
The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) is the national policy for regulated qualifications in Australian education and training. It incorporates the qualifications from each education and training sector into a single comprehensive national qualifications framework.
As a Registered Training Organisation (RTO 60154), we are accredited to deliver the following AQF qualifications:
- BSB40920 Certificate IV in Project Management Practice
- BSB50820 Diploma of Project Management

It is only in recent years that the relationship between project management and organisational success has been appreciated, but its attributes and processes have been honed since the days of the Great Wall and Pyramids.
To succeed in the job, project managers must be adept at the technical skills of their profession, think creatively and critically about solutions, manage the breadth of human relations, and all within the constraints of limited time and resources.
For those who can master its complexities, project management can be a vital value-add to your profession or an incredibly rewarding career in its own right.
To that end, the Institute of Project Management is proud to offer the following Australian government accredited qualifications in project management.
Unlike the vast majority of providers, we are genuinely expert in the field of project management, bringing to bear many thousands of hours and literally billions of dollars of project delivery experience to our programs.
Your mentors – an unlimited, on-demand resource throughout your study – are industry-seasoned project professionals, each with over ten (10) years of project leadership experience and accredited teaching qualifications.
As a result, our graduates are not just good at passing tests. They are job-ready project managers armed with a proven suite of project management knowledge, skills and assets.
OPEN is a multimedia project management resource hub, available free to all, whether or not you intend going on to complete a qualification.
The 12 online units in OPEN cover all aspects of contemporary project management, including a number of well-known and highly regarded methodologies such as PMBOK, Agile, and PRINCE2.
Successfully completing all the online quizzes that follow each topic will satisfy the pre-requisite entry requirements for the BSB40920 Certificate IV in Project Management Practice.
You can also complete the equivalent learning via the ARC workshop series.
Upon completing OPEN or ARC, you are automatically eligible for admission to the Institute of Project Management as a Certified Project Officer and can apply for higher-level Certification if your experience and skills warrant.
Students who attain an overall grade of 100% in the OPEN quizzes will also be entered into the Institute of Project Management’s Order of Merit.
Entry requirements
Entry is open to all persons who have, at a minimum, been admitted to the Institute of Project Management as a Certified Project Officer and completed either OPEN or the ARC workshop series.
Students must have reliable access to an internet-connected computer with word-processing and spreadsheet software (eg Microsoft Word and Excel).
International students must also evidence vocational English as per the Australian government standard for skilled migration. Students need to independently prepare for and obtain this standard.
Alternative evidence of vocational English may also be considered – please contact us for more information.
Units of study
Although this course typically takes up to three months to complete, your enrolment is good for a period of two years and may be paused or extended upon request.
The bulk of your time will be spent initiating, planning, delivering and closing professional or personal projects with the on-going and active support of your mentor.
If you do not have access to relevant professional or personal projects, a case study project can be provided for you.
As the volume of learning is based on your prior experience and access to projects, experienced students with current access may demonstrate competency sooner.
For that reason, your mentor will work with you to develop a training plan that uniquely responds to your personal and professional environment and needs.
To successfully graduate, you will need to evidence competence in the following AQF units:
- BSBPMG420 Apply project scope management techniques
- BSBPMG421 Apply project time management techniques
- BSBPMG422 Apply project quality management techniques
- BSBPMG423 Apply project cost management techniques
- BSBPMG424 Apply project human resources management approaches
- BSBPMG426 Apply project risk management techniques
- BSBPMG427 Apply project procurement procedures
- BSBPMG428 Apply project life cycle management processes
- BPMG429 Apply project stakeholder engagement techniques
Students who leave the program early are eligible to receive a Statement of Attainment for the units in which they have successfully demonstrated competence.
Active mentoring
The BSB40920 Certificate IV in Project Management Practice is delivered with unlimited active mentor support, extending actionable advice on the projects you are working on through the lens of good-practice.
Our mentors can uniquely support you in this way because they are:
- Proven industry experts with a minimum of 10 years’ practical experience in leading complex projects, programs and portfolios of work
- Inspiring communicators and creative, critical thinkers
- Trained educators, facilitators and mentors
Importantly, they are not professional lecturers who have only learned project management from text-books and classrooms – they superimpose on the coursework a wealth of project skill and experience from all stakeholder perspectives to bring project management to life.
The one-on-one assignment of mentors to learners also allows a genuine relationship to develop, avoiding a call-center feel to learner engagement. Contact hours are neither stipulated nor capped, meaning that higher risk learners can access appropriate levels of support and self-motivated participants are not held back.
The Institute of Project Management has successfully delivered self-paced learning with active mentor support to a diverse range of global learners in a variety of cultural settings. Our acquittals of government funded contracts in this regard show average completion rates in excess of 80% over the last five years, figures that place us in the top five percent of training providers across all sectors.
Rest assured, too, that your dealings with your Institute mentor remain confidential at all times, as per our privacy policy.
Assessment
In addition to completing OPEN, students must prepare, share and be able to critically reflect upon the following portfolio of project management assets and their application:
- Project stakeholder register and communications plan
- Project concept canvas with risk profile
- Comprehensive project plan, including:
- Multi-level work breakdown structure
- Project schedule with dependencies
- Task level resource allocations and overall project budget
- Request for proposal
- Risk register and management plan
- Project status report and change request
- Project reflection (report)
Templates with detailed instructions are provided for each activity.
You are also required to participate in a series of recorded interview assessments as you progress through the course. These assessments are typically conducted via Zoom or another video-conferencing platform.
Download the Assessment Guide for more information on the course requirements.
Graduate outcomes
Upon completion of our BSB40920 Certificate IV in Project Management Practice, you will be able to:
- Apply basic project management concepts, methods and theories
- Demonstrate the technical skills of project management
- Understand the interpersonal aspects of project management
- Manage the initiation, planning, delivery and close of simple projects
- Communicate professionally with project stakeholders
- Critically reflect on your own performance
You will also be directly admitted to the Institute of Project Management as a Certified Project Officer and may be automatically eligible for higher level Certification if you can evidence the requisite experience.
Students who attain an overall grade of 100% in the OPEN quizzes will further be entered into the Institute of Project Management’s Order of Merit.
University pathways
A number of Australian and international Universities recognise our BSB40920 Certificate IV in Project Management Practice for advanced standing towards undergraduate (Bachelor) degrees.
Please contact us to learn how academic credit might be applied to your University program.
Entry requirements
As this is a fast-track program, entry is open to all graduates of our nationally recognised BSB40920 Certificate IV in Project Management Practice.
Students must have reliable access to an internet-connected computer with word-processing and spreadsheet software (eg Microsoft Word and Excel).
International students must also evidence vocational English as per the Australian government standard for skilled migration. Students need to independently prepare for and obtain this standard.
Units of study
Although this course typically takes six months to complete (upon completion of the BSB40920 Certificate IV in Project Management), your enrolment is good for a period of two years and may be paused or extended upon request.
The bulk of your time will be spent initiating, planning, delivering and closing your assessment project with the on-going and active support of your mentor.
As the volume of learning is based on your prior experience and access to projects, experienced students with current access may demonstrate competency sooner.
For that reason, your mentor will work with you to develop a training plan that uniquely responds to your personal and professional environment and needs.
To successfully graduate, you will need to evidence competence in the following AQF units:
- BSBPMG530 Manage project scope
- BSBPMG531 Manage project time
- BSBPMG532 Manage project quality
- BSBPMG533 Manage project costs
- BSBPMG534 Manage project human resources
- BSBPMG535 Manage project communications
- BSBPMG536 Manage project risk
- BSBPMG537 Manage project procurement
- BSBPMG538 Manage project stakeholder engagement
- BSBPMG540 Manage project integration
- BSBPEF501 Manage personal and professional development
- BSTR502 Facilitate continuous improvement
Students who leave the program early are eligible to receive a Statement of Attainment for the units in which they have successfully demonstrated competence.
Active mentoring
The BSB50820 Diploma of Project Management mentoring program is delivered one-on-one into your workplace or home.
Our mentors can uniquely support you in this way because they are:
- Proven industry experts with a minimum of 10 years’ practical experience in leading complex projects, programs and portfolios of work
- Inspiring communicators and creative, critical thinkers
- Trained educators, facilitators and mentors
Importantly, they are not professional lecturers who have only learned project management from text-books and classrooms – they superimpose on the coursework a wealth of project skill and experience from all stakeholder perspectives to bring project management to life.
The one-on-one assignment of mentors to learners also allows a genuine relationship to develop, avoiding a call-center feel to learner engagement. Contact hours are neither stipulated nor capped, meaning that higher risk learners can access appropriate levels of support and self-motivated participants are not held back.
The Institute of Project Management has successfully delivered self-paced learning with active mentor support to a diverse range of global learners in a variety of cultural settings. Our acquittals of government funded contracts in this regard show average completion rates in excess of 80% over the last five years, figures that place us in the top five percent of training providers across all sectors.
Rest assured, too, that your dealings with your Institute mentor remain confidential at all times, as per our privacy policy.
Assessment tasks
In order to demonstrate your competence at the Diploma level, you are required to identify a complex public or private project that has recently completed and conduct a comprehensive review of its performance.
Your initiation, planning, delivery and close of this process will be facilitated by unlimited and on-demand active mentor support.
Download the Assessment Guide for more information on the course requirements.
Graduate outcomes
Upon completion of our BSB50820 Diploma of Project Management, you will be able to:
- Apply advanced project management concepts, methods and theories
- Demonstrate the technical skills of project management
- Leverage the interpersonal aspects of project management
- Manage the delivery of complex projects
- Evaluate and respond to dynamic project challenges in all environments
- Communicate professionally with project stakeholders
- Critically reflect on your own performance and the performance of your team
You will also be eligible for admission to the Institute of Project Management at Certification level commensurate with your industry experience.
University pathways
A number of Australian and international Universities recognise our BSB50820 Diploma of Project Management for advanced standing towards undergraduate (Bachelor) degrees.
Please contact us to learn how academic credit might be applied to your University program.