10966NAT Certificate IV in End of Life Doula Services Frequently Asked Questions

You’ll receive the 10966NAT Certificate IV in End of Life Doula Services and become an accredited End of Life Doula. This qualification is delivered in partnership with Essential Skills Training and Recruitment.

If you feel ‘called’ to be of service to people and those close to them at the end of life, this qualification will give you the comprehensive professional training, skills and knowledge you need to carry out this work effectively.

This 18-month course qualifies you to provide end of life doula services, home-based end of life and after-death care to people who have life-limiting conditions, terminal illnesses or are advancing in age. You’ll have the skills to assist them in the fulfillment of their wishes, preferences, and needs while aligning with their core values. In addition, you will assist and bridge the service gaps within the medical model and provide vital support working alongside our nursing, medical and allied health colleagues.

You’ll also be best equipped to practice as an end of life doula in mainstream clinical or medical, palliative and/or aged care environments in clinically-based palliative and aged care support models.

If you currently work in the aged care, clinical, nursing or allied health space, this qualification will deepen your practice, enhance your holistic performance and satisfaction in your chosen vocation, and support you to provide a more holistic service to people at end of life and those caring for them.

If you haven’t already, we strongly recommend completing our 9-hour Foundation Workshop and 4-day Intensive course. These will introduce you to the fundamentals of becoming an end of life doula, namely who we have to ‘be’, what we ‘do’, and allow you to see if this is something you feel called to do as this role is not for everybody. In addition, it allows you to get started with your doula-ing and brings you the world of support from mentors, other doulas, and extensive resources.

This accredited training is a part-time, 18-month course, which equates to around 15 hours per week with a 4-week break over Christmas and New Year’s. These 15 hours include online classrooms, tutorials, forums, practicals, self-paced work and assessments.

Our next scheduled intake commences in March and applications are now open. Capacity is limited to 30 students per intake. If you’d like to enrol, please submit an enquiry form. 

Preparing the Way delivers four of the units (see End of Life Doula Skill Set). All our trainers are experienced end of life doulas who have completed the TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and are engaged by Preparing the Way. Specialist guest speakers, including Natural Grace Holistic Funeral Directors, will share their knowledge and expertise throughout the course. Essential Skills Training and Recruitment (ESTR) delivers the remaining 11 units. ESTR (RTO ID 92719) is a registered training organisation with the national regulator for vocational education and training (ASQA).

The Preparing the Way team plus a significant group of end of life industry partners and end of life doulas collaborated to design the training under the direction and funding of Preparing the Way. The training has been assessed and validated by our partner Registered Training Organisation, Essential Skills Training and Recruitment. Then, subsequently, national accredited by ASQA.

The End of Life Doula course is delivered via online classroom (Zoom) as well as structured and self-paced learning. There will also be tutorials for focused learning, forums for facilitated learning and study, a buddy system with another student, and extensive access to dedicated trainers.

Applicants for our 10966NAT Certificate in End of Life Doula Services must:

• • Be 21 years of age or older
  • Provide a Police, Working with Children, and Working with Vulnerable People check (or the equivalent in your state/territory)
  • Have high level language, literacy, and numeracy skills
  • Attend an interview to determine your suitability for this course
  • Have the emotional and professional maturity to deal with traumatic situations
  • Be available in person to attend the face to face elements of the course

Please submit an equiry form to register your interest, and we’ll send you an email with the course information and steps on how to apply.

This 18-month, 1095-hour course costs $12,195, with payment plan options available.

If you’ve already completed our Intensive Course, tuition is $11,095 (no GST applies).

If you have completed End of Life Skill Set units, tuition is reduced accordingly. See End of Life Doula Skill Set tuition.

In addition, participants will have travel and accommodation costs for the face-to-face training days plus recommended reading, resources, etc.

We understand that paying the entire tuition fee at once isn’t feasible for every student. So, once you’ve paid a $1,500 deposit when we accept your application, you can spread the remaining payments by taking up a payment plan over a weekly, fortnightly or monthly over a 12-month period if this suits you best. Read the course information for more details.

Government funding is not currently available for this course. 

The Registered Training Organisation, Essential SkillsTraining and Recruitment (ESTR) will grant Credit Transfer on application to the equivalent, current units of competency completed in previous courses to those in our 10966NAT Certificate IV in End of Life Doula Services. 

We encourage you to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) on enrolment. Applications for Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer will be processed in accordance with ESTR’s policies and procedures.

If you have completed our Intensive Course, tuition is $11,095 (no GST applies).

If you have completed End of Life Skill Set units, tuition is reduced accordingly. See End of Life Doula Skill Set tuition.

If you need to postpone your study for illness or personal reasons, we require evidence for your absence(s) and will conduct an assessment to evaluate how and when you can complete your studies and how we may assist you.

No, you don’t need to study this course to be a practicing end of life doula. However, we believe having the 10966NAT Certificate IV in End of Life Doula Services will open up many doors for your career, allowing you to work in your private practice as well as in more traditional medical and clinical settings.

Essential Skills Training and Recruitment (ESTR) (RTO ID 91729) is a registered training organisation (RTO) that we have partnered with to be able to offer the 10966NAT Certificate IV in End of Life Doula Services to the world. As the industry experts, Preparing the Way have designed the lessons and delivers the first four units. As the RTO, ESTR manages the enrolment, delivers 11 units, validates the training and assessment results, manages reporting, and all other quality and certification processes associated with your course. 

Find out more about Essential Skills Training and Recruitment here.