We are testing the prototype with students, academic staff, field practitioners and interdisciplinary colleagues and will share the product and test results with conference delegates. 79 | Getting the Social Work Agenda into Government Policy through Research Author/s: Christine RMIT in a position to use research for change needs two drivers; research findings and strategic timing. My research into screening practices for Domestic and Family violence in Emergency Departments of public hospitals within Australia included interviews with social workers working in emergency departments and women who had presented to emergency departments while living with an abusive partner. During interviews, most Social workers suggested that they do pick up on some indicators of abuse when a woman presents, especially physical indicators. The experiences of the women interviewed clearly demonstrated that this is not the case. The nuances in women’s presentations that are not being identified by social workers demonstrates a need for targeted training in qualifying social work degrees as well as training post-graduation. The results of these research findings came at the time when the Victorian State Government launched a Royal Commission into Family Violence. This presentation is an account of strategically positioning the findings of this research through a submission to this Royal Commission, which has resulted in the AASW (at a time of review of our own accreditation and education standards), being tasked with including this subject matter into qualifying social work degrees and post qualifying training. 80 | Collaborative Learning in a Individualised HE Environment: Where to from here? Author/s: Justine O’Sullivan Western Sydney University If the relationship of social workers to people is one of collaborative action, how can relevant professional skills be nurtured in individualised’ higher education (HE) ‘hyper environments undermining student engagement in collaborative learning? The commodification of higher education and its impacts are clearly affecting the purposes and organisation of social work education in our own institution, trampling on opportunities for student professional formation and group learning experiences.
We are testing the prototype with students, academic staff, field practitioners and interdisciplinary colleagues and will share the product and test results with conference delegates. 79 | Getting the Social Work Agenda into Government Policy through Research Author/s: Christine RMIT in a position to use research for change needs two drivers; research findings and strategic timing. My research into screening practices for Domestic and Family violence in Emergency Departments of public hospitals within Australia included interviews with social workers working in emergency departments and women who had presented to emergency departments while living with an abusive partner. During interviews, most Social workers suggested that they do pick up on some indicators of abuse when a woman presents, especially physical indicators. The experiences of the women interviewed clearly demonstrated that this is not the case. The nuances in women’s presentations that are not being identified by social workers demonstrates a need for targeted training in qualifying social work degrees as well as training post-graduation. The results of these research findings came at the time when the Victorian State Government launched a Royal Commission into Family Violence. This presentation is an account of strategically positioning the findings of this research through a submission to this Royal Commission, which has resulted in the AASW (at a time of review of our own accreditation and education standards), being tasked with including this subject matter into qualifying social work degrees and post qualifying training. 80 | Collaborative Learning in a Individualised HE Environment: Where to from here? Author/s: Justine O’Sullivan Western Sydney University If the relationship of social workers to people is one of collaborative action, how can relevant professional skills be nurtured in ‘hyper individualised’ higher education (HE) environments undermining student engagement in collaborative learning? The commodification of higher education and its impacts are clearly affecting the purposes and organisation of social work education in our own institution, trampling on opportunities for student professional formation and group learning experiences.