites

Not applicable

Specific assumed prior knowledge and skills (where applicable)

Not applicable

Microcredential Information

Not applicable

How am I going to be assessed?

Grading Scale

Standard Grading (GRD)

High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL).

Details of early feedback on progress

Early feedback on progress will be provided through informal discussion during the week three tutorial. Students will be encouraged to bring a draft of task one – written piece – for review and feedback.

Assessment tasks

Delivery mode Task No. Assessment Product Individual or Group Weighting % What is the duration / length? When should I submit? Where should I submit it?
All 1 Written Piece Individual 15% 
750 words
 Week 3 Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check
All 2 Written Piece Individual 50% 
1750 words
 Week 6 Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check
All 3 Artefact - Creative, and Oral Individual 35% 
8-10 minutes (equivalent to 1500 words)
 Week 11 Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check
All - Assessment Task 1:Written assignment
Goal: 
The aim of this assignment is to critically explore maternity provision/care for a specific population.
Product: Written Piece
Authorship Statement:
Format: 
Further details will be provided on canvas site.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1 
Critically examine the health needs for your chosen group of women.
 1
2 
Critically discuss how policies, reforms, and sociopolitical and environmental factors influence maternity service planning and care models for your chosen group of women.
 1 2
3 
Critically analyse midwifery leadership focusing on its impact on service planning, care models, and outcomes for your chosen group of women.
 1 4
4 
Use of relevant scholarly literature and ethical use of intellectual property. APA 7 is applied.
 6
5 
Demonstrate appropriate written expression.
 6
Generic Skills: 
Communication, Information literacy
All - Assessment Task 2:Written piece
Goal: 
The aim of this assignment is to critically explore maternity provision/care for a specific population.
Product: Written Piece
Authorship Statement:
Format: 
Further details will be provided on canvas site.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1 
Critically examine the health needs for your chosen group of women.
 1
2 
Critically discuss how policies, reforms, and sociopolitical and environmental factors influence maternity service planning and care models for your chosen group of women.
 1 2
3 
Critically analyse midwifery leadership, focusing on its impact on service planning, care models, and outcomes for your chosen group of women.
 1 4
4 
Use of relevant scholarly literature and ethical use of intellectual property. APA 7 is applied.
 6
5 
Demonstrate appropriate written expression.
 6
Generic Skills: 
Problem solving, Information literacy
All - Assessment Task 3:Artefact-Creative & Video (written script)
Goal: 
The aim of this assignment is to critically explore the role and scope of practice of a midwife.
Product: Artefact - Creative, and Oral
Authorship Statement:
Format: 
Further details will be provided on Canvas site.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1 
Critically analyse the international definition of a midwife and scope of practice.
 3 5
2 
Critically reflect on how you currently meet the international definition of a midwife and scope of practice.
 3 5
3 
Critically discuss how you will transition from your current position to meeting the international definition and scope of practice of a midwife over the next 2 years.
 3 5
4 
Video and written summary clearly reflect and connect to the concept map and marking criteria 1, 2 and 3 highlighting benefit to self and women.
 3 5
5 
Use of relevant scholarly literature and ethical use of intellectual property. APA 7 is applied.
 6
6 
Demonstrate appropriate written and oral expression.
 6
Generic Skills: 
Communication, Information literacy

Directed study hours

A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.

What resources do I need to undertake this course?

Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.

Prescribed text(s) or course reader

You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.

Required? Author Year Title Edition Publisher
Required Editors: Sally Pairman, Sally Tracy, Hannah Dahlen, Lesley Dixon 2022 MIDWIFERY PREPARATION FOR PRACTICE. 5th Elsevier

Specific requirements

Not applicable

How are risks managed in this course?

Health and safety risks for this course have been assessed as low. It is your responsibility to review course material, search online, discuss with lecturers and peers and understand the health and safety risks associated with your specific course of study and to familiarise yourself with the University’s general health and safety principles by reviewing the online induction training for students, and following the instructions of the University staff.

What administrative information is relevant to this course?

Assessment: Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.

Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.

In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.

Assessment: Additional Requirements

Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment

Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale

Assessment: Submission penalties

Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.

The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty

Links to relevant University policy and procedures

For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:

  • Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs
  • Review of Assessment and Final Grades
  • Supplementary Assessment
  • Central Examinations
  • Deferred Examinations
  • Student Conduct
  • Students with a Disability

For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching

Student Charter

UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.

General Enquiries

For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.  

For other enquiries or to access support, please contact Student Central: 

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