CURRENT ASWEAS STANDARDS (2023) offer minimum staffing protections. For example:
• “Being taught by a clear majority of academics qualified and experienced in social work theory and practice” (AASW,2023:19).
• “The Head of the Social Work’… is expected to be a professor that is ‘eligible for membership of the AASW’ (p.20).
• Minimum staffing requirements including 5 x FTE social work qualified academic staff members at Level B or above or 8 FTE for programs delivered across multiple campuses. Importantly, ‘evidence should be provided to show staff increases commensurate with growth of the student cohort.’ (ASWEAS, 2019, 2023)
PROPOSED STANDARDS remove actual staffing requirements and instead replace these with vague/unenforceable statements, such as:
• The Head of Social Work doesn’t need to be a professor or even a senior academic – just a ‘social work qualified academic’
• The rest of the social work team don’t need to be academics – just ‘experienced and qualified social workers’ (AASW, 2023, p.22) with no track record in teaching or research required.
The NTEU are concerned that the following changes proposed may have a range of adverse industrial consequences for the job security,
pay and conditions of social work academics, and the quality of social work education generally – and according to our survey, so are social work educators:
TELL THE AASW: The ASWEAS standards need to have minimum staffing requirements reinstated to protect:
• the resourcing and staffing of social work education programs (by qualified, social work academics and led by a professor (or associate professor)
• high quality social work education and graduates,
• social work remaining as a university-educated, research-based profession and degree qualification (instead of TAFE course/downgraded diploma qualification).
• further deprofessionalisation and deskilling of social workers
• the job security, pay and conditions of social work academics, field educcators, and social work practitioners in the field.
TAKE ACTION NOW – PLEASE SHARE
Post ‘public’ and tag@theaasw
USE HASHTAGS WHEN YOU RESHARE IN SOCIAL MEDIA: #socialwork #socialworkers #socialworkeducation #highereducation #AASW#socialjustice #placements #socialworkplacement #workintegratedlearning #diversity #equity #socialjustice #workforce #sustainable d i r e c t m e s s a g e @ A A S W