Graduate Certificate in Social Science

This unit focuses on introducing students to central concepts and theories in sociology and their relevance for social work. It provides for the use of critical thinking to explore social issues and how these impact service users. It introduces students to the founding theorists in sociology and the impact of these on our understanding of society. The unit explores our understanding of social stratification including key concepts of class, gender, ethnicity, family, youth, work etc. The key issues of poverty, diversity, crime, and deviance are explored in the unit. The importance of developing a ‘sociological imagination’ and how that transforms our understanding of our social world and what that means for social work is explored.  

The unit provides students with an introduction to psychology and the key theories central to social work practice. The importance of developmental psychology for social work is outlined. The unit also focuses on theory of life course, temperament, and attachment; learning theories (classical and operant conditioning) memory; personality; social psychology; motivation; and abnormal psychology.

This unit is to provide students with an introduction to the key social and political institutions in Australia. While Australia was in essence ‘born’ a modern democracy, becoming a nation on January 1, 1901, it had both a long history of Aboriginal sovereignty and colonial invasion. Australia developed its social and political institutions within the framework of British traditions, laws, and perspectives. Australia also borrowed heavily from other democracies, particularly the USA. The unit will examine the formal political institutions that characterise Australia, focusing on the Australian Constitution, Parliament, the High Court, role of the Governor-General, Federal–State relations, etc. It will also focus on the social institutions that provide the basic framework for our wellbeing – education, health, housing, social security, employment, personal and community security.

The unit aims to cultivate critical reflection skills that enhance deeper learning, fostering greater self-awareness, adaptability, and resilience. In addition, it aims to instil the students the importance of advanced critical reflection skills as a disciplined approach to actively analyse, synthesise, and evaluate information from observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, and action, preparing them to make informed and ethical decisions in personal and professional contexts.