Get work-ready
With the perfect balance of theory and practical learning, Deakin provides specialised study for students seeking a career in the criminal justice system. Our teaching takes a unique and highly relevant approach to understanding security, surveillance, terrorism and policing. Study topics that explore a range of emerging criminal issues including environmental crime, corporate crime, cyber security and domestic violence. You’ll learn in state-of-the-art cyber security labs at Victoria’s #1 university for facilities and resources.* Graduate armed with the critical thinking skills to tackle criminal justice issues at a more complex level.
Undergraduate
Undergraduate (your first degree)
An undergraduate degree is generally completed between two to four years, depending on the pattern of study and any recognition of prior learning you may have. Associate degrees, bachelor and bachelor with honours are all undergraduate degrees.
Postgraduate
Postgraduate (further study)
A postgraduate qualification can be undertaken by students who have already completed an undergraduate degree or possess significant, demonstrable work experience. Postgraduate courses include graduate certificates, graduate diplomas, masters and PhDs, as well as specialist programs for industry professionals.
Research
Higher Degrees by Research (supervised research)
Research degrees are research based master’s or PhD programs that focus on a single area of expertise. They provide students the opportunity to carry out highly specialised research under expert supervision.
Career opportunities
Criminology is a rapidly growing industry – so your future career is what you make it. Studying criminology at Deakin provides grounding for a career across a wide range of areas including:
- anti-corruption agencies
- Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO)
- correctional facilities and prisons
- community safety
- community services
- crime prevention
- criminology research
- government agencies
- intelligence and security services
- media spokesperson
- paralegal work at a law firm
- policy development for government – advising local and international legal jurisdictions
- sociology and youth work
- state and federal police.
Guaranteed pathway
Is the Bachelor of Criminology your dream course but you don't quite meet the entry requirements? Deakin's Associate Degree of Arts offers a guaranteed study pathway to help make your career goals a reality.
Deakin is the best choice you can make if you are looking to challenge the status quo and understand the world in a more critical way.
Taylor McCaw
Bachelor of Criminology | Bachelor of Arts (Honours) | Doctorate of Philosophy (Criminology)
Industry relevant
Our criminology courses are designed in conjunction with professional bodies including Victoria Police and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. You can be confident that what you learn at Deakin will be relevant to your future career.
Deakin Accelerate Program
Are you currently in Year 12 and planning to complete an extra subject? You can boost your ATAR when you join the Deakin Accelerate Program. You’ll get a head start by completing two first-year university units in criminology while you’re still in Year 12.
Research with us
Take your studies to the next level with a postgraduate criminology degree or a higher degree by research in criminology. You could examine the effects of organised crime in the sporting world or change legal responses to violence against women.
Why study criminology at Deakin?
Lecturer in Criminology, Dr Emma Ryan, provides insight into what you'll learn by studying this discipline at Deakin. She covers practical and applied learning, other study areas that combine well with criminology and where graduates are now working.
Postgraduate criminology at Deakin
Professor Reece Walters and Dr Monique Mann talk about the benefits of studying postgraduate criminology at Deakin. They discuss the type of students studying the course, the assessment tasks and the skills gained throughout the course.
Criminology@Deakin
Criminology@Deakin is a forum dedicated to all things criminology. It’s also a hub for the important work that criminologists at Deakin are doing – and for regular articles and commentary that inspires.
We're here to help
If you're dreaming of an exciting and rewarding career in criminology, learn more about why a degree from Deakin is the right choice for you.
Three students share their extraordinary criminology work experiences
We spoke to three students who undertook a criminology work placement and heard how the experience has set them on the path for their future career.
What’s studying criminology really like?
Interested in understanding what drives deviant behaviour, or what motivates people to commit crimes? Then a career in criminology might be for you.
Footnotes
*2022 Student Experience Survey, Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT)
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