Bachelor of Social Work

Course notes

Important course notes

• Non standard timetable requirements

  Students who elect to study online will be required to attend on-campus activities for a minimum of 5 days per semester in order to meet the accreditation requirements of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

• Clinical or professional work placement requirement

  Students are required to undertake two 14-week social work field placements.

• Membership

  Graduates are eligible to apply for membership with Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Apply broad discipline coherent knowledge of the role and value of social work in addressing social inequalities to build sustainable communities through a variety of social work practices which are informed by human rights values and social justice.
2. Communicate social work knowledge and ideas clearly, coherently and with independence.
3. Demonstrate autonomy, accountability and judgement for own learning and social work practice development, including reflective thinking skills and innovative practice through continued professional development.
4. Demonstrate interpersonal skills, global outlook and cultural awareness when collaborating in professional settings and with culturally diverse groups, including Indigenous cultural competence.
5. Think creatively to apply social work knowledge effectively in practice with individuals, groups and communities in diverse contexts.
6. Use critical thinking to explore knowledge of human behaviour and society, as well as social, cultural, political, legal, economic and global contexts of social work practice to generate and evaluate complex ideas.
7. Use digital technologies and information literacy to evaluate relevant research knowledge which informs decision making in social work practice.
8. Work collaboratively and demonstrate initiative to implement social work professional values and ethics in decision making in a socially sustainable way.

Quick guide to uni-speak

• • ATAR

    ATAR is the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, the primary criterion for entry into most undergraduate university courses in Australia. The ATAR is a percentile score which denotes a student's ranking relative to their state-wide peers upon completion of their secondary education.

  • CRICOS code

    CRICOS is the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students. A CRICOS code is allocated to education institutions (like ECU) who are approved to recruit, enrol and deliver education to overseas students. Courses with a CRICOS code are available to international students who meet the entry requirements.

  • Majors

    A major, or unit set, is your chosen area of in-depth study in an undergraduate course. It usually involves 8 units of study, or one-third of the units in a 3-year degree. Talk to your Student Information Office if you need help choosing a major subject.

  • Minors

    Minors include between 4 and 6 study units in a specific discipline. Not all courses require you to complete a minor. Your minor subject doesn't appear on your printed degree (parchment), but is part of your academic transcript.

  • Full-time

    If you're enrolled in 3 or more units in a semester this is considered full-time study. To complete most 3-year degrees studying full-time you'll need to complete 4 units per semester, i.e. 24 units over 3 years.

  • Part-time

    If a course is available to study part-time you can generally expect it to take twice as long to complete as it would in full-time mode. Part-time students are enrolled in 1 or 2 units maximum per semester.

    Note: International students who hold a student visa can only choose the full-time study option for our courses. This is to ensure the course is completed within the duration of the student visa.

• • Semester 1

    Most courses start in Semester 1 each year, usually in the last week of February. Some courses can be started in Semester 2 (we call this mid-year). There's a week of Orientation before each semester to help you get used to uni life.

  • Semester 2

    A lot of our courses start in Semester 2 each year, usually in the last week of July. We call this mid-year. There's a week of Orientation beforehand to help you get used to uni life.

  • Credit Points

    We use a points system to make it easier for you to understand your study progress. Most Bachelors degree study units are allocated 15 credit points. If you're studying a 3-year full-time degree you'll need to successfully complete 360 credit points – that's 24 units x 15 points per unit.

  • Core Units

    These are compulsory units you have to successfully complete as part of your course.

  • Recommended Electives

    An elective is a unit you choose to study that counts towards your course requirements, but isn't compulsory. For some courses we recommend elective units. In some situations, a course coordinator may approve an elective unit as a replacement for a compulsory one.