Social Work Degree Courses in Australia

Why Study Social Work?

A desire to help is the number one reason why people study social work and take up a career in the field.

According to PayScale, social work is among the top 10% of US college majors for making a difference. Most social work graduates surveyed felt their work makes the world a better place.
On the flipside, the same US survey found social work to be among the lower paid professions.

Helping people

Social work is personally rewarding. If you want to help people in a direct way, social work can bring tremendous satisfaction.

Social workers help individuals and families find solutions, bring communities together, and advocate for fairer policies.
With the right temperament and interpersonal skills, you can help people help themselves and feel satisfied yourself at the end of the day.

Flexibility

Getting a social work degree also allows you to potentially work in many different areas, often with flexible hours. Opportunities to do meaningful work arise wherever people face challenges.

Social work graduates often try different types of work until they find the ideal niche for them.
A growing sector is aged care, where the client population continues to expand.

Career opportunities in social work are rich and varied. The field suits people who are open-minded, and willing to try different jobs and interact with different groups.

Most professionals regularly do one or more of the following essential roles:

Case management
Counselling and therapy
Community and program management
Public policy development.

People in need

Anyone could potentially need the help of a social worker. It depends on your life stage and circumstances.

Some of the groups most in need of social services (including help to navigate welfare systems) are:

families in conflict
children and youth who are at risk or unsupervised
people with disabilities and the aged
individuals who have experienced trauma
economically disadvantaged groups, such as the homeless
refugees and migrants
people suffering mental health or substance abuse problems.

Job examples

Social work is a diverse sector with many different niches.

Some of the more common jobs are:

Charity Officer or Volunteer Coordinator
Community Development Officer
Counsellor (e.g. Drugs, Rehabilitation)
Family Support Worker
Health Promotion Officer
Mental Health Worker
Special Care Worker
Welfare Case Manager
Youth Worker.

Demand for social workers to help people with medical problems is growing. It is part of the broad expansion of health care system.

Social workers support patient care in hospitals, nursing homes and hospices, rehab facilities, and with assisted living.
Care professionals work with patients to ensure their needs are met in terms of treatment and living conditions.

2. Substance abuse

Substance abuse is an ever-present problem in society. Each user needs help and social workers can be critical for effective recovery and rehabilitation.

Counsellors and other care givers can be found in rehab facilities, private medical practices, prisons and juvenile detention facilities.
It is one of the tougher fields. Patients are often unstable, experiencing mood swings, anger and depression, and relapses.

Clinical practice is one of the most technically demanding social work fields. Clinicians support mental patient therapy on a day-to-day basis.

You assess your client's mental health, diagnose disorders, develop treatment plans, and assist with daily living and social integration.
Clinical social workers are active in mental health treatment centres, specialist and general hospitals, private practices and schools.

4. Child welfare

Child welfare workers act when children are reported to be abused or neglected, in an unsafe environment or otherwise not cared for.

The job requires meeting with children and families to assess home conditions and the care a child is receiving.
Child welfare workers facilitate positive change and, when required, passage of a child to a safer environment.

Teachers, parents and children turn to social workers when schooling issues arise.

As a school social worker, you should be good at communication and problem solving.
You may need to address issues such as bullying, truancy, learning difficulties, and emotional health.
Roles could include guidance counsellor, or working with special needs children to help them join mainstream classes.

6. Aged care

For many social work fields, the fastest growing client group are older Australians. They rely on social workers when mental or physical abilities decline.

Social workers should be confident in dealing with older people, and sensitive to their emotional and social needs.
This is in addition to addressing tangible problems associated with ageing, such dementia or immobility.

A good social work course provides an enjoyable study experience while preparing you for professional roles.

We've used student satisfaction rates to identify the best social work degrees in Australia.

The most reliable indicator of course quality are student satisfaction ratings.
Course satisfaction is measured by the % of recent graduates who had a positive experience overall.
For social work, graduate salaries do not measure course quality well. Job availability depends a great deal on where you live.

For further detail about program stats and rankings, see Uni Reviews.

Online Study / Distance Education

Online / distance learning is available for social work. It may be useful if you can't (or don't want to) attend a campus regularly.

Because social work is a people-orientated job, you can't qualify to be a social worker just through online study.
But courses are available which allow you to minimise time away from home or work.

How it works

With distance education courses, on-campus learning is confined to occasional residential schools. For example, you may be required to attend campus for 1 week per semester.

For the field education part of an online degree, you may be able to organise placements near where you live.

Further information: Courses are listed here at Lerna Courses.

Community Welfare and Human Services

An alternative path to qualify for social work is to do a 3-year degree in community welfare or human services.

The Australian Community Workers Association (ACWA) provides course accreditation in Australia.

Accredited courses are listed here. The programs have different titles, including:

Bachelor of Community Welfare
Bachelor of Human Services
Bachelor of Social Science (with relevant major).

ACWA accreditation and membership requires students to complete 400 hours of supervised work placements.

Graduates are eligible to do many of the jobs (but not all) which qualified social workers are able to do.

Australia's best degrees in social work prepare you for a career helping others.

Why Study Social Work?

Helping people

Flexibility

Social Work Careers

People in need

Job examples

— Accreditation —

— Field education —

Top 6 Work Areas

1. Medicine and community health

2. Substance abuse

3. Mental health (clinical)

4. Child welfare

5. Schools

6. Aged care

Top Bachelor and Masters Degrees

Alternative Study Options

Online Study / Distance Education

Community Welfare and Human Services