Social Work | News & Events

After the success of last year’s inaugural Reunion Weekend we are delighted to present this year’s program. Reunion Weekend 2019 will take place on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 November.

Physical activity programs for prisoners like sport and organised runs isn’t about being soft on crime, it is about helping people rehabilitate for everyone’s sake.

With the growing ageing population in Australia, more and more older people are being put into aged care facilities where a higher number of residents are living in environments that feel more like a hospital rather than a home. This vastly impacts the mental and physical well-being of some of the most vulnerable in our society. Studies show that smaller facilities that are more home-like are very beneficial. Dr Ralph Hampson, Senior Lecturer of Health and Ageing at the University of Melbourne, spoke to us about this.

Ralph Hampson Senior Lecturer, Health and Ageing, University of Melbourne Article in The Conversation -September 24, 2018

Dr. Jotheeswaran A. Thiyagarajan, an epidemiologist from the Department of Ageing and Life Course at the World Health Organization, visited the Department of Social Work for a week, sponsored by Professor Lynette Joubert with funding received from the School of Health Sciences Strategic International Research Fund.

Professor Aron Shlonsky, Research Fellow, Dr. Arno Parolini, and database architect Colleen Jeffreys are working together with staff from the Centre for Evidence and Implementation (Singapore office) to evaluate the KidSTART programme of Singapore’s Early Childhood Development Agency.

Professor Cathy Humphreys and Ms Shawana Andrews gave a keynote paper at the East Gippsland Family Violence Forum, which was chaired by Aboriginal Elder, Daphne Yarram.

This report was launched at a Breakfast (with funding from Slater and Gordon, thanks to Olga Gountras) on Saturday 2nd December as part of the AASW’s National Symposium in Hobart.

A symposium co-hosted by the University of Melbourne's Department of Social Work, Centre for Evidence and Implementation, and the Campbell Collaboration

A collaborative effort between the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC), Department of Social Work at the University of Melbourne and Griffith University, Family Matters is Australia’s national campaign to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children grow up safe and cared for surrounded by their own family, community and culture.

We are pleased to introduce Judi Brewster, the new Field Education Placements Coordinator.

The Alumni, in collaboration with the Department, sponsored an inaugural breakfast on 4th October at which Professor Jill Manthorpe and Dr Ralph Hampson presented on Aged Care: A Family Affair.

Another successful Alumni Dinner for 135 alumni and invited guests was held at the Woodward Centre on the evening of 24 August, thanks to the organizing talents of the hard-working members of the Alumni Committee.

We are delighted that from November Dr Sarah Wise will be working with us on a full-time basis.

Hearty congratulations to Kath Selleck who has been awarded a PhD for her thesis entitled 'Responding to sexual abuse survivors who hear voices: A challenge for mental health services'.

We farewell our soon to-be MSW graduates, on the last day of their classes, with valedictory drinks hosted by our Alumni Committee.

The Department has launched a new online subject: Domestic and Family Violence, as part of our Advanced Social Work and Health and Human Services courses.

Our Alumni Committee has welcomed a new member, Lucy Burnett, a recent graduate, previously the President of the Social Work Association of Graduate Students.

We have welcomed into the Department several new staff members.

We are delighted that Dr Robyn Miller (CEO MacKillop Family Services) will be presenting this year’s Len Tierney Lecture on Thursday 10 August from 6-7pm in the Ground Auditorium of the Peter Doherty Institute.

In June, three Social Work PhD Indigenous students gave a keynote address at the International Narrative Practice Conference in Hong Kong.

Warm congratulations to two of our students who have recently been awarded their PhD.

As part of the University of Melbourne’s participation in Respect Week, Professor of Social Work, Cathy Humphreys and Co-chair of MAEVe (Melbourne Research Alliance to End Violence Against Women and their Children) gave a lunchtime talk on the 11 May about the need to extend respect at home and the ways in which this can be promoted in the interests of achieving better expression of intimacy in our close personal relationships.

In June Dame Quentin Bryce, the former Governor General, launched the Report of the Patricia Project (PAThways and Research In Collaborative Inter-Agency Working) at a national symposium in Brisbane attended by more than 180 practitioners and policy makers from across Australia.

Each year, the UMSWAA Committee invite all alumni of social work at the University of Melbourne to come together and renew old friendships, establish new networks, exchange professional insights and share our learning and experience.

We are pleased to announce that the University of Melbourne Social Work Alumni Association (UMSWAA) will be hosting a special breakfast on Wednesday October 4.

This collaboration between the Social Work Department of the University of Melbourne and Dulwich Centre is a practice-based Masters, taught by a wide-range of national and international teachers.

The 2017 Master of Social Work (MSW) Student Placement block will be coming to a close in late August.

Family violence is a leading cause of homelessness among women because even if she wants to stay in the home after a violent partner is ordered away, she risks becoming a sitting target.

Following the first Royal Commission research symposium in Sydney last October, a second research symposium on creating child safe institutions will be held in Melbourne on Monday 1 May 2017.

New Master of Social Work students were welcomed with Orientation drinks thanks to our Alumni Association.

Invisible Practices: Intervention with fathers who use violence is an exciting new project funded by Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS) and led by Prof Cathy Humphreys with a team of researchers and partner organisations in Victoria, NSW, Qld and WA.

According to projections, the health and community services sector will grow more rapidly than any other in the next five years.

In 2017, the Department of Social Work will be hosting two Teaching and Learning Consultative meetings.

In a continuing partnership between The Dulwich Centre in Adelaide and The Department of Social Work, the third cohort of students from the Master of Narrative Therapy and Community Work (MNTCW) graduated at a ceremony held at The University of Melbourne on 18th March, 2017.

Four Aboriginal graduates of the Masters of Narrative Therapy and Community Work – Anthony Newcastle, Vanessa Davis, Justin Butler and Kylie Dowse – presented the valedictory speech at a University of Melbourne graduation ceremony on Saturday 18 March.

The University of Melbourne Social Work Alumni Association (UMSWAA) held its annual dinner on Thursday 22 September, at the Woodward Centre.

On Thursday 22nd September Jean Downing (BAGDipSocStud 1946) was awarded the Hyslop Medal for distinguished service to the field of social work at an intimate ceremony attended by close family and friends, Faculty staff and members of the University of Melbourne Social Work Alumni Association Committee.

A 40 year reunion of graduates from our first student cohort within the Bachelor of Social Work, organized by Flora Pearce, was held on Thursday 21 July at the Gryphon Gallery. It was a wonderful event with recollections of lively student days and the sharing of stories of careers in many different fields of practice.

We have been delighted to welcome a number of international visitors who generously shared their work with us this year.

We congratulate two recent PhD completions.

The University of Melbourne Department of Social Work, along with the Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI) is co-hosting the third biennial Australasian Implementation Conference (AIC) in Melbourne 5–6 of October 2016.

Social Work Professor Aron Shlonsky has been interviewed by ABC's PM program about child protection regulations.

We need young kinship carers to interview and complete a survey about their experiences.

A round table discussion with Professor Judith Masson

Dr Kristin Diemer, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Social Work, was interviewed by Amanda Vanstone on Radio National Counterpoint program in the wake of the release of the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence.

Field education is arguably the most significant component of the social work curriculum in preparing competent, effective, and ethical social workers. This session will present the theoretical and evidence base for best practices.  Field instructors and students can examine their current experiences in light of this information and consider what they are already offering and what they might add to their field education.

The UoM Department of Social Work and the Centre for Evidence and Implementation invite you to a free seminar with Laura Damschroder, Investigator with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs’ Center for Clinical Management Research - 4-5pm, Thursday 31 March 2016

Victoria honours Professor Cathy Humphreys for her work in ensuring the safety of women and children through her research into child and family welfare, domestic violence and child abuse, stability and quality for out of home care, developments arising from Victorian legislation on children, youth and families, and the impact of research on policy and practice.

Professor Lou Harms and Associate Professor Lisa Gibbs from the University of Melbourne, chief investigators on the Beyond Bushfires project, have identified which social determinants help people bounce back after a traumatic event.

A few years ago no one wanted to know about domestic violence. This deafening silence was something Professor Cathy Humphreys was determined to change.

Professor Cathy Humphreys from the Department of Social Work appeared on a special episode of Q&A was screened to question the domestic violence epidemic in Australia.

Please join us for this upcoming presentation by Dr Jay Marlowe (University of Auckland) on 'Refugee resettlement, belonging and disaster risk reduction: Case studies from Christchurch and Wellington' on Thursday 12th November 12.30-1.30.

As part of Social Work @ Melbourne 75th Anniversary, Professor Jill Manthorpe from King's College London will give a talk on working with carers and a master class in supervision.

A presentation of research exploring post-traumatic growth, informed by people involved with the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.

Professor Lynette Joubert was interviewed recently for Mental Health Week on ABC Radio National's Drive program about her work mapping the social networks of people in Melbourne's west who self harm or attempt suicide.

Researchers who have dedicated years to family violence prevention, service response and advocacy are pleased the issue has finally broken into the mainstream media and that community and government sectors are actively engaging to break the cycle.

David Epston is the co-founder, with Michael White, of Narrative Therapy. In this workshop David will illustrate, by way of recorded or transcribed interviews, what he now refers to as 'insider witnessing practices' stretching pedagogy in narrative therapy.