PHOTO: Social Welfare Student Tayler McBrien
“Placement poverty” is a reality for those studying social work and creates unnecessary hardships for families trying to provide for them.
Students, academics and union representatives are pressing for an end to unpaid placements for social work students in the wake of the ‘Per Capita Report’ commissioned by the Australian Council of Heads of Social Work (ACHSWE).
The new research has provided a model the federal government could adopt in the shape of a government-funded stipend that social work students would receive from the employer-host at the minimum wage.
The current requirement for social workers is 1,000 hours of unpaid placements – equating to six months full-time work with no pay.
It creates a significant barrier to meeting the rapidly increasing demand for caseworkers, youth workers and other social work professionals, especially in rural areas where placements are likely to be hundreds of kilometres from home…