SOWK13014 - Contemporary Social Policy

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

Social policy is one of seven methods of change used in social work practice. This unit explores the historical, political and normative dimensions of social policy and policy-making in Australia and the international context. You will explore concepts such as the welfare state and neo-liberalism and you will examine and critically analyse social policy that is relevant to human service contexts.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

120 credit points of study must include SOWK13009 and SOWK13010

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 2 - 2026 Profile
Online

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).

Assessment Overview

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. Essay 35%
3. Written Assessment 35%

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%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 33.33% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 10.34% 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: Student and staff feedback
Feedback:
 There were issues related to a late availability of the unit. This impacted student access to resources and learning materials.

Recommendation:
 The staffing issues have been addressed. Following a review of the curriculum, adjustments and improvements should be made to address resource issues.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Student and staff feedback
Feedback:
 There were problems with the text book and delays with orders

Recommendation:
 These issues have been addressed as staffing allocated and library resources ordered in a timely manner.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Analyse the historical development of social policy in Australia and the wider international context of social policy
  2. Evaluate the inherent value-judgements associated with social policy development and implementation
  3. Critically reflect on social policies that are relevant to the human services
  4. Evaluate theories of policy development as they apply to social policy making in Australia.
  5. Articulate the strategies that social workers can engage in to influence policy development and advocate for positive policy reform
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • •
2 - Essay • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
2 - Problem Solving •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice • •
9 - Social Innovation •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10
3 - Written Assessment • • • •
2 - Essay • • •
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • •