The Bachelor of Social Work is a 4-year degree focused on training graduates dedicating their services toward people’s capabilities and advocating the development of social policies and research that identify, nurture and support these qualities to help empower them. The course aims to train Social Work graduates who understand and respect human diversity and recognize the creative and supportive potential of heterogeneous communities.

The degree will comprise 32 units (subjects) studied over 8 trimesters, 4 units per a trimester session. EEach trimester will comprise 13 weeks of face-to-face classes, and one-week end of session exam period. Each trimester, therefore, is contained within a 14-week block While there will be three trimesters per year, the third or summer trimester will be optional.

The degree is an AASW-accredited qualification (Conditional provisional accreditation). It is an entry qualification into the social work profession and has been determined to meet the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards.

Modes of delivery

The course will be delivered by face-to-face lectures supplemented with online materials through Moodle (NAPS eLearning) to be accessible on and off campus.   There will be 3 hours of face-to-face teaching per week for all units, consisting of 2 hours of lectures and 1 hour of tutorials, with each class being 50 minutes per teaching time and a 10-minute break per hour except for Field Education 1 and 2.

Classes will comprise lectures through:

• blended delivery
• seminar-type discussions and presentation
• flipped classroom
• online delivery
• work integrated learning (Field Education and supervision),
• and teaching of practice social work skills.

Field Education

The course incorporates Field Education 1 and Field Education 2 that require students to complete 500 hours of placement in each instance, thus totally 1000 hours.  Field Education will enable students to learn to practice social work through educationally focused service experiences in agency and community settings.

Why Choose Social Work?

Social Work is one of the fastest growing professions and is in high demand both in Australia and globally. There are employment opportunities in local and international government and NGO sectors, as well as the commercial sector. Social workers are individuals who want to promote and support individual and community wellbeing.  In a post-COVID world and with a rapidly growing older population, health and other social services are going to be even more important in the future. Consequently, there will be many opportunities in social work and community services, thus creating the basis for a solid demand in the student market.

Social workers support a variety of communities and or people in need. Clients might include children and families who are experiencing difficult times, migrants and refugees, people with addictions, people with mental or general health issues, people in the legal or justice system, people with disabilities, people in palliative care and many more.

According to the Australian Government Job Outlook:

Workers will be needed in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry to support the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), investments in hospitals, and the growing demand for aged care, childcare, and home-care based services. Some of the jobs likely to need workers are:

• Aged and Disabled Carers
• Registered Nurses
• Child Carers
• Welfare Support Workers.”

Given their role, there is a continuing for social workers and a growing basis for demand for Social Work graduates.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion, students will achieve the:

1. Ability to evaluate information from academic research and other sources using different media to enable evidence-based decisions and be able to communicate this effectively and professionally to diverse stakeholders
2. Ability to apply and adhere to the standards of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) working individually or in collaboration with others to achieve common goals in a professional context
3. Ability to work effectively and adopt skills in different cultural, national and global contexts and to progressively update and improve technical skills and theoretical specialist knowledge consistent with current AASW Code of Ethics and current AASW Practice Standards
4. Understand of the role of the social worker as a professional able to promote social justice as part of the individual’s professional responsibilities   and to guide and assist clients and keep their confidence with integrity