Unit rationale, description and aim

This unit aims to equip students with key concepts and practical skills when working with people of colour and other marginalised groups. As social workers are often working with people of colour, they have a responsibility to understand and respond to their specific needs, as well as be aware of how racism shapes their experiences. Students will learn about the relationship between racial injustice and social inequalities and develop anti-racist principles and skills. This unit is essential core curriculum content as required by the Australian Association of Social Workers, attending to the practice standard of Culturally responsive and inclusive practice. In the first half of the unit, the emphasis is on developing racial literacy, with a focus on how racialized categories have been produced, and how they shape inequalities across race. The second half will turn to the knowledge and skills of working with people of colour and other marginalised groups . Students will explore Australian migration history and social policy with an emphasis on how these impact on the experiences of migrant, refugee and asylum seeker populations and communities. Concepts of white privilege, white supremacy, power and racialised inequality, will be presented within frameworks of social justice and human rights. Cross-cultural skill development will include working with interpreters, and anti-racist strategies. 

2025 10

Campus offering

Find out more about study modes.

Unit offerings may be subject to minimum enrolment numbers.

Please select your preferred campus.

  • Term Mode
  • Semester 1Campus Attendance
  • Term Mode
  • Semester 1Campus Attendance

Prerequisites

Nil

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Understand the impact of key historical and social...

Learning Outcome 01

Understand the impact of key historical and social policy issues on the experiences of migrant, refugee and asylum seeker populations and communities
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC7, GC9

Identify personal and professional values and ethi...

Learning Outcome 02

Identify personal and professional values and ethical issues in anti-racist practice
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC3, GC8

Demonstrate social work skills within culturally a...

Learning Outcome 03

Demonstrate social work skills within culturally and linguistically diverse contexts of practice
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC2, GC3, GC6

Develop racial literacy and understand key theorie...

Learning Outcome 04

Develop racial literacy and understand key theories of race
Relevant Graduate Capabilities: GC1, GC3, GC9

Content

Topics will include: 

Racism, identity and culture

  • Racism, white privilege and inequality in Australian social work : Eurocentrism
  • Australian Social and language policies for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers

Theories and Practice Frameworks 

  • Anti-racism and decolonising theories
  • Whiteness theory and critical race theory
  • Intersectionality
  • Theories of trauma 
  • Cultural responsiveness 
  • Skills and approaches 
  • Self- awareness and critical reflection
  • Developing anti-racist skills, strategies, and practices
  • Working with interpreters
  • Becoming an ally: advocacy and activism

Ethics and Values

  • Ethical issues and dilemmas in cross cultural practice
  • Self awareness and reflection

Assessment strategy and rationale

Assessments 1 and 2 are authentic case-based tasks that require students to demonstrate application of social work skills, practice knowledge and attitudes in white-dominated contexts. Assessment 1 is a group work task that uses online and video case studies. It requires students to demonstrate understanding of racism and its impact, cultural and race theories and to demonstrate tangible responses to racism. Assessment 2 requires students to apply knowledge of anti-racist practice and cross-cultural skills to a case scenario involving people of colour. The final assessment, a critical learning journal, is designed to assess students’ ability to reflect on each week’s unit content and how this knowledge has facilitated a growing understanding of their own cultural identity and values and its impacts on their future social work identity. In order to pass the unit, students must submit all pieces of assessments and PASS at least two assessments in order to achieve all the learning outcomes of the unit.

Overview of assessments

Group presentation on racism: Students demonstrat...

Group presentation on racism: Students demonstrate understanding of racism and its impact and demonstrate ability to apply theories of race.

Weighting

20%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO3, LO4

Skills assessment: Enables students to articulate...

Skills assessment: Enables students to articulate anti-racist skills and values and develop a mock intervention plan to a case study.

Weighting

40%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Reflective assignment:   Captures learning and de...

Reflective assignment:   Captures learning and development over time and enables students to demonstrate their ability to reflect on their racial identity, and how this relates to their social work identity.

Weighting

40%

Learning Outcomes LO1, LO2, LO4

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Teaching and learning strategies for this unit include lectures, workshops, small group discussions, case studies, lived experience, storytelling and story-sharing, and compulsory simulated role-plays. Tutorials include small group collaborative reflections, discussions and simulated role-plays in order to apply theoretical content to practice situations and allow students to develop skills in a simulated context. Case-based learning is used to assist students to better understand and apply cultural knowledge to processes required when engaging cross-culturally and within contexts of cultural and linguistic diversity. Use of cases, developed in collaboration with service providers, parallels and models authentic assessment task requirements to ensure alignment of teaching, learning and assessment. This ensures that students are initially practising and developing their understanding, attitudes and skills in learning environments to prepare them for practising in culturally safe and responsive ways. 

AASW Practice Standards

This Unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes provided in the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards: https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/13565  

Standards/Attributes/Criteria

GA 1.Values and ethics (LO2)

GA 2. Professionalism (LO2)

GA 3.Culturally responsive and inclusive practice (LO4)

GA 4. Knowledge for practice (LO1)

GA 5. Applying knowledge to practice (LO3, LO4)

GA 6. Communication and Interpersonal skills (LO3)

Standards/Attributes/Criteria

ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes

This Unit has been mapped to the ACU Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes. The following table sets out the broad relationship between the Learning Outcomes, Graduate Attributes and the ASWEAS Profession-Specific Graduate Attributes provided in the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards: https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/13565  

Standard/Attributes/Criteria

Standard/Attributes/CriteriaLearning Outcomes

4.1 Understand higher level systemic influences on people with respect to area of practice

1.1 Practice in accordance with the AASW Code of

Ethics

2.2 Behave in a professional manner and be accountable for all actions and decisions

5.4 Apply critical and reflective thinking to practice 

3.1 Work inclusively and respectfully with cultural difference and diversity

5.3 Use a range of social work methods and techniques appropriate to area of practice. 

6.1 Effectively communicate with a diverse range of people

4.2 Understand and articulate social work and other relevant theories and concepts

4.4 Understand and articulate how and when theories, knowledge bases and knowledge sources inform practice

4

Representative texts and references

Representative texts and references

Dominelli, L. (2017). Anti-racist social work. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Dune, T., Caputi, P., Walker, B. M., Olcon, K., MacPhail, C., Firdaus, R., & Thepsourinthone, J. (2021). Construing Non-white and White Clients: Mental Health Practitioners’ Superordinate Constructs Related to Whiteness and Non-whiteness in Australia. Journal of Constructivist Psychology.

Gatwiri, K., & Anderson, L. (2021). Parenting Black children in White spaces: Skilled African migrants reflect on their parenting experiences in Australia. Child & Family Social Work, 26(1), 153-162.

Gatwiri, K., & Anderson, L. (2021). Boundaries of belonging: Theorizing Black African migrant experiences in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(1), 38.

Hamad, R. (2020). White Tears Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Colour. Hachette UK.

How Kee, L., Martin, J., & Ow, R. (Eds). (2014). Cross-cultural social work: Local and global. Palgrave Macmillan 

Kendi, I. X. (2019). How to be an antiracist. One world.

Lentin, A. (2020). Why race still matters. John Wiley & Sons.

Nipperess, S., & Williams, C. (Eds.). (2020). Critical Multicultural Practice in Social Work: New Perspectives And Practices. Routledge.

Oluo, I. (2019). So you want to talk about race. Hachette UK.

Ramsay, G. (2016). Black mothers, bad mothers: African refugee women and the governing of ‘Good’ Citizens through the Australian child welfare system. Australian Feminist Studies, 31(89), 319-335.

Saad, L. (2020). Me and white supremacy: How to recognise your privilege, combat racism and change the world. Hachette UK.

Tascón, S. M., & Ife, J. (Eds.). (2019). Disrupting whiteness in social work. Routledge.

Locations
Credit points
Year

Have a question?

We're available 9am–5pm AEDT,
Monday to Friday

If you’ve got a question, our AskACU team has you covered. You can search FAQs, text us, email, live chat, call – whatever works for you.

Live chat with us now

Chat to our team for real-time
answers to your questions.

Launch live chat

Visit our FAQs page

Find answers to some commonly
asked questions.

See our FAQs