Social Work In Australia Research Articles

The knowledge and skills needed for forensic social work in Australia: A Delphi study

Summary Forensic social work is the application of social work knowledge, skills, values and ethics within a legal and criminal justice context. Globally, social workers play an integral role in the criminal justice system but in many countries, including Australia, there is limited conception of the competencies needed for this specialist practice. Australia serves as an example of forensic social work regulated through a generalist social work competency framework, where specialist skills and knowledge are not distinctly outlined or assessed. The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge and skills used by forensic social work practitioners in Australia. This study used a 3-round Delphi method with an expert panel of social workers working in forensic practice across Australia. It consisted of a 1-hour semi-structured individual interview followed by 2 rounds of online surveys. Findings Consensus was obtained for 30 skill and knowledge items for Australian forensic social work. The panel identified these competencies as specialist, meaning requiring further training beyond generalist proficiency. Of these, eight of the skill and knowledge items were seen as essential for graduates entering forensic social work. Applications The findings from this study contribute to an evidence-based model of forensic social work competency. In Australia, they can be used to consider potential gaps between current generalist mechanisms and specialist practice expectations. With further research, these findings can be used to inform professional standards for forensic social work in Australia and potentially internationally.

International graduates of social work in Australia: A longitudinal study of those who struggle to develop professional identity

International graduates of social work in Australia: A longitudinal study of those who struggle to develop professional identity

Teaching human rights-based social work in Australia – drawing from practice experiences in diverse environments

ABSTRACT This reflective piece considers the author’s formative professional experiences including working in the criminal justice system in Central Australia, and conducting humanitarian monitoring of immigration detention centers across Australia, both environments where the human rights of those impacted were constrained through the domestic legal frameworks. By utilizing these experiences to illustrate the strength of embracing a human rights-based approach within social work in Australia, the author emphasizes that this approach is broader than the construct of domestic legality alone. Having recently completed her doctoral thesis exploring the lived experiences of youth detention in New South Wales, the author describes how she frames her emerging social work teaching practice through using her professional background, incorporating case studies, and facilitating discussions in a dynamic, flipped classroom. The author emphasizes in her teaching that social workers are positioned as human rights-focused practitioners, noting that the law, not infrequently, contravenes basic human rights standards, or is not enforced with an overarching human rights-based ethos or approach. Ethical and reflective human rights-focused social work practice in Australia is vital within this country marred by deepening inequalities and the on-going destructive processes of colonization.

Social Work in Australia

Social Work in Australia

Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Social Work in Australia

ABSTRACT In this article we argue that in Australian social work context and practice, Indigenous Data Sovereignty (ID-SOV) needs to be operationalised by enacting the principles of Indigenous Data Governance (ID-GOV). Failure to embed ID-SOV and ID-GOV leaves the profession open to claims that it is complicit in disempowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in relation to data. ID-SOV is a global movement focused on Indigenous Peoples having access to, and ownership, control, and possession of, their data. Social work is a profession committed to championing equal rights and challenging injustices. Therefore, it has an obligation to decolonise existing data structures in its workplaces. This article outlines the Australian ID-SOV movement, including current scholarship on operationalising ID-SOV in the form of ID-GOV, and the challenge for social work to position itself in alliance with the ID-SOV movement and in active participation in changing the way Indigenous data have traditionally been collected and used in Australia IMPLICATIONS The Indigenous Data Sovereignty (ID-SOV) movement demands the data rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and is re-shaping the Australian data landscape. If social work is true to its stated commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination, the profession needs to engage with ID-SOV and work to operationalise Indigenous Data Governance (ID-GOV) across social work environments. A particular focus of this article is the importance of ID-SOV and ID-GOV being operationalised within social work research and policy in areas such as “child protection”, the criminal justice system, health and wellbeing, and housing.

Barriers to Studying Social Work in Australia for Unvaccinated People

ABSTRACT Australian higher education providers (HEPs) gatekeep access to social work education using academic credentials, as well as criminal history checks. Some HEPs take an “as needed” approach to vaccination, while some add vaccination status as a gatekeeping criterion, and eligibility to study can be contingent upon all prospective students being fully vaccinated. We examined the websites of the 32 Australian HEPs that offered accredited social work programs at the time of the study, to determine the extent to which mandatory vaccination was required. Of these, 28% (n = 9) specified that students must be fully vaccinated in order to participate in compulsory field placements, irrespective of the requirements of placement agencies. Of these 9 HEPs, 7 had their social work programs located in a health or allied health school. IMPLICATIONS The choice of where to study social work in Australia is reduced for some prospective students by HEP policies that require mandatory vaccination The rationale for mandating vaccinations for social work students by some HEPs is unclear, and may be related to programs being co-located in health focused schools/departments, or a reflection of a broader emphasis on risk management Mandating vaccination for no compelling reason is at odds with broader public policy principles and may conflict with human rights principles, which are fundamental to social work

The Non-Indigenous Educator Teaching Australian Aboriginal Content in Social Work Education

ABSTRACT Social work in Australia requires educators to teach skills, knowledge, and Aboriginal ways of knowing, doing, and being to ensure graduates are culturally responsive and potential allies when working with Aboriginal peoples and communities. This education should include an accurate teaching of Australian Aboriginal history and sharing of Aboriginal knowledge. Currently, non-Aboriginal educators are more likely to teach Aboriginal content, which can foreclose opportunities for Aboriginal educators. On the surface this appears to be a continuation of colonialism where white privileged groups speak for, speak about, and occupy, in this instance, the educational spaces related to Australian Aboriginal peoples and other minority racial groups. This occupation of the educational space in social work is an interesting predicament when considering whether social work educators are allies to the processes of decolonisation. This article explores the experiences of non-Aboriginal educators and asks the question—how do we decolonise social work to create culturally responsive practitioners? IMPLICATIONS Universities need to be aware of and address the continuation of colonising practices in teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content. There is the potential to create a transformative future in social work education with the sharing of two world views.

Should social work become a registered profession? An examination of the views of 15 Australian social workers

AbstractIn contrast to most Western jurisdictions, social work in Australia is not currently a registered profession. However, in late 2021, the South Australian Parliament passed a Bill to register social workers in that state. This follows a long‐standing but previously unsuccessful campaign by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) to attain social work registration at a national level. Yet, to date, there has been no empirical research on the views of social workers—whether members or the AASW or not—concerning the merits of registration. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of the views of 15 social workers regarding registration. The findings suggest that the profession holds diverse views concerning the potential benefits or harms emanating from registration. Some conclusions are drawn regarding priorities for future research including particularly the impact of registration on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social workers and service users.

International social work students in field education- considerations for supervision

ABSTRACT There is an increase of international students studying social work in Australia. Undertaking the compulsory field work component of social work studies can be particularly complex for international students, as they have to acquire an understanding of social work practice, knowledge and skills in a new cultural context. Prior research has highlighted the importance of supporting students and field educators to ensure successful quality learning experiences for international students in social work field education experiences. This paper reports on a subset of 35 international students who responded to a 2019 field education supervision survey in one Australian state, Queensland. The findings highlight that more international than domestic students are placed in placements with external supervision, that the overall the student cohort is younger than domestic students and that more international students reported longer supervision sessions. Despite field placements often being personally challenging international students rated their supervision experiences positively, and highlighted the opportunities it provided for support, learning and professional development. Students recognised that the process helped them understand concepts of critical reflection and an appreciation of the value of supervision and professional support for their ongoing professional development.

Institutional responsibilities: providing placement for international students

ABSTRACT Recent years have seen a rapid increase in the number of international students studying health professional degrees such as social work in Australia and internationally. Research indicates that placement educators perceive that extra time and effort is required to support international students on placement due to, for example, language barriers and cultural and educational differences. This paper reports on findings from a nationwide study investigating the experiences and support needs of placement educators who supervise international social work students. The data consists of 15 in-depth interviews and 66 survey responses from placement educators across Australia. Findings reveal that placement educators feel pressure from education providers to supervise international students, yet they also feel they lack support from the education provider to do so adequately. Placement educators cite a need to increase contact and coordination between agencies and education providers, including clarity around the education providers’ expectations of their supervision. Placement educators want closer working relationships between agencies and education providers to ensure rewarding and enriching experiences for both students and placement educators. Such findings suggest that increased institutional support for, and collaboration with, placement educators is required to sustainably maintain quality placements for international students.

Measuring Social Capital: An Adaptation and Translation into Arabic of the Onyx and Bullen Social Capital Scale for Iraqi-Canadians

ABSTRACTSocial capital has gained increasing attention from social workers as a way to understand the social networks and resources available to clients, especially new immigrants. Although researchers have developed helpful measures of social capital, a need remains to translate these tools into the native languages of immigrants, while addressing any specific cultural considerations. It would be beneficial for social workers to have access to an Arabic version of a social capital scale. This article describes the process of translation and cultural adaptation of the Onyx and Bullen social capital scale from English to Arabic. Using the responses from 326 Iraqi-Canadians, the instrument was factor analysed to verify the underlying conceptual structure. The translated instrument was found to be consistent with Onyx and Bullen’s original factorial structure and to have good internal reliability with a Cronbach coefficient alpha for the overall instrument, which was comparable to the original scale.IMPLICATIONSSocial workers’ roles in Australia and Canada need to enhance culturally competent social and mental health services to immigrants and refugees.Schools of Social Work in Australia and Canada can increase the preparation of students to work with immigrants and refugees, which can potentially help in energising the economy.Social workers could use this scale to assess the level of social support and integration of Arabic speaking individuals, especially newcomers to Australia and Canada.

At Cross roads: White Social Work in Australia and the discourse on Australian multiculturalism

The profession of social work intervenes in the lives of the vulnerable and marginalised. In the majority, social work policy and practice in Australia has been founded on a western practice paradigm. Recent and rapid developments in the migratory trends of migrants and refugees places additional demands on social workers to practice with and for diverse communities. This article argues that the profession of social work is reluctant to embrace the multicultural face of Australia and lacks the intellectual apparatus to respond to diversity. The article underpins Professor Andrew Jakubowicz's analysis to multiculturalism as a powerful platform for social work academics and students to critically engage with by challenge existing racism and discriminatory trends towards multicultural communities that may possibly arise in social work practice.

The characteristics of oncology social work in Australia: Implications for workforce planning in integrated cancer care.

To describe the demographics, professional characteristics, self-reported professional development needs and research involvement of oncology social workers in Australia and to describe perceived barriers to provision of quality psychosocial care. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to social workers working in the oncology field who were contacted through three professional organizations; the Australian Association of Social Workers, Oncology Social Work Australia and the Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group, the University of Sydney. A snowball recruitment method was adopted to maximize the sample size. Two thirds of respondents had over 10 years professional practice experience but with lesser experience in oncology settings. Twenty-eight percent had post-graduate qualifications. Professional development needs were reported as moderate or high by 68% of respondents. No association between professional needs and work setting was found. Years of experience in oncology practice and living in an urban area increased the likelihood of involvement in research. Barriers to psychosocial care included poor understandings of the social work role, time constraints and an inadequate number of social work positions. In this first Australian study of the social work oncology workforce, the results demonstrated active, well-qualified and experienced social workers providing frontline services to people with cancer and their caregivers in geographically diverse locations across Australia. Inadequate resources and a lack of integrated psychosocial care were identified as barriers to comprehensive cancer care. The need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social workers was identified as an urgent workforce priority.

An Autoethnographic Exploration of Learning and Teaching Reflective Practice

Learning and demonstrating reflective skills for practice is a key requirement for students and practitioners in Social Work in Australia. Yet teaching and assessing reflective practice continues to present a number of practical and ethical issues for educators. This paper will discuss reflective practice in the context of an autoethnographic study that researched learning to be a social worker and educator. The findings from the study suggest that educators should be cautious about the extent to which educational activities direct attention to student selves for the purposes of building skills in reflective practice. The conclusions suggest that the moral order of the discipline, the hidden curriculum and the course culture in addition to the actual activities can have a significant impact on the extent to which reflective practice assessments deliver learning benefits to students.

Hospital Social Work in Australia: Emerging Trends or More of the Same?

Social work in health care has been established for more than 100 years and is one of the largest areas of practice for social workers. Over time, demographic changes and growth in the aging population, increased longevity rates, an explosion in rates of chronic illness together with rapidly increasing cost of health care have created serious challenges for acute hospitals and health social workers. This article reviews the Australian health care system and policies with particular emphasis on the public hospital system. It then examines current hospital social work roles, including the continued role in discharge planning and expanding responsibility for emerging client problems, such as patient complexity, legal, and carer issues. The article concludes with a discussion of evolving issues and challenges facing health social work to ensure that social work remain relevant within this practice context.

Accredited Mental Health Social Work in Australia: A Reality Check

Accredited mental health social workers (AMHSWs) have a great deal to offer the clients they see in their private practices, many of whom have complex needs. However, they are constrained by the inflated expectations Government has about evidence-based psychological interventions. The restrictions placed on the professional private practice of AMHSWs by Federal Government Medicare funding of a narrow set of psychological interventions ultimately limits the services received by clients. In this article, the findings of a survey of AMHSWs are presented, highlighting the tensions between individualised responses promoted by Medicare payments, and those premised on principles of social justice and social inclusion.

The Swing to Early Intervention and Prevention and Its Implications for Social Work

This paper examines developments leading to the social investment approach and its implications for social work in Australia.

School Social Work in Australia

This study explores the current state of social work services in Australian schools. A total of 65 social workers participated in the survey. The majority of respondents had permanent positions and over half of them were working part time. The number of schools serviced was wide ranging and the median was six schools. The major funding source was state governments, the primary referral sources were school staff, and the primary reasons for referral were behavioural and mental health problems. Respondents reported good support from employers and high levels of work efficacy and satisfaction. A large proportion of their hours were spent on counselling, paperwork, case management, and consultations. The major barriers to their work were lack of time, lack of resources, and lack of recognition given to social work perspectives and roles. Given the paucity of literature, findings from this study are expected to lay a foundation for future studies.

Education about sexuality in the elderly by healthcare professionals: a survey from the Southern Hemisphere

Education about sexuality is one method of reducing common negative stereotypes about this aspect of the life of older people. Knowledge and attitudes toward sexuality are therefore particularly important in those who educate healthcare professionals. We surveyed schools of medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, and social work in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa using White's Aging Sexuality Knowledge and Attitudes Scale. A total of 364 usable surveys were returned, revealing no main effects for differences in generally above-average levels of knowledge and attitudes across professions and the three countries. Some country-by-profession interactions were found for both knowledge and attitudes. Age was found to be the sole demographic factor able to predict both attitude toward and knowledge of sexuality. Findings suggest that levels of knowledge about sexuality and attitudes toward it have improved over earlier studies in North America.

Neoliberalism and Australian social work: Accommodation or resistance?

• Summary: Since the mid-1970s the Australian welfare state has faced a continuing crisis of resourcing and legitimation. Social work as a central entity within the welfare state has been challenged in terms of to its value base and relevance. As with much of the Western world, this challenge has been heightened with the rise of neoliberalism, which has pervaded most aspects of Australian society. Neoliberalism has consequently had a profound effect upon Australian social workers. The challenges to the Australian welfare state and social work are from without and within, by neoliberal ideas and its practices. • Findings: While neoliberalism’s relationship to social work as a broad theme is explored in the literature, the complexity of marketization and inclusive aspects have not been considered in any detail in relation to social work. The evidence in the Australian context is even slimmer, and as a consequence the particularity of the Australian welfare state and its relationship to neoliberalism, and the consequences for Australian social work, remains largely untested. Furthermore, while there are some indications of the day to day impact on social work in the context of a post-welfare state regime, little work has been conducted on the capacity of neoliberalism to infiltrate social work through its new institutions of the social and thus become embedded in social work. • Application: This article lays the foundations for a research project to examine the extent to which neoliberalism has become embedded in Australian social work and how social workers and social work educators are responding to these hegemonic influences. What are the ways in which social workers have become complicit in neoliberalism? Is Australian social work part of the neoliberal project to the point where neoliberalism has become part of its understandings and everyday activity? It is hoped that through this research, a more sophisticated understanding of the impact of neoliberalism on social work will contribute to the revitalization of critical social work in Australia and forms of resistance to the neoliberal project.