Master of

Social Work (Qualifying)
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Master of Social Work (Qualifying)

   COURSE SUMMARY
   Qualification / Award Master of Social Work (Qualifying)
   Course Duration 2 years full-time/4 years part time (Domestic students only)
   Intake February, July
  Credit Points 96
  Delivery On Campus
  Available to Domestic / International
   IELTS 6.5 with no band less than 6
   Course Accreditation AASW
   CRICOS Code 102798H
   Financial Information

FEE-HELP available for Domestic Students
Course Fees Page
   AQF Level 9
   Key Dates Application Deadlines and other Key Course Dates
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Master of Social Work (Qualifying)

COURSE OVERVIEW

The Master of Social Work (Qualifying) meets the Australian Association of Social Workers Practice Standards and is an entry qualification into the social work profession. Social work is an academic practice-based profession that promotes social justice, inclusion and wellbeing. The MSW (Q) aims to produce graduates who are professionally competent, aware of socio-political realities in the human services and committed to social change through supporting and promoting the strengths of disadvantaged and vulnerable populations.

The focus is on face-to-face small classes and intensive interaction with fellow students and experienced social work academics. As social work engages with a changing world where social media, online material and interactivity are prevalent student learning will also include blended learning technologies.

The learning will be delivered through: workshops; case studies; in-class exercises; experiential learning strategies; flipped classrooms; social work laboratory; written reports; oral presentations; blogs; essays; and research reports. Finally, students will explore social work practice through field education practicums.

Excelsia College will provide as part of the course 500 hours (65 weeks) of work placement each at the end of semester 1 and semester 3 of your studies.

Why study Social Work at Excelsia College:

  • A powerful, hands-on introduction to the world of social work.
  • Highly-qualified, friendly and experienced academic staff who are ready to help you on your journey.
  • Smaller class sizes where you are treated as more than just a number.
  • Study with a community of likeminded students.
  • Work placements give you hands on experience (500 hours per year) and professional skills in a range of settings (health, aged care, community services, child and family welfare, mental health, community work, research, policy and planning).
  • Course includes assisting students with locating professional practicums’ in agencies such as Anglicare, Catholic Care, Centrelink, Department of Community Services, Hospitals, Community Health Centres, Local Government, etc.
  • Prepare social work graduates to have a career locally, regionally and internationally.

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EDUCATIONAL PREREQUISITES (DIRECT ENTRY)

Applicants may be admitted to the Master of Social Work (Qualifying) if they have previously successfully completed a relevant Bachelor (AQF Level 7) degree course that contains at least one year, or the equivalent (8 Units) of full-time studies in the social and behavioural sciences, as required by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

Units from the following broad fields may be considered:

  Psychology Community & Welfare Studies
  Sociology Human Development
  History Gender Studies
  Media & Arts Nursing, Allied Health
  Counselling Philosophy
  Law Politics
  Anthropology

EDUCATIONAL PREREQUISITES (PATHWAY ENTRY)

Applicants may be admitted to the Master of Social Work (Qualifying) if they have successfully completed a relevant Bachelor (AQF Level 7) degree course with 4 Units from the above list and the Graduate Certificate in Counselling (Bridging Course).

SUITABILITY ASSESSMENT

Criminal History Record: Provide a National Criminal History Record check at time of application (obtainable from: nationalcrimecheck.com.au; and

Working with Children Check: Provide a Working with Children authorisation at time of application obtainable from: wwccheck.ccyp.nsw.gov.au/Applicants/Application

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

The Master of Social Work (Qualifying) is available to overseas/international students, subject to satisfying the aforementioned admission criteria.

In addition to meeting the educational, artistic and academic prerequisites above, international applicants who have not completed an educational qualification in English have to provide proof of proficiency in English through internationally recognised tests such as IELTS or TOEFL, or through satisfactory completion of an approved course at one of the College’s partner language colleges.

  Examination Minimum Score 
   IELTS 6.5 with no band less than 6.0
  TOEFL iBT (Internet-based) 79* with no score less than 60
  PTE Academic 58 with no score less than 50

For other ways of demonstrating English Language Proficiency visit the English Language Proficiency Requirements

Overseas students applying for admission to Excelsia College courses must have reached the age of 18 years by the commencement of their studies.  Excelsia College will not admit overseas students who have not yet reached 18 years of age.

For more information visit the International Student page.

RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

Please refer to the Credit and Recognition of Prior Learning Policy reference.

PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO MEET THE ENTRY REQUIREMENTS,
PLEASE REFER TO THE GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN COUNSELLING (BRIDGING COURSE).

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This is an Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) accredited qualification. It is an entry qualification into the social work profession and meets the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards (ASWEAS).

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WHAT WILL I STUDY

The unit explores the history of the social work profession in Australia and internationally and the purpose, practices and fields of practices of social work. The human service system and how it responds to social issues will also be examined as well as the different human services contexts to help students gain an understanding of the diverse and dynamic nature of social work. The unit provides an understanding of how different social policy responses are developed in relation to changing conceptions of social ‘problems’. The unit also focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ social issues, policy and service responses.

The unit focus is on exploring diversity and intersectionality in social work practice including the relationships between culture and language, gender and sexuality, and abilities. The unit’s underpinnings of social work practice are the principles of social justice and human rights and these are explored to enable students to investigate contemporary social issues and debates related to culture, language, disability, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and other categories of individual identity and collective belonging.

The unit explores social work practice in groups and communities. The theories and skills in group work are examined and developed with attention to therapeutic group work, self-help groups, teamwork and community organising. Students will explore the theoretical frameworks and practical skills for group and community work. The unit focuses on assessing the need for a group, understanding group formation, development and processes and closure.

The unit focus is on developing skills in working with service users and carers. This unit provides an initial overview of the perspectives of service users and carers and gives students an opportunity to develop an understanding of the needs and perspectives of service users and development of beginning skills of engagement with and empathy for key people in the sector. The students will develop skills in complex assessment, planning and intervention with service users with high needs. Exploration of social work theories and practice frameworks will also be undertaken.

The unit focuses on exploring the Australian legal system and the relationship between the law and social work. Areas of relevance to social work practice such as child wellbeing and safety, mental health, guardianship law, probation and parole, aging and income security will be reviewed. The legal responsibilities of social work, particularly duty of care will be explored, as will the issues of professional negligence, mishaps and misdeeds and the impact on accountability. Social workers are like other human service professionals required at times to appear before, provide reports and other documents to bodies such as courts, Complaints Commissions, Human Rights bodies.

The unit focus is on exploring the psychosocial health and wellbeing across the life course and the interconnectedness of spiritual, mental, physical and environmental health and wellbeing. Attachment relationships and major life transitions are important topics for social work practice. The organisation of health care (physical and mental health and wellbeing) is dominated by medical discourses and the impact this has on personal and community health care needs is critically discussed. The importance of social determinants of health is essential to understanding the health and wellbeing of people and their communities. The relationship of physical environment and the impact on people and communities through climate change is critically examined.

The unit provides professional social work experiences in a range of settings that may include health, aged care, community services, child and family welfare, mental health, community work, research, policy and planning. Through the field education practicum students will integrate theory and practice and develop competencies in a variety of methods and fields of practice. The practice will be determined by the setting in which the student is placed. This is the first of two practicums designed to ensure that students meet the requirements of the AASW accreditation standards. The practicum consists of 500 hours.

The unit focus is on developing skills in working with children, youth and families. It considers challenges that children, young people and families may experience, including physical abuse, neglect, child sexual assault, emotional abuse, family violence, trauma, and poverty. Students will develop skills in complex assessment, planning and intervention with high need or complex service users. Protective factors and strengths of diverse families, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, are also explored. Services and organisations along a spectrum from prevention to treatment are identified and discussed.

The unit has a focus on building skills and knowledge of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. Working with these communities is an important field of practice for social workers in community contexts as well as statutory ones. The unit critically analyses the history of the relationship between social work, human services and Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander peoples. Partnership models of helping are to be developed through collaboration and building skills in working with and engaging communities. This involves developing practice principles, strategies and skills.

The unit builds upon research skills developed at the undergraduate level to focus on collaborative and community research processes and evaluation design. In particular it draws upon multi-method research design to develop research projects addressing social issues and problems at local, national and international level. Students will address the National Health and Medical Research Council (NMHRC) ethical guidelines in developing projects with human participants.

The unit provides students with advanced practice approaches and skills in working with individuals, families and groups. Trauma informed practice and narrative approaches are significant for social workers working across a variety of settings. Students will focus on clinical practice with individuals and/ or families with trauma and abuse. Narrative therapy as a specifically developed social work intervention will be critically examined and the skills for this practice approach to working with individuals, and communities developed.

The unit examines the nature and role of leadership in social work practice including leadership development and how we might develop leadership qualities in others, and ourselves in all aspects of our practice. The unit also examines leadership in the context of the challenges that have confronted human service organisations. This unit will also develop students understanding of the organisational contexts in which their professional practice will take place. The role of social workers in a range of organisations will be explored with students developing skills in areas such as organisational analysis and change.

The unit focuses on completing a research project integrated with their final fieldwork placement. It builds upon the unit Research and Evaluation in Social Work Practice. Students will have worked through the phases of research, including topic selection, research design, ethics approval, and literature review in that unit. In this integrated project students will undertake data collection and analysis, writing up findings and a research paper ready for publication. The project will outline research methods and theoretical frameworks.

The unit provides professional social work experiences in a range of settings that include health, aged care, community services, child and family welfare, mental health, community work, research, policy and planning. Through the field education practicum students will integrate theory and practice and develop competencies in a variety of methods and fields of practice. The practice will be determined by the setting in which the student is placed. This is the final practicum and students have to ensure that they meet the requirements of the AASW Practice Standards (2013) for entry-level proficiency. The practicum consists of 500 hours of which 100 hours will be involved in the Integrated Research Project.

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Data will be available after the first year of teaching.

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