Unit Synopsis
The aim of this unit is to introduce you, as a first year student, to the primary fields of social work practice where you will find yourself positioned as a practitioner on completion of Bachelor of Social Work. Each week, you will explore different fields of practice and examine the interface between the individuals and their environments fostering an understanding of the systemic factors that influence well-being and social justice. These fields of practice may include working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, social work in healthcare settings, child protection, domestic and family violence, and mental health. You will also gain understanding of ethical issues that may present in social work practice in the different fields and consider principles for working respectfully and inclusively with regard to culture and diversity.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 1 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 4 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Online Quiz(zes) | 30% |
| 2. Case Study | 30% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 40% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 85.71% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 20.59% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: SUTE
I appreciated that the unit coordinators hosted regular interactive Zoom sessions, which included assessment task discussions and useful PowerPoint presentations. Furthermore, each week’s content was amply resourced. The unit coordinators were also extremely prompt and thorough with their responses to student queries.
This is a task that will continue as those who accessed these ZOOM opportunities were more enabled to do well in this unit.
Zooms continued.
Source: SUTE
The unit is very broad and I felt a little bombarded with so much information over so many areas.
We appreciate that the amount of information in this unit can be a lot for many. We are working on creating smaller bite size information options to allow those who are overloaded with information to take on smaller amounts and for those who want more to explore all options.
Re-conceptualised key learning activities.
Source: SUTE
Scope of Social Work Practice in Australia is an introductory unit. Perhaps it is too early in the course structure to have assessment pieces that focus on social work assessment, intervention, and evaluation. These are not terms that have been introduced yet. If they are to remain as part of assessment tasks, perhaps one week should be dedicated to unpacking/exploring these aspects of practice. However, including communication as a topic of investigate seems reasonable as this is an aspect of social work practice that is covered in the first year of the course.
This is excellent feedback and is being taken on board to be included in 2022 more guidance around terminology and reducing some of the expectations for the tasks.
Ensure definitions of key concepts clearly explained.
Source: Student unit evaluation
Clarity in unit expectations could enhance student experience
Ensure clear descriptions of required activities in both unit profile and in Moodle.
In Progress
Source: Student unit evaluation
The assessment tasks require greater connection to the unit learning outcomes and preparation for social work practice.
Review assessment tasks for strengthened connection to new learning for social work practice.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Examine social work fields of practice within different contexts in Australia
- Describe social work processes required for effective communication, assessment, intervention and evaluation
- Explore the issues that impact on social work practice
- Reflect on the social work ethical issues that have emerged in exploring different social work fields of practice.
The Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards (ASWEAS 2020) discuss the importance of students gaining an understanding of the experience of individuals, groups and communities within a range of different fields of practice settings (ASWEAS Appendix 2.1). This unit provides a beginning understanding of social work in general and within these practice settings. It will allow students to understand some of the complex issues that social workers are involved in within their practice. Also, it will commence the process for students to assess whether their value base aligns with that of the social work profession.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Case Study | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | • | • | • |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | • | • |
| 9 - Social Innovation | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |