Social work

These inherent requirements apply to the following courses: Bachelor of Social Work and 
Master of Social Work.

Prospective and current students who are concerned about their capacities in relation to inherent requirements are strongly encouraged to contact the CDU Access and Inclusion team to discuss possible adjustments or alternative courses.

E: inclusion@cdu.edu.au

These inherent requirements should be read in conjunction with other course information and related material such as The Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics 2020; Australian Association of Social Workers Practice Standards 2013; AASW Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards 2020. 

There are eight domains of inherent requirements for the Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work.

Each domain has five levels: 

1. Introduction
2. Description
3. Justification
4. Adjustments
5. Exemplars 
    

Acting in ways consistent with the recognized values of society and avoiding activities that do harm.

In the context of inherent requirements, students undertaking a course of study may be governed by practice standards and codes of ethics.

1. Introduction
   Students undertaking social work studies are governed by practice standards and codes of ethics where students are both accountable and responsible for ensuring professional behaviour in all contexts.
2. Description of inherent requirement
   Student demonstrates knowledge of, and engages in, ethical behaviour in practice.
3. Justification of inherent requirement
   Compliance with the codes, guidelines and policies facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships for students and/or the people with whom they engage. This supports the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of all.
   Knowledge of, and compliance with the AASW Codes of Ethics is a requirement of course accreditation and graduate standards as mandated in the AASW Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards June 2020.
4. Adjustments
   Adjustments must ensure the codes and standards are not compromised or result in unethical behaviour.
5. Exemplars:
   • Demonstrating appropriate behaviour with confidential information in classroom and field placement settings
   • Demonstrating ability to reflect on ethical dilemmas and issues and take responsibility for ensuring awareness of ethical behaviour.

The maintenance of conduct that is acceptable and appropriate, according to the recognised norms of society over a given period.

1. Introduction
   Behavioural stability is required to function and adapt effectively and sensitively in this role.
2. Description of inherent requirement
   Student demonstrates behavioural stability to work constructively in a diverse and changing academic and field placement environment.
3. Justification of inherent requirement
   Behavioural stability is required to work individually and in teams in changing and unpredictable environments. Social work students will be exposed to highly complex human situations and will be required to have behavioural stability to manage these events.
4. Adjustments
   Adjustments must support stable, effective and professional behaviour in both academic and field placement settings.
5. Exemplars:
   • Being receptive and responding appropriately to constructive feedback
   • Coping with own emotions and behaviour effectively when dealing with individuals in the field placement setting.

Related to the law. In the context of inherent requirements, this refers to the legal requirements of professional bodies relevant to specific courses of study.

1. Introduction
   Social work is mandated by legislation and professional regulations to enable the delivery of safe and appropriate professional practice.
2. Description of inherent requirement
   Student demonstrates knowledge and compliance with Australian Law, professional regulations and scope of practice.
3. Justification of inherent requirement
   Knowledge, understanding, and compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements are necessary prerequisites to field placements in order to reduce the risk of harm to self and others. Compliance with these professional regulations and the Australian Law in the field placement setting ensures that students are both responsible and accountable for their practice.
4. Adjustments
   Adjustments must be consistent with legislative and regulatory requirements.
5. Exemplars:
   • Complying with relevant child protection, safety and other legislation specific to social work and reporting any notifiable concerns to your field placement supervisor when on placement. 

Verbal communication: Conveying messages, ideas, or feelings through speech.

Non-verbal communication: Communication other than speech that conveys meaning including gestures and facial expressions, body posture, stance, touch, eye movements, eye contact and distance from the person/s with whom you are communicating. Non-verbal cues can provide significant additional information to the person with whom you are communicating.

Written communication: Communication by written symbols including electronic means, print or handwriting.

Verbal communication

1. Introduction
   Effective verbal communication, in English, is an essential requirement to provide safe delivery of support. Communication reflects social work’s commitment to social justice.
2. Description of inherent requirement
   Student demonstrates:
3. Sensitivity to individual and/or cultural differences
   • The ability to understand and respond to verbal communication accurately, appropriately and in a timely manner
   • The ability to provide clear instructions in the context of the situation
   • The ability to provide timely, clear feedback and reporting.
4. Justification of inherent requirement
   Communicating in a way that displays respect and empathy to others develops trusting relationships. At times, verbal communication may be the only means of communication available between Social Worker and client. Speed and interactivity of communication may be critical for individual safety and or assessment. Timely, accurate and effective delivery of instructions is necessary to provide safe professional support to clients.
5. Adjustments
   Adjustments must address effectiveness, timeliness, clarity and accuracy issues to ensure appropriate support to clients.
6. Exemplars:
   • Participating in lecture, seminar, tutorial, and clinical discussions
   • Responding appropriately in an interview with clients/ service users, staff and supervisor/s when on field placement
   • Demonstrating commitment to social justice principles.

Non-verbal communication

1. Introduction
   Effective non-verbal communication is fundamental to social work and needs to be respectful, clear, attentive, empathetic, and non-judgmental.
2. Description of inherent requirement
   Student demonstrates:
   • The capacity to recognise, interpret and respond appropriately to behavioural cues
   • Consistent and appropriate awareness of own behaviours
   • Sensitivity to individual and/or cultural differences.
3. Justification of inherent requirement
   The ability to observe and understand non-verbal cues assists with building rapport with people and gaining their trust and respect in academic and professional relationships. Displaying consistent and appropriate facial expressions, eye contact, being mindful of space, time boundaries and body movements and gestures promotes trust in academic and professional relationships. Being sensitive to individual and/or cultural differences displays respect and empathy to others and develops trusting relationships that are essential for effective professional support. The ability to observe and understand non-verbal cues is essential for effective observation of client reactions to facilitate assessment and to provide professional support.
4. Adjustments
   Adjustments must enable the recognition, assessment, initiation of, or appropriate response to, effective non-verbal communication in a timely and appropriate manner.
5. Exemplars:
   • Recognising and responding appropriately in classroom situations
   • Recognising and responding appropriately to cues in the field placement environment.

Written communication

1. Introduction
   Effective written communication, in English, is a fundamental social work student responsibility with professional and legal ramifications. Written communication aligns with social work’s commitment to social justice principles.

2. Description of inherent requirement
   Student demonstrates:

   • Capacity to construct coherent written communication appropriate to the circumstances

   • The capacity to use a range of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to complete academic assessment requirements.

3. Justification of inherent requirement
   Construction of written text based assessment tasks to reflect the required academic standards are necessary to convey knowledge and understanding of relevant subject matter for professional practice standards. Accurate, factual written communication, including record keeping, client instructions and case notes is vital to provide consistent and accurate assessments and professional support in the field placement context.

4. Adjustments

   Adjustments must enable the students to meet necessary standards of clarity, accuracy and accessibility to ensure effective recording and transmission of information in both academic and field placement settings.
5. Exemplars:
   • Constructing an essay to academic standards
   • Constructing a social work report in a timely manner that meets professional standards
   • Written communication in classroom and placement contexts demonstrates commitment to social justice principles.

The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through one's thoughts, experience, and senses.

Knowledge and cognitive skills: Acquired skills that reflect an individual's ability to think. Cognitive skills include verbal and spatial abilities, concentration, memory, perception, reasoning, planning and organisation, flexible thinking, and problem solving.

Literacy (language): This relates to the ability to acquire, understand, and apply information in a scholarly manner.

Numeracy: This relates to the ability to understand and work with numbers.

1. Introduction
   Social work requires knowledge of theory and the skills of cognition. Consistent knowledge and effective cognitive skills must be demonstrated to provide professional and competent social work practice.
2. Description of inherent requirement
   Student demonstrates:
   • Capacity to locate appropriate and relevant information
   • Ability to process information relevant to practice
   • Ability to integrate and implement knowledge in practice.
3. Justification of inherent requirement
   Safe and effective social work practice is based on knowledge that must be sourced, understood and applied appropriately. A demonstrated defined range of knowledge and cognitive skills is a requirement for AASW course accreditation, field placements and professional affiliation with the AASW.
4. Adjustments
   Adjustments must ensure that a clear demonstration of knowledge and cognitive skills is not compromised or impeded.
5. Exemplars:
   • Ability to conceptualise and use appropriate knowledge in response to academic assessment items
   • Appropriately applying knowledge of policy and procedures in the field placement setting.

Actively listening to someone express their thoughts, feelings or experiences and showing understanding by consciously responding through skills such as paraphrasing, summarising or mirroring.

1. Introduction
   Social work practice requires self-awareness and a capacity for reflectivity in order to consider the effect of one's own issues, actions, values, and behaviours on practice.
2. Description of inherent requirement
   Student demonstrates:
   • The ability to accurately reflect on their professional performance
   • The ability to accept feedback on their professional practice and respond constructively.
3. Justification of inherent requirement
   Participation in supervision is a key teaching strategy in social work education which requires well developed understanding of oneself in order to appropriately engage in this activity. Working with clients while on placement and understanding and responding to them requires well developed understanding of oneself and the ability to effectively manage one's reactions to situations that may arise.
4. Adjustments
   Adjustments must not compromise the student's ability to demonstrate an acceptable minimum level of capacity in this area.
5. Exemplars:
   • Identifying when a practice issue is outside one's scope or expertise or when one's practice may be negatively affected by personal experience and/or reactions.

Personal skills required to interact appropriately with others with the aim of building and maintaining healthy, productive relationships. Skills include empathy, trustworthiness, patience, active listening, approachability, and reliability.

1. Introduction
   Social work practice requires the ability to make and maintain strong relationships with a wide range of individuals, groups and communities.

2. Description of inherent requirement
   Student demonstrates:

   • The ability to establish and maintain rapport with clients, academic staff, supervisors, and peers

   • The ability to engage in effective and empathic counselling skills

   • Ability to engage and relate appropriately in individual and group clinical supervision and experiential learning groups.

3. Justification of inherent requirement

   Highly developed relational skills are a cornerstone of effective relationships that permit effective assessment and intervention in social work practice.

4. Adjustments
   Adjustments must not compromise the student's ability to demonstrate an acceptable level of effective relational skills.

5. Exemplars:

   • Rapidly building rapport with a client in order to engage them in an assessment while on placement

   • Effectively using relational and interpersonal skills to manage relationships with clients while on placement.

The ability to undertake a task/s over a pre-determined length of time. This could include physical performance such as standing for a length of time, or cognitive (mental) performance such as concentrating for a particular length of time.

1. Introduction
   Social work practice in the field placement context requires both physical and mental performance at a consistent and sustained level.
2. Description of inherent requirement
   Student demonstrates:
   • Consistent and sustained level of physical energy to complete a specific task in a timely manner and over time
   • The capacity to maintain consistency and quality of performance throughout the designated period of time.
3. Justification of inherent requirement
   Sufficient physical and mental resilience is an essential requirement needed to perform tasks in an assigned period to provide effective, safe and professional support in the field placement context.
4. Adjustments
   Adjustments must ensure that performance is consistent and sustained over a given period.
5. Exemplars:
   • Participating in tutorials, seminars, lectures, skills development sessions
   • Providing consistent field placement practice over a negotiated time frame.