Master of Mental Health Nursing

Master of Mental Health Nursing

POSTGRADUATE

Understand the complexities of mental health to get ready for leadership and clinical roles.

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Student type:
Learning mode:
Online
Entry score:

Not applicable

Duration:
Full-time 1.5 years
Part-time available
Fees:

Commonwealth Supported Places

Next intake:
February, July
Location:
Online
Learning mode:
Online
Entry score:

Not applicable

Duration:
Not applicable
Fees:

AU$38,400 (2027 annual)

Next intake:
Not applicable
Location:
Not applicable

Learn to critically apply lived-experience perspectives and advanced theoretical frameworks to support high-quality, person-centred care across complex and diverse mental health settings.

RMIT's Master of Mental Health Nursing is designed for registered nurses seeking advanced capabilities for specialised mental health practice. Through an integrated and scaffolded curriculum, you'll develop independent judgement, advanced clinical reasoning, and leadership capability.

You'll build the knowledge and skills to provide person-centred, recovery-oriented and advocacy-driven mental health nursing care. Your learning addresses key areas including cultural safety, interdisciplinary teamwork and reducing stigma in mental health settings.

As a graduate, you'll be prepared for advanced clinical practice, leadership, consultancy, and education roles across public, private, community, and specialist mental health services. You'll be able to influence practice, contribute to service improvement, and respond to complex and evolving mental health needs.

This course also provides a pathway into research, policy development, and higher degree research, supporting graduates to contribute to the advancement of mental health nursing practice and systems.

This course is delivered fully online, combining interactive lectures, tutorials, and applied learning activities with recorded sessions to support flexible participation. 

Please note: this master's degree is not available for international students intending to study on a student visa.

If you are holding a temporary visa (other than a student visa) and your visa has a full study entitlement, you may be eligible to apply. For more information, see the international students with other temporary (non-student) visas page.

Why study the Master of Mental Health Nursing at RMIT?

Learn from industry experts

Benefit from engagement with real-world experience and learn from academic staff with strong connections in the mental health nursing industry.

Prepare for credentialling

With this degree being accredited by the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses, you'll be prepared to apply for credentialling when you graduate.

Established provider

As one of Australia’s oldest providers of postgraduate nursing education, RMIT sits at the forefront of nursing education and research.

Develop your research capability

A defining feature of the Master of Mental Health Nursing is the capstone subject, Mental Health Nursing Research, which embeds research capability development, enabling you to synthesise and apply the knowledge and skills developed throughout the course.

You will develop research literacy by critically appraising evidence and applying principles of research design and evidence-based practice to develop a rigorous, practice-focused research or quality improvement proposal that addresses a contemporary mental health issue.

You will justify an appropriate methodology and evaluate the clinical, cultural, ethical, legal and practical considerations relevant to the proposed project, preparing it for potential future implementation.

This research capability you develop prepares you for advanced mental health nursing practice, enabling you to contribute to leadership, service improvement, and policy. It also provides a foundation for you to pursue further research study, such as a Master of Philosophy or Doctor of Philosophy, subject to the entry requirements of the receiving institution.

Details

How you will learn

The teaching approach in this course is designed to foster your development as an independent, reflective learner so you can continue to extend your capabilities once you graduate. Teaching methods include online lectorials, seminars, tutorials and workshops. You will be expected to complete prescribed out‑of‑class learning activities in preparation for scheduled online sessions and encouraged to extend your learning through additional recommended readings and online activities.

Across the course you will:

  • Engage in projects that require you to communicate outcomes to a range of audiences, both verbally and in writing (for example, reporting results qualitatively, quantitatively, graphically and electronically)
  • Undertake learning activities and projects that require you to work in multi‑disciplinary teams and critically engage with aspects of team development and conflict resolution
  • Participate in learning activities and projects that require you to conceptualise, plan and evaluate solutions to health problems
  • Undertake projects that require you to access a wide variety of knowledge repositories, including professional journals, discussion lists and online sources of material.

How you will be assessed

Throughout the course, you will engage in a range of assessment methods that involve performing tasks reflective of real‑world scenarios. These may include:

  • Assignments and projects, completed individually or in groups, enabling you to demonstrate your ability to work independently and as part of a team
  • Assessment and clinical competency: an individual form of assessment where you have the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to explain fundamental principles and solve problems
  • Online quizzes to support and check your understanding of key concepts
  • Reflective journals and written reflective pieces, where you critically consider what you have learnt, identify issues associated with that learning, and plan subsequent learning strategies
  • Online reflective discussions that encourage collaborative reflection on practice and theory
  • Creation of creative artefacts (for example, digital stories, infographics or other media) to demonstrate understanding in diverse formats
  • Oral presentations to develop and evidence your professional communication skills
  • Critical analyses, essays and research portfolios that assess your ability to engage with, synthesise and apply research, policy and practice literature
  • Self‑assessment and peer‑assessment activities, where you evaluate your own work and that of your peers, building your independence as a learner and your capacity to appraise your own and others’ contribution and performance
  • Where relevant, practical or workplace‑based tasks that demonstrate application of learning in your own clinical context.

Industry connections

This course offers a broad range of industry-engaged experiences, including industry-partnered projects and simulated workplace environment activities.

You will engage with industry through guest experts and real-world learning activities to build practical insight and career readiness. Selected core subjects feature guest lecturers from industry, government, or the community, along with activities that connect your learning to current industry practice.

In addtion, Career Development Learning (CDL) experiences are embedded within the course to provide you with the knowledge, skills and attributes to manage your career and ongoing professional development.

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The types of classes you have will depend on the course you’re studying. Classes are offered in various formats designed to provide meaningful engagement with staff, industry and peers and provide for access and use of spaces where learning can be applied and active, including an array of specialised equipment.

Most RMIT courses do not include passive large-scale classes such as lectures, instead the content traditionally provided in lectures is made available online. This may be in the form of readings, videos or other on-demand learning materials. This content will also support the basis of interactive learning that takes place in on-campus classes.

The world is constantly changing, and there are universal skills that can help you adapt to the evolving nature of work and global engagement.

As part of your study experience at RMIT, we provide 6 future-focused RMIT Capabilities:

  • Ethical Global Citizens
  • Connected
  • Adaptive
  • Digitally Adept
  • Expert
  • Critically Engaged.

RMIT Capabilities are built into your course as well as some of our extracurricular experiences. They inform the design and delivery of your learning activities and assessments, so by the time you graduate, you’ll be ready to apply these capabilities in your life and work.

Course structure and plan

This course consists of 144 credit points - a total of 12 subjects. The Year 2 structure has been designed to allow you to complete the final 4 subjects in one semester. You also have the option to complete the course in 1.5 years full-time, 2 years (year 1 full-time, year 2 part-time) or 3 years part-time.

Year 1

Explore the evolving landscape of mental health and mental illness.

In your first year, you'll learn to orient lived experience as a critical foundation for contemporary mental health care and gain advanced skills to design, implement and evaluate quality improvement initiatives in mental health nursing.

You'll deepen your expertise in mental health assessment, substance-use impacts, clinical interventions and medication-related care across diverse settings, and develop practical skills in motivational interviewing, evidence-based therapies, trauma-informed and recovery-oriented practice, and human rights-based care.

Year 2

Develop your research capability and deepen your disciplinary expertise with integrative experiences that consolidate applied professional capability.

In your second year, you'll undertake your capstone subject which is a research project that allows you to synthesise and apply the knowledge and skills you'd developed so far throughout the course.

You may also focus on assessing and responding to the physical health needs of adults living with mental illness. You can choose to examine mental health nursing practice through international perspectives, and/or develop your capability as a mental health nursing leader and understand how leadership influences recovery-focused, patient-centred care.

Work-integrated learning (WIL)

The designated WIL subject for this master's degree is Mental Health Nursing Clinical Portfolio, in which you will engage with and receive feedback from industry through mental health clinical practice contexts.

This subject integrates mental health nursing theory with clinical practice to support the development of a conceptual framework for professional practice. It emphasises the application of mental health nursing skills across a range of clinical settings, drawing on diverse theoretical perspectives.

A strong focus is placed on developing clinical practice capabilities aligned with the standards of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (ACMHN).

Learning outcomes

As a graduate of the Master of Mental Health Nursing, you will develop the advanced knowledge and skills needed to provide safe, ethical and contemporary mental health nursing care across diverse and complex settings. You will learn to critically apply theoretical, clinical, cultural and ethical frameworks, evidence-based practice, mental health policy, legal requirements and professional standards.

Through advanced therapeutic communication and clinical reasoning, you will build recovery-oriented relationships and design collaborative, person-centred care plans that address people’s mental, physical, social, emotional, spiritual and cultural wellbeing.

You will also develop the confidence to collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, agencies and other stakeholders to coordinate holistic care. By applying research methods, reflective practice and innovation, you will evaluate and improve your practice and contribute to better outcomes.

The Master of Mental Health Nursing will prepare you to lead service improvement, strengthen workforce capability, advocate for mental health, reduce stigma and promote social inclusion in complex care environments.

Choose a plan below to find out more about the subjects you will study and the course structure.

Master of Mental Health Nursing
Program code: MC268
Title
Location
Duration
Plan code
CRICOS
Master of Mental Health Nursing
Bundoora Campus
Full-time 1 Years 6 Months, Part-time 3 Years
MC268O
Location
Bundoora Campus
Duration
Full-time 1 Years 6 Months, Part-time 3 Years
Plan code
MC268O
CRICOS
View plan

Career

The growing demand for mental health services and the ongoing development of Australia's mental health workforce continue to create opportunities for registered nurses with specialist mental health knowledge and skills.

Mental health nurses contribute to care across the lifespan and in diverse settings, including acute inpatient units, emergency departments, community mental health services, specialist programs, primary care, outreach services, residential services, rehabilitation and non-government organisations.

This degree develops your advanced knowledge and skills relevant to contemporary mental health nursing practice, including person-centred assessment, recovery-oriented care, advocacy, therapeutic engagement, care coordination, clinical leadership and collaboration within multidisciplinary teams.

Graduates are well-positioned to extend their careers in specialist mental health nursing across a range of hospital, community and integrated healthcare settings in metropolitan, regional and rural areas. You may pursue roles involving shift leadership, clinical coordination, staff mentoring, education and service improvement, depending on their professional experience, employment context and relevant registration requirements.

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The Master of Mental Health Nursing is fully accredited with conditions by the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (ACMHN) in Australia since November 2024.

Graduates can apply for credentialling with the ACMHN, subject to meeting specific criteria set by the ACMHN. All applicants wishing to apply for credentialling with the ACHMN must hold current registration as a Registered Nurse (Division 1) General with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA).

In Australia, credentialled Mental Health Nurses are able to practise independently in public and private practice settings according to their scope of practice and in compliance with their pre-existing registration by the NMBA as a Registered Nurse.

Graduates intending to practise internationally must verify the specific registration to practise, or credentialing requirements with the relevant regulatory authority within their region.

Entry requirements and admissions

You need to satisfy all of the following entry requirements to be considered for entry into this degree.

Domestic applicants

  • Must have completed a Bachelor of Nursing or equivalent
  • Must hold current unrestricted registration as a Registered Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

International offshore applicants

  • Must have completed a Bachelor of Nursing or equivalent
  • Must hold current registration as a Registered Nurse in your home country.

There are no prerequisite subjects required for entry into this qualification.

A selection task is not required for entry into this qualification.

You must meet the University's minimum English language requirements to be eligible for a place in this course.

Pathways and further study

Even though there are no formal pathways into this course, if you have completed a postgraduate qualification in mental health nursing, you may be eligible for credit.

Graduates of RMIT's Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing are eligible to seek 96 points of credit transfer towards this master's degree.

Applicants who have completed an equivalent postgraduate certificate or postgraduate diploma (which must include a Research Methods component) in mental health nursing at another university can claim a maximum of 72 points credit (50%) towards this master's degree.

Upon successful completion of the Master of Mental Health Nursing, you may be eligible to progress to Higher Degrees by Research at RMIT University, such as the PhD (Digital Health) or Master of Science (Digital Health), subject to the individual entry requirements of the research degrees.

Explore postgraduate research degrees

Fees

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Entry for this degree is primarily through Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs).

Government financial assistance is available to eligible students regardless of the type of place you enrol in.

2027 indicative fees

Commonwealth supported places

  • 2027 Commonwealth supported places (CSP) range from AU$4,908 to AU$18,025*. 

Full-fee places

  • Full-fee places: AU$29,760 (2027 annual)

Additional expenses

  • Student services and amenities fee (SSAF): AU$386 maximum fee for 2027*.
  • Other items related to your program, including field trips, textbooks and equipment.

Annual fee adjustment*

Amounts quoted are indicative fees per annum, and are based on a standard year of full-time study (96 credit points). A proportionate fee applies for more or less than the full-time study load.

*Fees are adjusted on an annual basis and these fees should only be used as a guide.

Defer your payment

  • You may be eligible to apply for a HELP loan, which can be used to defer payment of up to the full amount of your student contribution fees. You may also be eligible to apply to defer payment of your SSAF through the SA-HELP loan scheme.
  • For more information and to learn how to calculate your exact tuition fees see postgraduate study fees.

Paying your fees and applying for refunds

For information on how to pay your fees or how to apply for a refund, please see Paying your fees and applying for refunds.

If you are offered a Commonwealth supported place, your tuition fees are subsidised by the Australian Government.

Your share of the fee (student contribution) is set on an annual basis by the government and is determined by the discipline areas (bands) of your individual enrolled courses, not the overall program.

How much can I expect to pay for my Commonwealth supported place?

The Australian Government has introduced changes to university funding and student contribution fees under its Job-ready Graduates Package. 

The fees in the table below apply to students who commence their degree in 2027. Fees for continuing students are available at fees for Commonwealth supported students.

Each subject (course) falls into a band. The band determines the student contribution amount for the subject.

Amounts listed in the table below are based on a standard, full-time study load (96 credit points per year) with all subjects in the same band. A proportionate fee applies for more or less than the full-time study load or for enrolment in subjects from a combination of bands.

You can learn how to calculate your exact tuition fees for units from different bands at Fees for Commonwealth supported students.

Maximum student contribution amount for Commonwealth supported places in 2027 for commencing students

Student contribution band by subject

Maximum annual student contribution amount (per EFTSL) in 2027
Education, Postgraduate Clinical Psychology, English, Mathematics, Statistics, Nursing, Indigenous and Foreign Languages, Agriculture $4,908 per standard year
$613 per standard (12 credit point) course
Allied Health, Other Health, Built Environment, Computing, Visual and Performing Arts, Professional Pathway Psychology, Professional Pathway Social Work, Engineering, Surveying, Environmental Studies, Science, Pathology $9,880 per standard year
$1,235 per standard (12 credit point) course
Dentistry, Medicine, Veterinary Science $14,046 per standard year
$1,755 per standard (12 credit point) course
Law, Accounting, Administration, Economics, Commerce, Communications, Society and Culture $18,025 per standard year
$2,253 per standard (12 credit point) course

Student Learning Entitlement

On 1 January 2022, the Government implemented the Student Learning Entitlement (SLE).

  • The SLE allows students 7 years of full-time subsidised study in Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP).
  • Your total SLE amount will be reduced in accordance with your overall study load in a CSP. 
  • Once you have utilised all your SLE, you can no longer study in a CSP.
Visit Study Assist for more information about SLE

If you are offered a full-fee place, you will need to pay the full tuition costs of your degree. However, eligible students (such as Australian citizens or holders of an Australian permanent humanitarian visa) may apply to defer payment of some or all of their tuition fees via the Commonwealth Government’s FEE-HELP loan scheme.

In addition to tuition fees, you will be charged an annual student services and amenities fee (SSAF), which is used to maintain and enhance services and amenities that improve your experience as an RMIT student.

The SSAF is calculated based on your enrolment load and the maximum fee for 2027 is $386.

You may also be required to purchase other items related to your course, including field trips, textbooks and equipment. These additional fees and expenses vary from course to course.

HECS-HELP Loans

The Australian Government provides financial assistance via the HECS-HELP loan scheme, which allows eligible students (such as Australian citizens or holders of an Australian permanent humanitarian visa) to defer payment of up to the full amount of their student contribution.

FEE-HELP loans

Eligible students (such as Australian citizens or holders of an Australian permanent humanitarian visa) may apply to defer payment of some or all of their tuition fees via the Commonwealth Government’s FEE-HELP loan scheme.

SA-HELP Loans

You may be eligible to apply to defer payment of the Student services and amenities fee (SSAF) through the SA-HELP loan scheme. If you use SA-HELP, the amount will be added to your accumulated HELP debt.

How does a HELP loan work?

If your HECS-HELP, FEE-HELP and/or SA-HELP loan application is successful, the Australian Government will pay RMIT, on your behalf, up to 100% of your fees. This amount will become part of your accumulated HELP debt.

You only start repaying your accumulated HELP debt to the Australian Government once you earn above the minimum income threshold for repayment, which is set each year by the Australian Government (this also applies if you are still studying). The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will calculate your compulsory repayment for the year and include this on your income tax notice.

For more information about loan repayment options see Commonwealth assistance (HELP loans) or Study Assist.

You may be eligible to apply for income tax deductions for education expenses linked to your employment.

See the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for more information.

RMIT awards more than 2000 scholarships every year to recognise academic achievement and assist students from a variety of backgrounds.

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Additional costs

In addition to tuition fees you also need to pay for:

You also need to account for your living expenses. Estimate the cost of living in Melbourne.

Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF)

In addition to tuition fees, you will be charged an annual student services and amenities fee (SSAF), which is used to maintain and enhance services and amenities that improve your experience as an RMIT student. The SSAF is calculated based on your enrolment load and the maximum fee for 2027 is $386. 

How your fees are calculated

Find out more details about how fees are calculated and the expected annual increase.

Applying for refunds

Find information on how to apply for a refund as a continuing international student.

RMIT awards more than 2000 scholarships every year to recognise academic achievement and assist students from a variety of backgrounds.

Explore scholarships

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Looking for answers or more general information?

Use our Frequently Asked Questions to learn about the application process and its equity access schemes, find out how to accept or defer your offer or request a leave of absence, discover information about your fees, refunds and scholarships, and explore the various student support and advocacy services, as well as how to find out more about your preferred program, and more.

Visit our Frequently Asked Questions

This course is not available for international students intending to study on a student visa.

Information for international students

Sorry, this course is not available for international students intending to study on a student visa. If you hold a different visa type, you may be eligible. Please contact Study@RMIT for more information.

 

Information for local students

If you are a local student please select 'switch to local' below to view the full course information.

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