Information on this page is for Australian residents
Course not available to international students
Duration:
0.5 years full time
Delivery mode:
Face to Face with eLearning
Location: 
Industry
Sunshine
Werribee
Start dates:
5 February 2025
7 July 2025
Application due dates:
Applications for this course are currently being accepted.

July 2023 intake is only available at Werribee Campus

Apply

Overview

Kickstart your emergency services career and get job-ready to work as a patient transport officer with a Certificate III in Non-Emergency Patient Transport (NEPT) at Victoria University.

Get the skills to safely assess, transport and care for patients via pre-arranged, booked transport service and in some cases 000 calls.

With this non-emergency patient-transport-driver course, you’ll be ready to help patients who are injured, older, or have a chronic illness or disability, to access essential medical facilities.

You’ll also be job-ready to assist patients and work closely with ambulance attendants and other paramedicine professionals.

Learning from our expert staff through our award-winning interactive e-learning model, you will gain healthcare skills such as:

  • interpreting and applying medical terminology
  • recognising healthy body systems
  • providing first aid
  • infection prevention and control procedures
  • providing advanced resuscitation
  • assessing and delivering basic clinical care
  • procedures for routine safe removal of a patient
  • transporting non-emergency patients.

You’ll also gain essential people skills to help you communicate with health care and community services staff and support patients from diverse communities. 

As a VU student, you’ll have access to top work placement opportunities in organisations such as:

During your 80 hours of placements, you’ll get to work with non-emergency patient transport vehicles under the supervision of experts in the field. 

With this Certificate III in Non-Emergency Patient Transport, you’ll be ready for employment in the emergency care sector supporting paramedics and hospital workers on the frontline.

Then, you can progress your career further with a seamless transition into our Diploma of Emergency Health Care, which will equip you with skills to provide critical life support to patients in emergency. The diploma includes 160 hours of clinical work placement in the community. 

With Ambulance Victoria facilities embedded on our Sunshine Campus, you’ll benefit from our strong industry links.

If you continue on to our Diploma of Emergency Health Care and Bachelor of Paramedicine, you’ll connect and collaborate with highly-experienced professionals from within Ambulance Victoria through our new state-of-the-art training facilities.

With more than 1300 paramedics recruited to Ambulance Victoria over the past two years, our graduates are well-placed to be part of the solution to the ever-increasing demand for emergency healthcare services.

Achieve your full potential with our Learning Hubs, which help you develop your confidence, academic ability, and study skills.

Benefit from in-person mentoring and study sessions, along with a range of digital learning modules that you can access anytime.

Get help from our online, 24/7 support service to polish your assignments before you submit, and receive guidance on writing, referencing, maths and more.

Read more about Learning Hubs

Need some advice?

Request a call back from one of our experienced VUHQ course advisers to get your questions answered.

Request a call back

TAFE resources

Developing your real-world skills in non-emergency transport & care - Transcript

Careers in health

As Australia’s strong need for health care and social assistance workers continues to grow, you’ll be well-placed to start your career in this important industry.

With a Certificate III in Non-Emergency Patient Transport, you’ll have the high skills to set yourself up for a strong future and be ready for employment as a:

  • patient transport officer (PTO)
  • first aid officer. 
Catering for career change

Catering for career change

Andrew Kaminski decided to become a paramedic and give back to local communities when it came time for a career change.

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Nationally recognised training

This course is nationally recognised training.

Course structure

To be awarded the HLT31120 Certificate III in Non-Emergency Patient Transport, 13 units must completed comprising:
- 11 core units
- 2 elective units, consisting of:
- at least 1 unit from the electives listed from the qualification HLT31120 Certificate III in Non-Emergency Patient Transport
- up to 1 unit from the electives listed below or from any other current endorsed Training Package or accredited course.

VU Polytechnic delivers the electives listed in the ‘course structure and units’ below. These electives have been selected based on industry needs, graduate pathways and/or student and teacher feedback. Alternative suitable electives are only available via Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and Credit Transfer (CT).

CORE UNITS

ELECTIVE UNITS

This qualification reflects the role of workers such as non-emergency patient transport officers who provide non-emergency transport and care for patients who have non-acute or chronic illness or disability and require transport. Workers in this role provide appropriate patient assessment, follow procedures for safe removal of a patient for transport for pre-arranged or booked transport service and the time of response is not given high priority in comparison to emergency transport.

Fees & scholarships

Fee type for this course: VET

Fee type definitions

The amount you pay for your course depends on whether you’re offered a government subsidised place or a full fee-paying place.

Students who enrol in a:

  • government subsidised place pay subsidised tuition fees (the government contributes the rest), and may be required to pay a Student Services and Amenities Fee along with any material fees
  • full fee-paying place pay the full fee tuition rate (which includes Student Services and Amenities Fee and any material fees).

Calculate your VET course fees.

Find out more about:

Scholarships & assistance

Apply for a scholarship to help with your study costs.

We can help with fee assistance and advice.

Skills First (subsidised) indicative fees

The Skills First government contribution in 2024 is $7,091.70. If eligible, you will pay:

  • Tuition: $1,473.60*
  • Materials: $204
  • Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF): maximum per year $175.50**

*A concession rate of 20% of the standard Skills First subsidised tuition fee is available if you are eligible for a concession. Learn more about concessions.

**May be subject to change.

Full-fee place total indicative fees

  • 2024 full-fee place: $7,675.

Admission & pathways

Meeting the minimum admission requirements does not guarantee you entry into this course. Some courses receive more applications than the number of places available. In this situation we will also assess your education, work and other relevant experience.

If you do not meet the minimum requirements you may be eligible for one of our special admission programs.

Find out more about how to apply for our courses, and our commitment to admissions transparency.

Entry requirements

All applicants must be at least 18 years of age or over and must hold a driver's Licence (probationary licence accepted) at the time of commencement in the course.
Applicants must complete to determine suitability:
- Pre-training Review (PTR)
- Literacy and numeracy assessment.
Practical placement requirements:
- Fit for work check
- A current Working with Children Check (WWCC)
- Police check (valid 6 months of course commencement)
- Evidence of up to date Immunisations
- In response to Victoria's Roadmap announced in September 2021, all students must have any COVID-19 vaccine prior to the commencement of placement. Students will be required to provide evidence prior to commencement of placement. If students are not compliant with this requirement they are not eligible to undertake a placement and this will mean that they will not be able to progress within their course.
Failure to provide the required documents in the timeframe specified by the Course Coordinator, means you will be unable to undertake practical placement in a workplace and therefore not eligible to progress in this course.
The following are suggested sites you could visit to obtain these checks:
- Police Record Check - http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=274
- Working with Children Check - http://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/
- Information about the immunisations can be found online at https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/immunisation
In addition, student uniform must be purchased through Victoria University.

There are many ways you can start your education journey at VU. Pathways offer an easy transition between courses at different levels, so that you can start with a certificate and progress right through to postgraduate study.

Find out more about pathways and credits.

Use our credit calculator to find out how much credit you could get towards your course, based on your previous study.

You may be able to complete your qualification sooner through formal recognition of your existing skills. This is known as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

To receive RPL, we assess your previous work, education and life experiences against recognised qualifications. Applications for RPL can be made prior to enrolling.

Call us on 1300 TAFE VP (1300 823 387) to discuss RPL options with the course manager.

Credit Calculator

Find out how much credit you could get towards your course, based on your previous study.

CALCULATE YOUR CREDIT

How to apply

Prior to enrolment, all applicants will be required to complete a literacy and numeracy assessment to assist with determining eligibility and to identify learning support needs.

Available start dates:
  • 5 February 2025
  • 7 July 2025

Before you apply

Before starting your application, please read through the step-by-step VU Polytechnic application process to make sure you have all the necessary documents and information ready to successfully complete your application.

Before applying, you should consider whether you also want to apply for:

Apply direct to VU

Direct applications are due on 21 January 2025 for our next intake which starts on 5 February 2025.

Apply direct to VU

Already a VU student?

If you are already a VU student, apply direct to VU using our Admissions centre to transfer into this course. Remember it’s best to be accepted into your new course before withdrawing from your current one.

After you apply

  • It’s important to check for emails from us (which may go to your spam/junk folder).
  • Complete any requests for information by the given dates, otherwise your application may not be considered

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Get help

Please note that if changes to this course occur, VU will notify students as soon as possible.

At Victoria University, we aim to display accurate and complete course information online. However, we are unable to guarantee that every course change is currently displayed. You may contact the University directly on +61 3 9919 6100 to confirm the most up-to-date course fees, pathways and credit transfer, recognition of prior learning, admission and enrolment procedures, examinations and services available to our students.