Social workers are champions for social justice, equality and human rights. They stand alongside individuals and communities to improve society’s overall wellbeing, especially for the most vulnerable populations.

Our Social Work course is taught by staff with extensive frontline social work experience. It focuses on working alongside regional, rural and remote communities, and integrating sustainability into social work practice. With the professional skills you’ll develop, your career can take you in many directions. This might include working in mental health, community development, child protection or social research. You could be running groups, such as with young people, new parents, or people in prisons. Or you could be supporting communities to organise projects campaigning for impactful social policy to transform systemic issues like homelessness, racism or even climate change.

Course Learning Outcomes

• Apply broad discipline coherent knowledge of the role and value of social work in addressing social inequalities to build sustainable communities through a variety of social work practices which are informed by human rights values and social justice.
• Communicate social work knowledge and ideas clearly, coherently and with independence.
• Demonstrate autonomy, accountability and judgment for own learning and social work practice development, including reflective thinking skills and innovative practice through continued professional development.
• Demonstrate interpersonal skills, global outlook and cultural awareness when collaborating in professional settings and with culturally diverse groups, including Indigenous cultural competence.
• Think creatively to apply social work knowledge effectively in practice with individuals, groups and communities in diverse contexts.
• Use critical thinking to explore knowledge of human behavior and society, as well as social, cultural, political, legal, economic and global contexts of social work practice to generate and evaluate complex ideas.
• Use digital technologies and information literacy to evaluate relevant research knowledge which informs decision making in social work practice.
• Work collaboratively and demonstrate initiative to implement social work professional values and ethics in decision making in a socially sustainable way.

Possible future job titles

Community Development Officer, Mental Health Worker, Human Service Manager, Child Protection Officer, Youth Worker, Policy Research Officer, Hospital Social Worker, Community Health Worker, Family Support Worker, Disability Advocate.