Health Sciences

Faculty of Health Sciences, Bendigo

School of Social Work and Social Policy, Bendigo

Welcome to the School of Social Work and Social Policy at La Trobe University, Bendigo.

We are located at the Health Sciences building, Sharon Street, Bendigo.

Social Work is a profession with a prime interest in responding to human needs within a framework of equity and social justice and in working toward influencing change in the social functioning of individuals, families, groups, communities and societies. The Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Human Services programs at Bendigo are offered as part of the suite of courses offered by the School throughout Victoria by La Trobe University.

The staff team as profiled here, offer extensive experience as social work, human service and education practitioners in areas such as case management, group work, community work, social policy, social research, project consultancies, writing, field education supervision, honours, masters and PhD supervision. The team live and work within local communities throughout the central Victorian region and are committed to providing teaching and research excellence aimed at students wanting to study at Bendigo regional campus. Individual members of staff also participate in a range of community based activities such as serving on community based management committees, chairing advisory boards and advising local community groups.

Teaching Exchange Sweden

Grace Brown will take a teaching exchange to Malmo University School of Social Work in Sweden from the 4th of April 2008 until the 27th of April 2008. While in Sweden Grace will attend, ‘International Week’ organised by the Faculty of Health and Society at Malmo University. The theme for the week will be the ‘cross border disciplines; gender, environment, ethnicity and migration.’ The programme includes presentations, workshops and social/cultural events. An important part of the week is the opportunity to share experiences and ideas between the partner universities present in Nursing, Social work, Public Health and Biomedical Laboratory Science.

In particular Grace will present on her PhD research during International Week on her thesis topic, ‘Educating Social Workers for Rural Practice.’ Following International week Grace will work closely with Annika Staaf lecturer in social work at Malmo University. Annika and Grace both teach Law and Social Work in their respective countries. Annika Staaf will visit La Trobe Bendigo School of Social Work and Social Policy from the 18th of May 2008 until the 6th of June 2008. Here she will teach into the Bachelor of Social Work programme, visit other La Trobe campuses, and attend organised visits to local health and welfare agencies.

This teaching exchange has been developed around teaching of Law, Ethics and Rights and will offer Grace and Annika opportunities for providing an international perspective of curriculum and teaching approaches. Students at both La Trobe University and Malmo University will learn about a different legal system and social work code of ethics. This will enhance their understanding of the system of law and ethical issues. It is envisaged that this first staff exchange will be the forerunner to future staff exchange between the La Trobe University and Malmo University schools of social work, and that it will encourage students of both universities to undertake some study in Sweden and Australia respectively. This teaching exchange is funded from a STINT grant from Malmo University Sweden.

International Conferences

Rob Townsend has had a paper based on his PhD research accepted for the Standing Conference on University Teaching & Research in the Education of Adults (SCUTREA) in Scotland in July 2008. The paper is entitled: Adult education, cultural diversity and social capital in 21st century communities. This conference will show case research on adult lifelong learning from throughout the world.

Field Education EXPO

The feedback from the students on the day was that they felt the EXPO was useful in helping them think more about placement and also that it gave them an opportunity to meet different workers from the field and find our more information about some key agencies in the Bendigo region. The Agency staff that I chatted with said that they enjoyed the day and that were impressed by the level of preparation of the students, as shown by the questions they asked and the interest they expressed. We also noticed that the Agency staff took some time to 'network' with other agencies throughout the event. We will seek some written feedback from the agencies who participated and the students to help us evaluate the EXPO and plan for next year.

Thanks to those who helped us with organising and supporting the EXPO. Thanks Melissa Houghton, Shannon Brewer and Amanda Garsed for some of the behind the scenes work and Fiona Gardner for sharing the role of photographer! Thanks also to Robyn Trainor for her great organisational skills and for networking with the agencies to bring them on board!!!