ABSTRACT There has been limited scholarship on culturally responsive supervision in social work. This article provides a comprehensive review of literature and builds artefacts and conceptual maps encompassing key cultural elements in cultural-clinical supervision to inform social work practice. The visual artefacts present five key areas of Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing, including identity, community, relationality, deep listening, and yarning. This project was Aboriginal-led and developed collaboratively between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal social workers and researchers. This article can assist both First Nations and non-First Nations supervisors to better understand the importance of culturally responsive supervision in all social work settings. IMPLICATIONS It is important for social workers to incorporate Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing in their supervision practices, to create culturally safe supervision. Bringing the cultural-clinical interface together can enhance cultural supervision in all services.

ABSTRACT Social work with Aboriginal Australians presents significant challenges for non-Aboriginal social workers, due to complex historical, cultural, and political factors. This article explores the perceptions of 13 Aboriginal Australians who participated in a qualitative study examining how non-Aboriginal social workers navigate the challenges of contemporary practice. Aboriginal participants identified the following issues: that non-Aboriginal social workers had limited understanding of the ongoing impacts of colonisation and of child removal, that racist attitudes endure, and that culturally safe practice is not always evident. They described receiving insufficient support for self-determination from social workers and noted a tendency for social workers to disregard the impacts of their own professional power. Participants made corresponding suggestions for improvement: that social workers should be open to learning from Aboriginal Australians and willing to engage in honest and authentic relationships, and that universities and training organisations should provide more comprehensive preparation for social work practice with Aboriginal Peoples. By centring the voices of Aboriginal Australians, this article offers insights and suggestions for how social work can better serve and support the self-determination of Aboriginal Australians. IMPLICATIONS Listening to and learning from Aboriginal people is critical to improved social work practice. Being trustworthy and building authentic relationships where power imbalances are dealt with honestly supports good practice. Social work training should include comprehensive education on ongoing effects of racist policies, particularly child removal.

ABSTRACT In rural and remote areas of Australia, the social determinants of health continue to influence the health and wellbeing of children and young people. In existence for a decade, the Social Work in Schools (SWiS) program offers opportunities to support the wellbeing needs of school students. However, to date, it is unknown how the SWiS program is perceived by school leaders over time. In the qualitative study reported here, semistructured interviews with school leaders (n = 5) were conducted in regional New South Wales. An inductive thematic analysis of data generated four themes: settling in (enhancing the establishment of the student social work role), scope of practice (the complex ways in which social work students can be utilised in a school setting), challenges of supporting social work students, and the perceived benefits of the SWiS program. The findings revealed an ongoing appreciation by school leaders towards the implementation of the SWiS program and the role played by social work students in supporting children and young people in their school communities. These findings help build evidence for the expansion of the program to include other allied health professional students in schools. IMPLICATIONS School social workers can assist in addressing the impact of the social determinants of health on the wellbeing of children and young people living in rural, regional, and remote areas. School leaders perceive the University of New England SWiS program to be a positive step in responding to the needs of vulnerable children and young people. Identifying the enablers and challenges of implementing the Social Work in Schools program over time has positive implications for expanding the program to include other allied health roles.

ABSTRACT An estimated half the population may be impacted by suicide loss. The combination of grief and trauma makes the experience particularly complex. Recognised as the most stigmatised of all sudden losses people bereaved by suicide are in sociocultural contexts that disrupt constructive grief processes and create barriers for help seeking and supportive responses. Effecting change in this context poses a significant health promotion challenge. Social workers in the South West Region of Western Australia sought to develop and deliver a unique postvention approach aimed at strengthening the self-support capacity of people bereaved by suicide while building broader community capacity for informal support. In this article, we provide an overview of a community capacity building approach, underpinned by a social work perspective, and report on findings from a reflective evaluative study of the experiences of community participants. The findings point to the value of good information and the desire to support people bereaved by suicide effectively. People identified the benefits of attending the Forum as increased awareness of grief and trauma, fostering empathy for self and others; increased understanding of the impacts of stigma on grief processes and informal support; and recognising shared experiences of suicide bereavement in the community. IMPLICATIONS Community approaches to suicide postvention can be done safely and are valuable to the people who participate. Social work skills for community engagement meet the needs of people bereaved by suicide and enhance the capacity of their informal supporters. Community conversations of suicide grief strengthen understandings and disrupt societal silences and stigmas.

ABSTRACT Hospital social workers rely on their professional judgement to make difficult decisions about allocating their time and prioritising referrals. The challenge of prioritising referrals lies within the fallibility of decision making and the conflict between social work and hospital goals for patient care. The resulting inconsistencies in clinical practice contrast with the profession's need for consistent, transparent, and justified decisions. Responding to this context, authors in this article detail the development of a prioritisation framework for social work referrals. Using the modified Delphi technique, 26 hospital social workers completed four survey rounds, and 13 hospital social workers participated in two meetings to gain a consensus about the factors that should be integral in a prioritising framework. We anticipate the framework will support hospital social workers in making transparent and consistent decisions, assessing patients promptly, and improving efficiency and patient outcomes. IMPLICATIONS A prioritisation framework allows hospital social workers to navigate challenging prioritisation decisions efficiently, consistently, and successfully. Improved articulation of clinical priorities by social workers will assist in accounting for the psychosocial needs of patients in the context of hospital requirements for timely discharge.

ABSTRACT Social workers play an important role in emergency departments, including assessing and responding to family violence presentations. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new social and environmental stressors that some workers feared could increase family violence rates. The pandemic impacted hospital emergency department staffing, making identifying and assessing family violence situations more difficult with social workers working virtually in the emergency department. This article describes a retrospective audit of hospital administrative data and family violence assessment records in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. There was a statistically significant decrease in family violence presentations in 2020 compared to 2019. The findings from this audit can contribute to a better understanding of family violence presentation patterns during public health crises and inform further research on the impact of social work interventions in emergency department settings. IMPLICATIONS Social workers can play an important role in identifying family violence cases in emergency departments. Social workers should be considered an important part of emergency department staffing in future state of emergencies or extreme events with respect to family violence identification and management.

ABSTRACT Australia is a culturally and linguistically diverse country. However, within the Australian context, there is limited information regarding mental health challenges faced by young people from migrant communities and how best to provide culturally responsive and safe mental health services to these young people and their families. In this qualitative study authors aimed to explore the perspectives and experiences of mental health workers concerning their practice with young people and their families from multicultural communities. The study recruited and interviewed 13 mental health workers from Western Sydney Local Health District. Using thematic analysis, this study identified ten subthemes that contributed to the two core analytic themes: (1) factors influencing the mental health of young people, and (2) transcultural mental health practice and strategies. This novel study showed that mental health workers, including social workers, need to have a family-oriented perspective, adopt a culturally responsive lens, educate families, and support young people in their journey. Further attention is required to improve mental health services by providing guidance and support to social workers and practitioners, and tailored education for parents from multicultural communities to better understand mental health issues for young people from migrant backgrounds. IMPLICATIONS Family-oriented perspectives can be helpful in providing effective transcultural mental health services to young people. Adopting a cultural lens is crucial to successfully working with young people from multicultural communities.