It is a degree course and covers all aspects of Health and nursing. The degree is called a Bachelor of Health Science - Nursing and allows the graduate to work in Institutions associated with Psychiatric, General,Geriatric and Developmentally Delayed Nursing. Some general nurses are employed in some midwifery units, in NICU and the postnatal area. Admission criteria varies from state to state, generally the universities assist the applicants as much as possible. There are introductory courses to Universities which count for admission credits for those people who are coming back into studying, or who are mature age applicants.
Most university courses are of one year duration, some are two years.
The tertiary sector is what we call university education, the final form of education - academia. This is because nursing and midwifery until fairly recently have been hospital based courses. Most university courses are offered in the cities, there are some outreach programs offered and one distance education course for midwifery. Masters level are being offered all over the place as distance education. Professional Bodies ACMI is the Australian College of Midwives and the central office is in Melbourne Victoria.