CHC51015Diploma of Counselling

You are right
on time.

The people already doing this work started right where you're standing, most of them with a full career behind them and a good reason to change direction. You'd be in very good company.

The average age Australians enter counselling. Over half the profession is aged 50 and above.

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Like-minded students

Look at who's already in it.

Counselling is a second-career profession. The three cohorts marked in blue make up well over half the workforce, and that’s where most people start.

20–244.3%

25–3421.6%

35–4423.1%

45–5424.7%

55–599.9%

60–648.4%

65+7.7%

Jobs and Skills Australia, ANZSCO 2721 Counsellors, August 2025. Median age in the occupation is 44, compared with 39 across all occupations.

Six numbers

The figures that make this easy to decide.

40,000

Demand

People are employed as counsellors today

The occupation adds roughly 3,400 roles a year and is on track for 15.1% growth by 2028. It'll keep expanding while you study.

85^%

Why they started

Of counsellors were motivated by a desire to make a difference

That reason sits well ahead of an interest in mental health (65%) and lived experience (55%). If it's what's pulling you towards the work, you're in good company.

51^%

Own practice

Of Diploma holders are self-employed in private practice

That's the highest rate of any qualification level in the sector. Your own client book, your own hours and your own fee, all from this one credential.

65^%

Regional strength

Of Diploma holders work outside the capital cities

It's the qualification that travels furthest into regional and rural Australia. Queensland leads the country with 28.7% of the national workforce.

$133

Session fee

Is the average session fee nationally

Diploma holders average $125.70 a session, within $12 of what Master's-qualified counsellors charge for the same hour.

$126k

Top earning mix

Is the average income of counsellors who do both

A salaried role plus a private caseload is the highest-earning combination in the sector. Employment on its own averages $87,539, and self-employment on its own $75,140.

Your potential 3–4 year counselling pathway

Learn the foundations. Get started in the industry. Then keep going.

The CHC51015Diploma of Counselling gives you the foundations of counselling practice, the core skills, ethics and frameworks counsellors draw on every day, and it is the qualification you need to apply for professional registration. From there you can start working with clients and build a practice around the hours and the setting that suit you. The CHC81015Graduate Diploma of Relationship Counselling is the postgraduate step for counsellors who want to keep going, adding couples and family work to what you already do.

CHC51015Diploma of Counselling

Enrol online and finish at your own pace. There's no work placement to organise before you start, so you begin under current entry standards.
Build the core counselling skills that every specialisation is built on, and graduate ready to apply for professional registration.
Study around your current job. Monthly intakes mean you can start when it suits you and work at your own pace.

Months 12–24

Register and take your first clients

Apply for ACA registration, take out professional indemnity insurance, engage a clinical supervisor.
Start where 57% of the workforce sits: private practice. Or take a not-for-profit role (28%) or EAP contract (18%) for steady hours while you build.
Set your fee near $125. Six clients a week comes to $39,000 a year on roughly eight working hours.

Within 18 months

CHC81015Graduate Diploma of Relationship Counselling

Specialise where the demand already sits. Family and relationship work makes up 38% of practice areas, with communication and conflict a further 27%. The work turns up long before the training does.
Couples sessions run longer and price higher. Postgraduate holders earn $1,681.80 a week against $1,352.10 at Diploma level.
38.7% of employed counsellors hold a postgraduate qualification; it's the most common credential in the occupation, and the step that puts you at the top of the field.

Straight answers

I'm 47 and changing careers. Is that an advantage?

Yes. Average entry age is 43, and 53% of the workforce is over 50. Your previous career is the asset here; 55% of counsellors name lived experience as a reason they entered.

Can I keep my job while I study?

Yes. 40% of counsellors work part-time and 19% combine employment with private practice, which is the highest-earning group of the lot. Most students build a caseload beside the day job, then switch once it's ready.

Can I earn a living on the Diploma alone?

Yes. Diploma holders average $1,352.10 a week and are the most likely group of all to run their own practice. The Graduate Diploma then lifts your rate and opens couples work on top of a career that already stands up on its own.

I live regionally. Does that work?

It's a strength. 65% of Diploma holders already work outside the metro areas, Queensland leads the country, and telehealth stretches your reach as far as you want to take it.

Why is now a good time to start?

You begin under current entry standards, with fewer steps between you and your first client, and the occupation adds roughly 3,400 roles a year while you train.

What makes relationship counselling the next step?

It's the work you'll be offered first, and the work you can charge most for. Specialising is also what turns a general practice into a referred one.

A worked example

Anna is 46 and enrols in March. She graduates the following March, registers and insures, and by June she's seeing four clients a week at $125 per session, which comes to $26,000 a year on six hours. That spring she starts the Graduate Diploma, moves into couples work at a longer session and a higher rate, and reaches a full caseload in her third year.

Intakes monthly