The Defence and Strategic Studies Course (DSSC) is a year long post-graduate level educational program, with a strong practitioner focus, that provides senior military and civilian officials with the knowledge, awareness and skills to operate at the highest levels of leadership, command, policy formulation and management. CDSS Graduates constitute a cohort of senior leaders in Australia and around the world who share common understanding of the more complex aspects of their work - whether as military officers or civilian national security professionals.
The course is the result of many years of development, refinement and fine tuning. As Australia's most advanced program of professional military education, it provides course members the opportunity to spend a year learning, thinking and writing about the challenges that they will face as they proceed to command and management roles at the most senior levels of their profession. Participation in this program offers course members the opportunity to shift their focus from the tactical and operational to the strategic level.
Course members use the consideration of the curriculum to develop their individual conceptual and analytical thinking, leadership and interpersonal skills. However, just as important is the opportunity to develop an empathetic understanding of the point-of-view of the other course members. The alumni of this course will be working together for the rest of their careers. One of the great benefits of attending CDSS is being able to learn from the rich and varied perspectives of course members drawn from Australia and across the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, North America, the United Kingdom and Europe.
The CDSS educational approach is an adult-learning model. This means that we do not simply train course members. The CDSS provides an advanced learning environment. Course members are responsible for using the opportunities that the DSSC provides to develop themselves. Course members are expected to participate in all aspects of the program. However, the formal program is only the beginning of the learning that takes place at the College. All members of the CDSS, both staff and students, are expected to contribute their experience and their learning to enrich the group.
The DSSC is offered once each year, and runs from January to December. Each course is attended by up to 50 military and civilian officers from Defence, other Government agencies, and overseas Defence forces. Inter-agency attendees are also welcome for specific blocks of study . The course is conducted at the post-graduate level and most of the participants are at the levels of Military 06-07 (Colonel-Brigadier equivalent) or Australian Public Service Executive Level 2.
