This course provides an introduction to health services research, health care systems, policy formulation and analysis. The overall aim of this course is to enable you to understand the principles of health services research and policy, including the frameworks for formulating and assessing health policy. The course aims to provide you with a broad overview of the structure and components of contemporary healthcare systems, methods and mechanisms in health services research and policy how they function. This includes equipping you with the capacities to draw on material from a wide range of sources. The course syllabus will include:
- Introduction to health care systems
- Health services, goals and research
- Health policy formulation, analysis and implementation
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Describe the major components of the Australian health system and compare these with other countries.
- Describe Australia’s primary health care system and distinguish this from secondary and tertiary health care. Understand the structures that underpin the delivery of health care in Australia
- Apply the principles underpinning the evaluation of health services structure, process and outcomes, including some approaches to health services research and health system reform
- Understand the concept of policy making, involvement of potential stakeholders and their contributions to and influence on policy formulation
- Analyse policy making on complex problems and challenges in policy implementation in health sector
- Systematically evaluate health policy and develop alternative health policy reform proposals
Indicative Assessment
- Health systems comparison (full essay) (25) [LO 1,2]
- Health systems comparison (presentation) (10) [LO 1,2]
- Online Quiz (20) [LO 3,4]
- Policy analysis essay (35) [LO 4,5,6]
- In-class discussion activities (5 out of 12 weekly lecture session) (10) [LO 3,4,5,6]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
This course can be taken either fully online, or in person. The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the semester, which will include:
- For on-line enrolment:
- Online Lecture 1 x 3 hour per week
- Approximately 94 hours of self-directed study which will include listening/viewing the online lectures and materials, engagement in and contribution to the online discussion forms and other assessment tasks.
- For in person enrolment:
- Face-to-face Lecture 1 x 3 hour per week
- Approximately 94 hours of self-directed study across the semester
Inherent Requirements
No specific inherent requirements have been identified for this course.
Prescribed Texts
Required readings and resources will be identified for each session and listed (or uploaded) on the course site in the Learning Management System throughout the course.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 2
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2757 | 23 Feb 2026 | 02 Mar 2026 | 31 Mar 2026 | 29 May 2026 | In Person | N/A |
| 2494 | 23 Feb 2026 | 02 Mar 2026 | 31 Mar 2026 | 29 May 2026 | Online | N/A |