Certificate III in
Animal Care Services (Animal Care)

Full time: 1 year (with attendance required 2 days per week for the full duration of the course)

You may be required to attend an alternate campus during the course for practical activities. In addition, you will undertake a number of required offsite excursions. Excursions and attendance at alternate campuses are linked to assessments and attendance at these is mandatory and related to industry requirements.

This is a blended delivery course which will include a combination of online, remote, and face-to-face delivery. 

• Blended learning will involve a range of online programs and resources including StudentWeb, Microsoft Teams, pre-recorded video sessions with interactive questioning, assigned reading, tutorials, discussion boards, and online activities
• Blended learning also involves required face-to-face attendance in classrooms at the Box Hill Institute campus
• You will spend some days undertaking theory classes via Microsoft Teams, some days undertaking theory classes on campus, and some days undertaking practical workshop sessions. Attendance and participation in all forms of classes is a requirement of the course.
• The timetable specifics of which days are on campus and which are completed remotely will be provided during orientation, which occurs one week prior to the course start date. Further orientation details are provided to you after enrolment.

• Veterinary Assistant
• Animal Attendant
• Animal Workplace Receptionist/Customer Service Representative
• Pet Exerciser/Minder
• Pet Shop Worker

You must:

• be able to attend and participate in classes on the two days of your course for the duration of enrolment. The days of attendance depend on the campus you select and the intake you are enrolling 
• bring your own laptop and charger. The laptop must be able to connect to wifi, and must have a working charger, microphone and camera (the camera and microphone do not need to be internal).  Tablets, iPads, and mobile phones are not suitable devices to undertake the course
• meet the language, literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy requirements set for this course, during enrolment
• supply evidence of your current tetanus vaccination during the first two weeks of the course
• wear appropriate animal-handling clothing to all practical days, including flat/closed shoes, long pants, and long hair tied back

You must also possess the physical ability to:

• use animal care equipment (for example carry cages, opening kennel latches, and be able to use mops/brooms/pooper scoopers using reasonable grip and dexterity)
• perform manual handling tasks (for example bending down to capture and restrain a variety of animal species, walking large and boisterous dogs)
• perform repetitive tasks (for example reaching in to cages, bending, squatting, wiping surfaces, washing food bowls, brushing animals)
• perform tasks that require visual and auditory skills (for example observing and identifying signs of disease and distress in animals)

PRE-TRAINING REVIEW - to assist prospective students to determine whether a course is suitable and appropriate for the individual needs, Box Hill Institute will assess all students’ language, literacy and numeracy and digital literacy by asking you to undertake a self-assessment review prior to the enrolment. A course advisor will discuss the outcomes of the review and make recommendations about whether the course is suitable for you, and identify additional support where required.

Our animal care course is an excellent course for people looking to move into specialised areas of the animal care industry, including pathways into:

• ACM40418 Certificate IV Veterinary Nursing 
• ACM50119 Diploma of Animal Technology

This course is government accredited and has national recognition

The qualification is aligned with the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) level 3

This training is provided with funds made available by the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments.

Service & Amenity Fee may vary depending on course commencement and enrolment duration. Retain Course Items are purchased once by the student prior to commencing. Those items then become the property of the student. Fees listed are at 2024 rates and may increase annually over the duration of delivery. The student tuition fees listed are subject to change given individual circumstances at enrolment. For more information please contact our Course Advisors on 1300 BOX HILL.

To achieve this qualification, competency must be demonstrated in 17 units of competency (including 7 core units and 10 elective units).