Top 5 Universities in Australia to study Social Work

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What does a Social Worker do?

Social workers are professional change facilitators. Social workers assist people in bringing change in life that will enhance individual and social well-being. This is possible through the identification of needed alterations and getting people to the support of safe housing or family therapy. Social workers have knowledge of human behaviour and development, family and social network information, disability and health and mental knowledge.

Social workers will also offer individual or group counselling where clients require advice and support services and support in such areas as the preparation of submissions and applications, court attendance, writing of support letters, or referrals to health and community services. Depending on their area of specialisation and place of employment, social workers may have varying duties.

The social worker must follow specific professional standards. Similarly, social workers are accredited by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). Social workers accredited by social work professionals specialising in mental health problems are called Accredited Mental Health Social Workers (AMHSW).

In this article, we have provided for you everything you need to know about study Social Work in Australia and Australian universities that offer this degree.

Skills required to be a Social Worker

Active listening: Active listening is part of the responsibility of a social worker and can help you identify exactly what the client is concerned about in order to be able to help them. Active listening builds trust, brings about a good relationship and shows respect.

Persuasion: Social workers should have achievable goals set with their clients. The ability to inspire and encourage others is one of the skills while working with clients on decision-making, making action and self-advocacy development. Various ways of motivation will let you convince the clients while considering various personalities, experiences and objections.

Emotional intelligence and empathy: Social workers should apply emotional intelligence and empathy in reading the perspectives, feelings and styles of communication of their clients. With this, these skills combine to enable you to understand the different aspects of your client’s needs better and, in return, ask appropriate follow-up questions that can bring out even more information.

Cultural competency: In order to effectively assist their clients, social workers need to be sensitive to their varied and sometimes underrepresented points of view. Examining your clients’ history and views as well as making an effort to learn more about diverse identities and cultures will help you become culturally competent. You can give your clients better service and a better experience if you have this open respect for people and this eagerness to learn from them.

Patience: Social work often involves patience with clients, supportive agencies and other providers. Working directly with clients also requires one to be patient since, at times, clients open up slowly or may hesitate to open up. Thus, patience and perseverance should help you to determine what may cause your client’s challenges.

Career options for Social Worker graduates

A few of the career options you can consider after graduate:

Community worker
Counsellor
Social worker
Youth worker
Caseworker
Special care worker
Welfare worker
Social scientist
Child and family counsellor
Educator

The average annual salary for Social Worker is from AU$85,000 to AU$100,000 in Australia. This can be different depending on which state you plan to work in.

General entry requirements to study Social Work in Australia

Academic Entry

Academic entry	Minimum Score
STPM	Aggregate score of 8
Matriculation	GPA 2.75
A-Levels	Aggregate score of 8 based on the best three A-Level
UEC	Grade average of 4.4 from five major subjects
IB Diploma	26
Australian Matriculation (ATAR)	75
Canadian Pre-University (CPU)	Overall grade average of 60%

Note: Universities may have different requirements. To learn more, get in touch with us!

English Language Entry Requirements

Entry Level	Minimum Score
IELTS	7.0
TOEFL	90
Pearson Test of English (PTE)	64

Note: Universities may have different English Language requirements. To learn more, get in touch with us!

How to be a Social Worker in Australia

The initial step to study social work in Australia is after completion of SPM or equivalent examination, is to complete a pre-university course or a Diploma either in Social Work, Social Care, Community Services or any related Diploma which you can opt to take in institutions located in Australia.

After completion of relevant pre-university courses, you can begin your journey pursuing a Bachelor Degree in Social Work, which typically takes 4 years to study at an Australian higher education institution of your choice. If you do a Diploma programme, you will only need 3 years to do a bachelor degree.

If you don’t have a Bachelor of Social Work to study Social Work in Australia, you can still qualify as a social worker by taking Master of Social Work. If one wishes to specialise, they can continue to study for a Graduate Certificate that is a postgraduate qualification. The specialisation consists of child protection, aged care, family violence, and many others offered in Australia depending on the institutions you choose to study.

Then, you should register as a social worker with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). To qualify to be an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (AMHSW), it may require you to undertake further post-qualification experience and professional development.

Social Worker is one of the occupations that is considered a high demand in Australia with job opportunities expected to grow by 23.2% by 2026. Priority is provided for Social Worker to apply for work visa and a skilled visa that provides a pathway to permanent residency. Social Workers are generally on the medium and long-term strategic skills list (MLTSSL). Meaning, it opens more possibilities for Permanent Residence (PR) visas you can apply for.

Social Workers that are under MLTSSL offer temporary visas such as subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) and permanent visas such as subclass 189 (Skilled Independent) and subclass 190 (Skilled Nominated). The choice of visa may vary from occupation, eligibility, regional preference and wish to acquire permanent residence.

1. University of New South Wales (UNSW)

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university known for its brand, UNSW Sydney, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the leading founding members of the Group of Eight (Go8), a coalition of Australian research-intensive universities. It is ranked 19th in the 2024 QS World University Rankings.

Having international recognition, the degree places an equal focus on tangible and significant impacts of social work. The students are also guaranteed close mentorship by industry and practising social workers in order to gain an all-inclusive understanding of the field. The programme provides students with applied experiences across a broad scope of human services, inclusive but not limited to mental health, social work counselling and community outreach, sociology and psychology, experiences working with the communities

Programme Offered	Bachelor of Social Work (Honours)
Duration	4 years
Intake	February, May
Indicative Fees (2024)	AU$ 190,500