Discover what a Diploma of Quality Auditing involves and how it can advance your career in compliance, risk management, or quality assurance roles.
If you’re the person at work who checks that procedures are followed, prepares for the external audit or chases up the corrective actions afterwards, you’re already doing a lot of what a quality auditor does. The BSB50920 Diploma of Quality Auditing is the qualification for that work.
This guide explains what the Diploma covers, who it suits, what’s involved in completing it with GTI, and what it costs, so you can decide whether it’s the right qualification for you.
If this qualification matches your audit career goal, review the Diploma of Quality Auditing course page for online delivery, entry requirements, RPL and fees.
The BSB50920 Diploma of Quality Auditing is a nationally recognised qualification, valid across Australia. It covers the whole audit process, from planning an audit and gathering evidence to reporting what you find and following up on the actions that come out of it.
It isn’t tied to one industry. The same audit skills apply whether you’re checking a manufacturing process, a construction site’s quality plan, a health service’s procedures or an office’s compliance with policy.
A Diploma is written for people who lead work. In quality auditing, that’s the difference between helping with an audit and running one: deciding its scope, leading the team, and reporting to the people who have to act on it.
If you’re newer to auditing, you might take part in audits for a while before leading them. If you’re already leading them, or expected to, the Diploma is the level that matches the work.
GTI’s Diploma is made up of 12 units. Grouped by the part of the job they cover, they are:
If you’ve already completed any of these units in another qualification, credit transfer may mean you complete fewer.
Because the Diploma is nationally recognised, it’s the same qualification whichever registered training organisation delivers it, and employers across Australia can check it on the national register.
The Diploma doesn’t make you a certified auditor. Auditor certification comes from a separate body, usually Exemplar Global in Australia or CQI and IRCA internationally. To be certified you complete a lead auditor course that body has certified, and build up a log of real audits. The Diploma gives you the grounding in how audits are planned, led and reported, and because it’s assessed through your own work, the chance to build audit experience while you study. If certification is your goal, check the certifying body’s current requirements before you start.
GTI’s Diploma is assessed through your own work, so there are entry requirements. You’ll need to:
The full requirements are on the Diploma of Quality Auditing course page.
People come to the Diploma from many directions: supervisors responsible for quality on their site, office managers who look after compliance, safety and quality coordinators, and people who’ve been asked to take on internal audits alongside their main job.
The Diploma is relevant to roles such as:
A qualification can help you move into one of these roles, or be recognised in the one you already have, though it can’t guarantee a promotion or a pay rise. What people earn depends on the role, the industry and their experience.
Brigitte was doing internal audits before she completed the Diploma with GTI. Since finishing it, she’s moved into more of a compliance role and has completed two external audits. So far it’s made a difference of $10,000 to $16,000 a year to her pay, about $190 to $310 a week. She found studying at her own pace particularly helpful, and when work and life got busy she applied for an extension and still finished.
Every industry in Australia has some level of regulation. Food and beverage companies adhere to safety standards, construction projects follow building codes, healthcare organisations must comply with stringent patient care guidelines, and so on. The universal need for compliance and quality means that a formal qualification in quality auditing can hold weight across diverse sectors. Additionally, many businesses in regulated fields see routine audits as a way to remain competitive. They rely on skilled auditors to maintain certifications and demonstrate excellence to stakeholders.
According to trends reported by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO, 2022, https://www.iso.org), there has been a steady increase in certifications like ISO 9001 (Quality Management Systems) worldwide. Auditors familiar with multiple frameworks are in demand because they help organisations meet these evolving standards. Hence, pursuing this diploma can be a solid investment for those aiming to stay relevant in industries with rising compliance obligations.
Individual results may vary, promotions or pay rises are not guaranteed.
Is it too specialised? Auditing is used in business, construction, health, education, government and many other fields, and the skills behind it, like gathering evidence, analysing it and reporting clearly, apply well beyond audits.
Isn’t auditing just paperwork? Documents are part of it, but much of an audit is talking to people, watching how work is actually done and working out why something isn’t happening the way the procedure says.
How long does it take? Most people take 9 to 16 months.
Are there exams? No. You’re assessed through workplace projects.
Can I study while working full time? Yes. It’s online and self-paced, so you study when it suits you.
Is it nationally recognised? Yes. It’s a nationally recognised qualification, valid across Australia.
GTI’s Diploma is 100% online and self-paced. Most people take 9 to 16 months, fitting study around work, whether that’s weeknight evenings, a block on the weekend or whatever their roster allows.
You’re allocated a trainer, and you can contact them by phone and email as often as you need.
If you enrol and decide it isn’t right for you, GTI’s money-back guarantee means you can withdraw with a refund within the first 20 days.
There are no exams. The assessments are workplace projects, so you show what you know using real work, such as planning an audit of a process at your workplace, reporting on what you find and following up the corrective actions.
If an assessment isn’t yet competent, you can resubmit it. You have five free resubmissions.
RPL and credit transfer. Credit transfer is for units you’ve already completed in another qualification. RPL is for experience: at GTI it works through conversations and interviews with your trainer and evidence from your work. Where your experience could count, your trainer assesses it unit by unit against the evidence you provide.
There are several ways to pay for the Diploma. Some depend on where you live and whether places are available.
A GTI scholarship. The full fee is $7,680. With a GTI scholarship it’s $3,930, a saving of $3,750. Scholarships are for students paying the fee directly, whether that’s you or your employer, rather than through government funding. They’re assessed on your commitment and goals, not on academic results, and GTI can help you with the application.
A payment plan. If you’re paying yourself, including the part of the fee a scholarship doesn’t cover, you can spread the cost with a payment plan.
Your employer. Many employers pay for staff to complete the Diploma. GTI can provide progress reporting to your employer, and organisations enrolling several staff have an account manager.
VET Student Loans. The Diploma is approved for VET Student Loans. To be eligible you need to be an Australian citizen or a qualifying New Zealand Special Category Visa holder, and provide evidence such as an Australian Year 12 certificate or a Certificate IV or higher qualification. The fee sits under the loan cap, so there’s no gap fee to pay up front.
Smart and Skilled. If you live in NSW, you may be eligible for a subsidised place under Smart and Skilled, the NSW Government’s funding program, subject to availability.
A traineeship. If you live in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, the ACT or the Northern Territory, you may be able to complete the Diploma as a traineeship through your employer, subject to availability. In NSW, traineeships for new employees are funded under Smart and Skilled.
Tax. The course may be tax deductible if it relates to your current work. That isn’t guaranteed, so check with a tax accountant.
Already holding a qualification doesn’t stop you. You’re still eligible for funding and for a scholarship, as long as you meet the other requirements.
This article is intended as a general guide only and does not constitute employment advice or a guarantee of earnings. As a Registered Training Organisation (RTO 31192), we cannot guarantee employment outcomes or earnings. Fees and funding are correct at the time of writing and may change. Check the course page for current details.