Inherent requirements for social work programs

Social work is a profession governed by the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics (2020). Social workers are both accountable and responsible for ensuring ethical behaviour in all contexts. 

The student will demonstrate knowledge of – and engage in – ethical behaviour in all placement and educational settings. 

• Ethical behaviour protects the rights and dignity of all and supports physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. 

• Behaviour in placement and educational settings which consistently demonstrates commitment to the profession’s core values – respect for persons, social justice and professional integrity – is fundamental to effective social work practice. 

There is no scope for adjusting the standards of ethical behaviour required of social workers and social work students. 

• Manage confidential information appropriately in educational and placement settings. 

• Treat student colleagues, UQ staff and placement providers with respect. 

• Practice honesty and integrity in all scholarly and research endeavours. 

Social work practice, in all its forms is dependent on the ability to communicate effectively with service users. Further to this, professional assessment and effective interventions are not possible without the development and maintenance of professional, authentic relationships. 

• The ability to develop genuine rapport with service users and colleagues. 

• The capacity and willingness to relate to people’s experiences with empathy and compassion. 

• The capacity to engage with service users in a professionally purposeful but flexible manner, recognising the importance of a relational process in all stages of social work interventions. 

• The ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, staff and service users. 

• The cultural competence to work with consumers, colleagues and stakeholders from all sections of Australian society, including First Nations people, people with disability, people identifying as from the LGBTQIA+ community, people from diverse ethnic, linguistic and cultural backgrounds and people from across the socio-economic spectrum. 

The ability to develop strong professional, empathic relationships with service users and colleagues and to communicate effectively, in writing, verbally and non-verbally underpins effective assessment, policy development, intervention and evaluation. 

Reasonable adjustments may include strategies developed to facilitate learning which account for specific needs of individual students, without compromising the acquisition of requisite skills. These can be discussed with a Student Adviser. 

• Successfully undertake multiple interviews with service users in both practice and simulated settings. 

• Undertake oral presentations in class which demonstrate confidence, subject knowledge and ease of rapport. 

• Successfully participate in group assessment tasks, engaging in planning, task allocation and task delivery at agreed standards and within agreed timeframes. 

• Written work which demonstrates clarity of thought and expression, attention to structure and the ability to clearly explicate complex and detailed material to your target audience. 

Emotional regulation, adaptability and self-awareness are necessary to effectively and empathically function in all social work settings. 

• The capacity to consciously reflect on the impact of your world-view, cultural background and personal experiences on your articulations of practice purpose. 

• The willingness to review practice with a critical gaze, identifying those interactions in which personal beliefs and assumptions dominated the perspectives and needs of the service user. 

• The ability to engage rigorously with evidence and apply this in all aspects of learning, practice and intervention. 

• A disposition and demeanour which is reliable, professional, transparent and person-centred. 

• The capacity to consistently maintain professional purpose and focus in practice, avoiding both circumstance-driven emotionalism and “clinical” detachment. 

It is the responsibility of all social workers to provide a non-judgemental, reliable service to all clients. Consequently, social workers must be able to maintain self-awareness and recognise when they are allowing their professionalism to be compromised by personal biases or external pressures and respond accordingly. 

Reasonable adjustments may include strategies developed to facilitate learning which account for specific needs of individual students, without compromising the acquisition of requisite skills. These can be discussed with a Student Adviser. 

• Written work which demonstrates self-reflection and self-awareness in both theoretical and practice contexts. 

• Regular and meaningful engagement in supervision with a social worker while on placement. 

• Effective regulation of emotions in all educational and placement settings and in all forms of communication. 

The capacity to learn and recall complex information and to concentrate for extended periods while meeting with service users and recording conversations are essential in all forms of social work practice. Capacity to translate theory and research into evidence-informed practice is a professional and ethical imperative. 

• Capacity to locate appropriate and relevant written and verbal information.  

• Ability to process information written and verbal relevant to social work theory and practice.  

• Ability to integrate, reflect on and implement knowledge in classroom and professional settings.  

• Ability to collaboratively plan, deliver and evaluate interventions based on established evidence, service user engagement, relevant policy and legislation and consistent with both agency protocols and scope of practice. 

• Ability to prepare work within clear timeframes. 

• Ability to engage with people and listen and interact attentively for extended periods of time without interruption. 

• Ability to recall information derived from interactions with accuracy. 

Effective social work practice involves the capacity to acquire, evaluate, recall and translate complex information from often disparate and specialised sources. 

Reasonable adjustments may include strategies developed to facilitate learning which account for specific needs of individual students, without compromising the acquisition of requisite skills. These can be discussed with a Student Adviser. 

• Ability to meaningfully engage and contribute in any learning setting. 

• Consistent submission of original academic work at an appropriate standard in assessment tasks. 

• Effectively undertake placement tasks as directed by placement supervisors. 

Competent English literacy and numeracy skills are essential to graduates from a social work program. 

• Ability to acquire information and accurately convey appropriate and effective messages in English.  

• Ability to read and comprehend a range of information in English.  

• Capacity to understand and apply academic conventions to write coherent English in a scholarly and professional manner.  

• Perform basic mathematical calculations and interpret and apply numerical information. 

The ability to acquire information and write and speak clearly and accurately in English, and to demonstrate competent basic numeracy skills, is fundamental to the multiple career paths available to social work graduates in Australia. 

Reasonable adjustments may include strategies developed to facilitate learning which account for specific needs of individual students, without compromising the acquisition of requisite skills. These can be discussed with a Student Adviser. 

• Speak clearly and accurately in English.  

• Successfully paraphrase, summarise and reference in English, in accordance with appropriate academic conventions.  

• Create accurate, concise and clear documentation in English. 

• Interpret and utilise both qualitative and quantitative research in academic and practice settings.