Unit rationale, description and aim
Social workers are required to intervene at organisational and governmental levels to effect changes in order to achieve social justice goals. This requires an understanding of how policies are made, implemented and changed, how policies impact vulnerable people in society and the types of roles that social worker adopt in policy practice. In this unit, students will analyse contemporary issues in social policy and social work practice in the Australian context. The impacts of policies on people from diverse and marginalised populations are explored. Students will be required to research and analyse social issues and policies within a broader ethical and theoretical social work practice framework. The aim of the unit is to equip students with the requisite knowledge, skills and understanding in advocacy, and the analysis of policy in relation to emerging social issues impacting vulnerable and diverse populations to develop competence in effecting change at a broader social policy level.
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.
Critically examine the relationships between socia...
Learning Outcome 01
Acquire knowledge and skills that social workers n...
Learning Outcome 02
Apply social work values, knowledge and skills in ...
Learning Outcome 03
Apply critical analysis and ethical decision makin...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
Institutions and processes in social policy development and change
- Social policy making processes
- Neoliberalism Contemporary Social Policy issues impacting vulnerable and diverse populations
- The role of social work in the areas of social policy
- Critical, interactional and analytical skills for developing implementing and evaluating policy
- Advocacy and writing skills in policy
- Ethical social work practice in the policy context
Areas of social policy
- Family (including, Domestic and Family violence)
- Indigenous (including ways of knowing, being and doing)
- Culturally and Linguistically Diverse populations (including refugees and asylum seekers)
- Disability
- Health
- Education and employment
Skills
- Research
- Critical analysis
- Writing skills
- Lobby and advocacy
Values and Ethics
- Social work values and Ethics
Theoretical frameworks
- Structural (including Feminist, Human Rights)
- Post-structural (including Critical Social Work, De-colonising, Feminist and Ecofeminist theories)
Assessment strategy and rationale
ON CAMPUS MODE:
The aim of this unit is to prepare students to develop research, critical analysis, advocacy and writing skills for a range of audiences.
Accordingly, the assessment strategy has been developed to achieve this aim. The first assessment task enables students to demonstrate awareness and knowledge and key legislation and policy impacting social work practice contexts.
Assessment tasks two and three are authentic tasks, adopting reflexive approaches key to social work advocacy.
The second assessment task asks students to explore historical developments of policy in order to understand contextual factors that shape policies. This provides background knowledge for the final assessment, the policy briefing paper.
The final assessment task, a Policy Proposal, allows students to deepen their knowledge of the issue (or another social issue) through identifying a significant gap in current policy in Australia.
Evidence of competency and skill within these unit assessment tasks sets students on a successful path towards demonstrating sound understanding of and commitment to social work values and ethical practice.
In order to pass this unit students must demonstrate achievement of every unit learning outcome, pass hurdle tasks, and obtain a minimum mark of 50% in graded units.
ONLINE:
The aim of this unit is to prepare students to develop research, critical analysis, advocacy and writing skills for a range of audiences.
Accordingly, the assessment strategy has been developed to achieve this aim. The first assessment task enables students to demonstrate awareness and knowledge and key legislation and policy impacting social work practice contexts.
Assessment tasks two and three are authentic tasks, adopting reflexive approaches key to social work advocacy.
The second assessment task asks students to explore historical developments of policy in order to understand contextual factors that shape policies. This provides background knowledge for the final assessment, the policy briefing paper.
The final assessment task, a Policy Proposal allows students to deepen their knowledge of the issue (or another social issue) through identifying a significant gap in current policy in Australia.
Evidence of competency and skill within these unit assessment tasks sets students on a successful path towards demonstrating sound understanding of and commitment to social work values and ethical practice.
In order to pass this unit students must demonstrate achievement of every unit learning outcome, pass hurdle tasks, and obtain a minimum mark of 50% in graded units.
Overview of assessments
Online Quiz Students demonstrate awareness and kn...
Online Quiz
Students demonstrate awareness and knowledge and key policy impacting social work practice contexts.
20%
Policy Analysis Students identify a social issue ...
Policy Analysis
Students identify a social issue and explore and discuss the changes in policy over time and the impact of these changes on the lives of the people impacted by the policy.
30%
Policy Proposal This assignment requires students...
Policy Proposal
This assignment requires students to develop a proposal in response to a current policy issue. This includes analysing the policy context and agenda, proposing a policy response and making recommendations on the possible implementation.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
ON CAMPUS MODE:
This unit involves 150 hours of workshops, lectures and tutorials will incorporate small group, collaborative learning with students engaging in active discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of policy responses to contemporary social issues. Policy critique is undertaken from a social work perspective of human rights and social justice. Contemporary social issues are analysed allowing students to explore the process of advocacy and policy development and its relationship to social work practice and to apply knowledge and skills in social policy analysis and change to contemporary issues impacting marginalised and disadvantaged groups.
Social workers need to be prepared to undertake advocacy and practice within the Australian policy context. Knowledge gained in this unit will prepare students for policy-practice in a variety of social work practice and policy settings to effective positive social change for marginalised and disadvantaged people.
ONLINE:
The unit involves 150 hours of study, involving online lecture material, discussion boards, interactive online exercises and regular online collaboration opportunities. Students will engage in analysis and discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of policy responses to cotemporary social issues. Policy critique is undertaken from a social work perspective of human rights and social justice. Contemporary social issues are analysed allowing students to explore the process of advocacy and policy development and its relationship to social work practice and to apply knowledge and skills in social policy analysis and change to contemporary issues impacting marginalised and disadvantaged groups.
Social workers need to be prepared to undertake advocacy and practice within the Australian policy context. Knowledge gained in this unit will prepare students for policy-practice in a variety of social work practice and policy settings to effective positive social change for marginalised and disadvantaged people.
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
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
Representative texts and references
The unit includes a range of readings that are available to students on the Canvas site. Key texts include:
Althaus, C., Ball, S., Bridgman, P. and Davis, G. (2023). The Australian Policy Handbook: A practical guide to the policymaking process (7th edition). New York: Routledge.
Carson, E. and Kerr, L. (2020). Australian Social Policy and the Human Services (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
TMcClelland, A., Smyth, P. and Marston, G. (Eds.). (2021). Social Policy in Australia: Understanding for Action, Docklands: Oxford University Press.