South Australian Social Worker - Australian Association of Social
Transcription
South Australian Social Worker - Australian Association of Social
South Australian Social Worker Summer 2015 From the Social Justice Committee… AASW SA Branch Incorporated in the ACT ACN 008 576 010 www.aasw.asn.au Correspondence to: Branch Office Manager AASW SA Branch 4 Milner Street HINDMARSH SA 5007 or [email protected] President Mary Hood Vice President Chris Chalubek CPD Maria Scicchitano Ethics Sophie Diamandi Students & New Grads Mark Wilson Private Practitioners Robyn Lingard Social Justice Jennie Charlton Branch Manager Miriam Hobson I was honoured to be asked to launch the Australian Association of Social Work South Australia (AASW SA) Social Justice Committee on International Social Work Day 2015. I was to prepare a speech for the AASW SA Annual Breakfast at the Pavilion where John Brayley (Public Advocate). As I started to prepare for this it took me on a reflection not only of the year and a half of being on the Social Justice Committee but of why I am an active member of the AASW. I Thinking back to 2003 when I qualified as a Social Worker in the UK the British Association of Social Work had attended the University and provided information but at this time I had no sense of why I should join. In my Child Protection Social Work role I was given great training and supervision but the Association was never mentioned nor the work that they are doing in advocating for Social work as a profession. The UK had implemented registration prior to me emigrating. At the time I was unaware of the work that would have gone into getting Social Work approved as a Registered Profession and just took it for granted. I became aware of the need to provide evidence of my Continued Professional Development (CPD) and the difficulty of this if you do not keep an accurate log of this as you complete it. As part of immigration to Australia I needed to have my qualifications approved by AASW and at the time I had not really linked them as being the same as BASW. I read the information about the AASW and the CPD log that is required to sustain membership. I thought that this would be important for me and so made the decision to join. Initially I used the AASW as a way to attend social work training but in 2009 I contacted the association in regards to the CPD committee and they invited me along. In the last 5 years I have been supported by colleagues to build a sense of identity as a social worker and this has supported me in my many roles to stay true to my value and ethics. In October 2013 when Sue King raised the idea of having a South Australian Social Justice Branch at the Annual General Meeting it was something that had been discussed but never moved forward until now. Peter Munn, Renee Pearce and myself also put our names forward to join and so the adventure began. We each brought our own knowledge and experience to the table and identified the reasons that we wanted to be on this committee and what we were able to offer and I realised that no matter how small our contribution we were starting to be part of the Solution. Sue agreed that in the absence of volunteers for the conveynor position that she would undertake this role for the coming 12 months. As with any new committee it was a slow start as we found our feet but an interesting time of Elections and changes was giving us a lot of food for thought. Over the coming 12 months we worked with the members to build our key areas of focus which included Aged, Disability, Child Protection and Mental Health. Peter Munn stepped down from the committee due to “No matter how small our contribution we were starting to be part of the Solution” Page Page 2 2 Newsletter Summer 2015 Contents 1. Social Justice Committee 11. Members Survey Results 2. For Your Diary 12. Maria Harries—Child Protection deliverables 3. Regional Round Up 13. AASW SA Networks 4. News and Updates 14. SA Branch Contact Details 5. Child protection content in social work courses 6. AASW in the Media / SARRAH Scholarship 7. World Social Work Day / Placement Update 8. University Pages / CP Symposium 9. Advocacy 10. Committee Round Up For Your Diary… Event Trauma - Responding to Cri- The Future: Social Work, Ethics and Child Protection Reform in SA sis and Traumatic Incidents 28 April 2015 5:45 - 8:00pm EDC, Hindmarsh Registrations open via Dramatix. 19 May 2015 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Thebarton Community Centre Torrensville Registrations open via Dramatix. The latest SW Research Treating PTSD with Dr. Leah Giarratano 9 June 2015 5:45pm for 6:00pm start - 8:00pm EDC, Hindmarsh 18 –19 June 2015, Adelaide Integration and Application of Cultural Elements in Supervision 21 May 2015 9:00 -12:00pm EDC, Hindmarsh Registrations open via Dramatix. Register at: http://www.talominbooks.com Registrations open soon. S.W.O.T. There are growing number of opportunities for Social Work Online Learning. There are far too many to list here ranging across the breadth of social work specialisations. Check out the AASW website details. There are several ongoing Online Networking Groups including: Mental Health Private Practice and Research / NDIS practice / Rural and Remote Practice / School Social Workers and Medicare Locals Practice. Page 3 the demands on his time. In October 2014 Michelle Adams and Sue Maynard joined the committee. We started to identify current Submissions that were being asked for by Government that fitted our key criteria. We also felt that we needed links with the AASW National Social Justice Committee and SACCOSS. Michelle is our representative within SACCOSS and I am the representative on the National Social Justice Committee. Due to the travel of her employment Renee also stepped down from the committee. We again looked at the role of the convenor in November 2014. It seemed a natural progression that as I was the Social Justice Committee representative at the Branch Management Committee that I take on the conveynor role. I felt that I was able to undertake this role with the Newsletter Summer 2015 support of the committee. We have worked closely with the National Branch and our now recognised as having an Active Social Justice Committee in South Australia. We welcomed another 2 member from the Social Work Breakfast, Jennifer Porter and Katrin Liefermann. To date the key achievements of the of the Social Justice committee has been the progression towards a Reconciliation Action Plan with Social Workers, showing attendance at the “Walk of Awareness on Friday 13 February, The Royal Commission South Australian Submission and the Adoption Review Submission in March 2015. Jennie Charlton Regional Roundup... Mt Gambier In January the expansion of the Mt Gambier campus of UniSA was announced in The Advertiser with plans now moving ahead to offer increased services. Vice-Chancellor David Lloyd said the specialist teaching facilities for nursing, midwifery and social work would “promote experiential learning.” With a population of over 32,00, the area has a comprehensive Health Service Plan, which local Social workers will tell you has direct links with their practice. Riverland The Berry Barmera Council have continued their E-Newsletters into 2015 providing local community service information— the January edition includes information on Community Grant success including: Retiring newsletter editors Sally McMichael and Kathy Inverarity who consistently raised the quality of the Branch Newsletters over the past 10 years. David de Bruin who is moving to in Geelong with the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in the National Office, working at the forefront of the development of human services. We will miss your input David into CPD but hope you will find an opportunity to engage with the AASW in Geelong. We thank you for your considerable support and wish all three of you all the very best for your futures. Whyalla The Whyalla news ran a story late last year on one of our Ethics Award winners with some members of her graduating class: http://tinyurl.com/qfmf5md Workshops. A great WSWD event was held in BARMERA so flip over to our coverage of this for further information. Adelaide The SA branch has had some changes to the committee and support roles. We give thanks to those volunteers who have contributed to our A quick search for jobs in the Whyalla area show there are currently several opportunities in the area for those with social work skills. Take a look here: https://www.jobseeker.com.au/Social-Workjobs-in-Whyalla-SA#email_alert_modal Page 4 Newsletter Summer 2015 AASW News and Updates Reports of Medicare Mental Health services being inequitably distributed is alarming, but not surprising, according to the National President of the AASW McClure Report on Australia’s Welfare System Karen Healy. “There is no incentive for practitioners to set up where there is so much need, in the lower The AASW was present at a speech given by Minister socio-economic areas or in rural communities,” ProScott Morrison following the release of the McClure fessor Healy said. “Directing a free enterprise service report on welfare reform. The Minister emphasised delivery program like the ‘Better Access’ Medicare that the report was a report to government, not a re- Initiative to high need areas takes incentive and port of government. As such the Minister’s comments policy direction.” were short on specifics. However he foreshadowed a simpler system going into the future. One of the reView the media release here. peated themes was that “The best type of welfare was a job.” NDIS In case you missed it the AASW submission on the interim report can be found here. Since the release of the final report some widely read sites have provided feedback including: Australian Network on Disability The Conversation The New Matilda The Sydney Morning Herald Radio National - audio record from 25 Feb 15 Open letter to PM The AASW has contributed to an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for certainty of funding for many front line mental health services. The letter, which has received a great deal of media attention National Primary Healthcare partners The National Primary Health Care Partnership (NPHCP) is a partnership of allied health and nursing peak bodies and related organisations who are committed to a strong primary health care sector. The AASW has been a member of the Partnership since it’s inception and strongly endorses the attached linked Communiqué. Primary Health is about health care where people live, prevention and addressing the social determinants of health. See the Communiqué here. Pre-budget Lobbying The AASW was part of a community sector and ACOSS lobby group to the Minister for Health to ABC News coverage of this included a full copy of the strongly lobby for the retention of Medicare and a letter which prompted many comments and feedback Universal Health System. The core lobby message to their services and further raised the profile of this was that "Medicare is the pillar of universal health care in Australia, and any effort to structure payimportant document. ments or ‘price signals’ undermines that universalism and is rejected by the community sector". The delegation encourages Government to undertake broad consultation that enables community interests to be reflected alongside those of the professions and industries in the health system. For more A recent report in the Medical Journal of Australia (and the Guardian) was responded to with the follow- news and updates click here. More incentives needed for rural practitioners ing media release: Page 5 Newsletter Summer 2015 Child protection content in social work courses The AASW utterly rejects Emeritus Professor Freda Briggs’ claim that there is “little if anything about children in social work courses” as reported in her evidence to the Coronial Inquiry into the death of Chloe Valentine (ABC 19/2/15). education providers and employers is the best way to ensure that child welfare professionals are prepared for this demanding field of work. Learning must not stop at graduation. Employers have a vital role to play in ensuring that social work graduates are supported to continue building the knowledge and skill needed. Professor Healy comments: “in professions dealing with safety critical situations such as Social workers provide services to vulnerable children and medicine and aviation, it is recognised that new graduates require support and continuing learning opportunities to put their families. As the professional body representing social their knowledge into practice. We encourage Families SA to workers in Australia, The Australian Association of Social recognise the need to provide high level Workers (AASW) sets and monitors educasupport and professional development tional standards for social workers in this “The AASW and SA opportunities for frontline workers. The country. The AASW utterly rejects Emeritus AASW and SA higher education providers higher education Professor Freda Briggs’ claim that there is are willing to partner with Families SA in “little if anything about children in social work providers are willing promoting best child protection practice.” courses” as reported in her evidence to the to partner with Coronial Inquiry into the death of Chloe ValThe AASW hopes that the Coroner will Families SA in recognise the need for improved support entine (ABC 19/2/15). promoting best child for frontline child protection workers and The National Social Work Educational Standwill consider innovative models of profesards require that all social workers receive protection practice.” sional support operating in other states. core education in working with children and The Child Protection Operating Model their families. Professor Karen Healy, Nationinitiated by the Victorian Government al President of the AASW states that, “social workers learn promotes best practice through innovative workplace learnabout child development, parent and child attachment, indiing and support opportunities for frontline workers. Several cators of child abuse and neglect and communication with states have also introduced specialist child protection pracchildren and their families”. The social work curriculum retice units to provide frontline workers with access to up-toquires that students are also informed about inquiries into date knowledge and skills. child welfare including learning about The Stolen Generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and The AASW recognises that the death of Chloe Valentine is a the harm caused by forced adoptions and institutional abuse tragedy. The AASW hopes that this tragedy will lead to a of children. The curriculum provides the foundation for child thorough examination of the role of all stakeholders including educational institutions and Families SA in preparing and protection practice. The fact is that child protection work is very difficult. Collab- supporting the frontline child protection workforce to achieve the safety and well-being of all children. oration, rather than finger pointing, between social work Horizon Recruitment Service What is the Horizon Career Centre? The Horizon Career Centre is a great tool for both employers of social workers and for social workers seeking employment: For job seekers: We send out a free weekly job alert, which can be signed up to on the website by filling out the ‘SIGN ME UP’ electronic form (http://www.horizonemployment.com.au/) Social workers can also promote themselves as Locums available for temporary contracts ($55 for AASW members) For employers: A job can be posted on our website for 30 days, which will also be advertised in our weekly job alerts, the National Ebulletins and branch newsletters ($220.00) Employers can search for Locums and contact them directly through the advertised contact details For all advertising or Horizon enquiries, please refer people to Karen Rowland or Anna Gaffney. Phone 1300 731 314 or email [email protected] Page 6 Newsletter Summer 2015 World Social Work Day 2015 Adelaide Breakfast SA President, Dr Mary Hood & 2015 WSWD presenter Public Advocate, John Brayley. Branch Management Committee Members Julie O’Leary & Nevena Simic SA President, Dr Mary Hood with Newsletter Editors Kathy Inverarity & Sally McMichael Branch Management Committee Members Maria Scicchitano & Sally Watson (with three Adelaide participants) Social Justice Committee Convenor, Jennie Charlton. Riverland Lunch Placement Update This semester the SA branch is fortunate enough to have Xiaosong Liu (Song) as our placement student from 2nd year Flinders MSW. She is working on a project to investigate: “How international social work students come to understand the different assumptions and beliefs that underlie Australian culture and therefore co-worker’s and client’s behaviour?” Song is receiving much support from both SA universities in uncovering what is done currently to help them with this. The Branch hopes to be able to better identify what we as a branch can do to assist them with their professional integration and their development of their professional identity. So far a number of face to face meetings have taken place and moves towards an online discussion group have started. It will be interesting to see just where this project takes us. Keep following this section of Branch Newsletters for further information. Flinders Uni Placement Student Xiaosong Li (Song) Page 7 Newsletter Summer 2015 AASW SA Branch Members Survey Results Page 8 Newsletter Summer 2015 AASW SA Members Survey results One question Members were asked: “In order to help improve Social Work professional identity, what actions would you like the AASW to implement? Responses included: Posters— “a flyer that “sets us apart from other professions” Combined CPD events—“we (in country SA) cannot come in for just 2 hours.” Specific interventions sessions—responses detailed below. Another key question was: “What do you believe the AASW can do to improve the Professional Identity of Social Work in South Australia?” Public role definitions De-myth Membership value “lots of people see it only as an extra cost with no tangible benefits” Stronger liaison with students as they move into the field Higher public profile and agency representation Research support and promotion Focus on specialisations, therapy / counselling Media management. CPD the responding Membership asked for: Volunteer opportunities: Longer / combined CPD sessions North, south, hills and on-site / regional CPD Interventions topic areas: crisis response working with involuntary clients working with people with disabilities mindfulness family therapy grief and loss Depression / anxiety relationships PTSD violence personality disorder More information on how to become accredited. Drafting media exposure / media training Writing Profession in Practice Profiling Guiding Agency engagement plan Delivering SW profiling to allied health professionals Consultative committee memberships Community event representation Sponsorship of social work research Access to data on the effectiveness of social work interventions. If you are able to help with any of these activities– what ever your time frame, please contact the branch office. Help us be responsive We want to connect with you better and be more responsive to the issues you see are important in our community. We need to know more about your fields of current practice so we can represent the cohort of our state Members, occasionally invite you to consult us when something arises in your area, and to know how many of our Members are affected by an event or policy. However, when you renew your membership on the National database you have only been asked for very vague information about your general field of practice, so we in SA don’t have good information about what work you are actually involved in currently. Please update your Membership Details: 1) where, 2) field / specialist area of work, 3) your employer. Online or email us at the SA office; [email protected]. Page 9 Newsletter Summer 2015 Private Practice Sub Committee Committee Round up Ethics Private Practice The Ethics committee has been out to the Magil Campus of UniSA to provide over 70 allied health students a presentation on the AASW Code of Ethics. Feedback received was complementary of the clarification of ethical values, models and pathways for assistance if practice dilemmas arise. Further public talks are available—requests should be passed to the Branch Office in the fist instance. The SWOT program for private practice social workers is now up and running! Since their launch of the buddy program for those applying for AMHSW status they have received ongoing requests for this service which is being coordinated by Nevena Seimic. They continue to circulate their How to find a Social Worker flyer which directs those who seek a medicare rebated Social Worker to the AASW search directory. If you have ideas of how these can be targeted to provide maximum impact please contact their convenor Robyn Lingard. Continuing Professional Development CPD committee are rightly proud of their events program of the past several months with high numbers and positive feedback received. With not a moment to spare for these volunteers the next year’s calendar is being planned. EOIs for events requested via the Nov 2014 Member’s Survey have been run and negotiations are underway for the coming period. Alternate pathways for providing CPD are being embraced by the committee with a range of delivery options being reviewed. Expect exciting outcomes from this group soon. Students and New Graduates The SNG group is working toward an expanded program of offerings to SA social work students. We have been lucky enough to have the support of both Ann Raith (BMC) and Song (our placement student) in getting information to new enrolment students on the role of the AASW. Further information on Song’s placement can be found on page 7 of this publication. PRIVATE PRACITIONERS AFTER DARK This annual Adelaide event was held on 11November 2014. Thanks go to The Fountain Inn Hotel, 142 Glenn Osmond Rd, Parkside for hosting the event at the last minute. Page 10 Newsletter Summer 2015 Child Protection This article exploring the need for more research on Child Protection outcomes in the daily on-line, The Conversation, is relevant for the SA Social Work community. Maria Harries began her distinguished career in the SA public mental health service of the 1970s. Most people reasonably assume there is evidence of good longterm outcomes for children who come into contact with child protection systems. Why else would we intervene in the lives of children and their families, and spend many billions of dollars, if not to ensure children are better off when we assist them? Unfortunately, we don’t know. Not all children who have contact with the child protection system end up in short- or long-term care. In 2013, there were 135,000 children receiving some form of child protection service in Australia. 50,000 of these were “in care”. Let’s focus on the latter group. Not only do we need to understand the longterm outcomes for these children, we need to know how their families and communities fare. Indigenous children, for instance, do not live in isolation – their outcomes are intrinsically related to the outcomes for their families and communities. There are no better examples of this link than the evidence seared into our national consciousness from various Australian Senate reports: the appalling outcomes for children, parents, families and communities of the removal of Aboriginal children (the Stolen Generation); the generally abysmal outcomes for the 500,000 children who were placed in care in Australia (Forgotten Australians); the plight of so many child migrants who came alone to our shores; the outcomes of the historic forced adoption of children; and the emerging findings of the current Royal Commission about the traumatic experiences of so many children placed in care. A 2007 review of the studies on outcomes for children and young people in care across Australian jurisdictions show children in care are more likely to have “negative outcomes” compared with children not in care. These reports echo international observations and are represented in the United Kingdom’s Looking after Children Project report. “Generally children in care continue to have poorer outcomes than the wider population – particularly in relation to educational achievement, homelessness and mental health.” Children in care have already experienced disadvantages and traumas that leave them vulnerable. Removal from parents and families is often traumatic. Unarguably, some report doing well in care. Others report a litany of problems that serve only to increase their original vulnerability. There’s no doubt we need to develop evidence-based policies and practices to reduce the number of children brought into care and provide the best outcomes for children who are in care. So why do we have such limited evidence of children’s long-term outcomes in care? Undoubtedly there are many reasons. It may be because, as a community, we accept we have an obligation to rescue children who have been harmed or are at risk of harm and we don’t need evidence to justify this other than the guarantee of immediate safety. In other words, immediate safety is the primary outcome measure. Additionally, the call for evidence of outcomes in relation to a lot of community service interventions is quite recent. Finally, research in these areas has not been a priority. It is costly and difficult and longitudinal studies that take a look at longer-term outcomes are notoriously tough to justify, plan and conduct. Internationally there are many examples of research focused on outcomes for children in care that demonstrate care can increase their original vulnerability. Australia is at the forefront of research focused on children in care and the outcomes of that care. A large and exciting longiThe problems identified in these reports testify to terrible outtudinal study on children in care has been underway since 2011 comes of what were, by all accounts, well-intentioned policies in New South Wales; its first report is imminent. And there is aimed at protecting children. These reports amplify the calls for an innovative five-year research project underway in Victoria reforms by care leavers, families, communities and care providon young people’s outcomes after they leave care. ers and inform what Griffith University Professor of Social Work Claire Tilbury calls “the global search for improving out- These represent vitally important and timely projects, and incorporate what are called “multiple data sources”: they include comes” for children in care. information from children, young people, their families and Australia is active in establishing high-quality standards and other carers. It’s imperative that we listen to the voices of all of practices for children who are not able to be cared for in their birth families. Despite the attention to this important issue, and those who have experienced state care. volumes of work attesting to the importance of measuring per- Additionally, other organisations such as CREATE, which is dedicated to supporting the highest standards for children in formance and outcomes of children in care, problems remain obvious. A recent Uniting Care report states: care, continue to be active in monitoring quality and outcomes. While we know a lot in this area, we don’t have sufficient evi“Young people leaving care or who have left care are overdence to show that children who are abused or neglected and represented in the statistics on homelessness, early school leaving their families are better off when we intervene to protect and contact with the criminal justice system. They are also more them. But watch this space... likely to have children at an early age and are at greater risk of We remove kids from abuse and neglect, but are they better off in the long run? having their own child taken into care.” Page 11 Newsletter Summer 2015 University Pages Did you know? UniSA offers Bachelor of Arts (Indigenous Cultures and Australian Society), Bachelor of Social Work MBIW. For more information click here. AASW SA Student Awards “Best identification and discussion of an ethical dilemma in their final placement” Pt Augusta This WSWD we awarded five state awards for this area of learning across both local Universities. Postal arrangements were made for: Shyane lives and works in Pt Augusta. So we are liaising with the the staff at UniSA within the area to arrange for the certificate be presented to her in person. Bengamin Garcia – BSW – Flinders Uni Adelaide These students were presented with their award at luncheon: Aerinn Morgan – MSW - Uni SA Mt Gambier A luncheon / graduation service were the occasion where the award was presented to: Palma Edwards – WBSW – Uni SA Whyalla Are having a morning tea on campus for the students where our Awards will be issued. Shyane Mc Innis – WBSW- Uni SA Margret Megson – MBSW - Uni SA Congratulations to this years winners! We welcome them as free Members for the next 12 months. All social work qualifications in the state will be provided with an Ethics in Placement award for the 2015 academic year. Students should contact their program coordinators for information on participation requirements. Page 12 Newsletter Summer 2015 AASW SA Branch Branch Management Committee President Ethics and Professional Standards Mary Hood Mob: 0427716938 [email protected] Sophie Diamandi 0438 810 501 [email protected] Vice President Continuing Professional Development Sub-committee Chris Chalubek Mob: 0448960098 [email protected] Maria Scicchitano 0404487825 [email protected] Committee Members Social Justice Sub-committee Ann Raith Mob: Number missing here [email protected] Jennie Charlton [email protected] / [email protected] 0416860834 Daniel Maik Mobile: 0423 979 732 [email protected] Jennie Charlton Mob: 0416 860 834 [email protected] Julie O’Leary Mobile: 0407 408 656 Julie.ol’[email protected] Mark Wilson Work: 8277 3366 [email protected] Student & New Graduate Group Mark Wilson 0430 213 596 [email protected] Private Practitioners Subcommittee Robyn Lingard 0412 844 278 [email protected] Peer Skill Share Group Maxine Longford Christine Kelley [email protected] Mobile: 0412 867 148 [email protected] Newsletter Editors Michele Osmond Mobile: 0409 672 087 [email protected] Nevena Simic Mobile: 0407 631 216 [email protected] Paula McCubbin Mobile: 0438 071 937 [email protected] Robyn Lingard Mob: 0412 844 278 [email protected] Advertising Sub Committees 2 X VACACNY All prices are plus GST Advert sizes Full page: Half Page: Quarter page: E-news inclusion: (for Members) $220 $110 $60 $40 Newsletter deadline dates Issue Deadline Summer Autumn Winter Spring 15 February 15 May 15 August 15 November The next edition Summer 2015 Please send all newsletter contributions to the editorial committee Our Offices The SA Branch Office Education Development Centre Level 1, 4 Milner Street Hindmarsh SA 5007 Phone: (08) 8463 5911 Fax: (08) 8463 5981 (Tuesday— Friday 9.30am to 2.30pm) [email protected] SA Branch webpage AASW National Office PO Box 4956 Kingston ACT 2604 Ph: 1800 630 124 [email protected] www.aasw.asn.au