WHAT IS A SOCIAL WORKER?

SHOW FILTERS
Location
Course unitInclude course units

What do I need to study to become a Social Worker?

Victoria University Online

The Graduate Certificate in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, from VU Online, will give you a greater understanding of the complex lives and minds of children and adolescents, and allow you to help them.

Depending on your skills and experience, you can apply the knowledge you gain in this course to careers such as:

Graduate Certificate in Child and Adolescent Mental Health

The Graduate Certificate in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, from VU Online, will give you a greater understanding of the complex lives and minds of children and adolescents, and allow you to help them.
Depending on your skills and experience, you can apply the knowledge you gain in this course to careers such as:

loading

Displaying all courses

What is a Social Worker?

Working with individuals, groups or families, Social Workers are concerned with enhancing the emotional, financial and mental well-being of their clients. They can provide an alternate view on a problem and enable people to develop skills and mechanisms to cope with life’s challenges.

A Social Worker helps people to identify, resolve and cope with situations and problems that arise from the everyday trials of modern life. They can assist their clients in dealing with issues such as unemployment, homelessness, addiction, domestic violence and abuse, and also offer support for people who have suffered trauma or are going through a bereavement.

Social Workers provide practical and emotional support, counselling and information on available resources such as refuges, clinics, job search programs and legal aid. They can facilitate access to government housing and help clients obtain Centrelink entitlements.

What do Social Workers do?

  • Interviewing individuals, families and groups to identify the nature and extent of each client’s issues.
  • Providing help and advice on developing coping mechanisms and strategies.
  • Supplying information to clients and facilitating access to available resources and programs.
  • Liaising with local organisations and government agencies to help improve and develop services.
  • Making regular contact with clients to monitor their progress and development.
  • Maintaining current knowledge of local resources, programs and services.
  • Referring clients to specialists and other professionals where applicable.
  • Keeping case records and compiling reports.

Career snapshot for Social Worker

  • The average age of working Social Workers is 41.
  • 11.40% of Social Workers are male.
  • 69.30% of Social Workers work full-time and on average they work around 35.5 hours per week.
  • With A Bachelor Degree or higher, Social Workers get paid $1,364 per week Before Tax.
  • Unemployment levels are average.
  • In 2015 records showed 28,300 employed Social Workers.
  • The projected growth of the profession is estimated to be very strong with employment numbers around 34,700 by 2020.
Reset