Social Work

Why study Social Work in Australia?

If you enjoy helping others to deal with personal and social problems then social work may be a good career choice for you. Courses in social work teach you to understand and analyze the circumstances of people facing a variety of problems and challenges, and to develop strategies that will help to improve these circumstances or reduce their impact.

Sometimes the problem is short term: supporting a family where a parent has died or is seriously ill, or settling in newly arrived migrant families. But often the focus is on people who are in for a long struggle: the poor, Indigenous communities, the aged, the chronically ill, families who are ‘dysfunctional’ and many others. Other roles in social work are very proactive and involve projects like helping to establish leisure, recreation or social services in new suburbs or building the infrastructure for people to gather and develop a sense of community.

The diverse areas of specialization that social workers can choose from may include family, youth and child welfare services; medical and health services; psychiatric and general mental health services; disability services; juvenile and family law courts; aged care; income support; and mediation.

For more information about careers in social work, visit the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) website. https://www.aasw.asn.au/careers-study/studying-social-work. Social workers work to meet and overcome social issues facing individuals, families and communities in today’s society. They operate in a huge range of different settings, including statutory child protection, family intervention, interpersonal and family violence, health social work, addictions, disability services, social policy, prisons, mental health and counselling services.

In order to qualify as a social worker in Australia , you must complete a four-year professional degree, the Bachelor of Social Work. To meet requirements for professional recognition, students complete at least 1,000 hours of supervised field education in 2 placements.

 This is widely offered throughout Australia .A degree in social work equips you to work in a variety of job roles, including on the front line and in administration and organization. You may work in settings such as schools, hospitals, health centres and government agencies.

Specialization Fields

• child and family services
• counselling, mediation and alleviating substance abuse
• disability and mental health
• aged care, youth support and assistance for new Australians.

Social workers make a difference by supporting people in need. They work with the community to improve lives and make our society more just and equitable.