Course and Subject Handbook 2025 Courses Undergraduate Courses Bachelor of Social Work

Bachelor of Social Work

Handbook year	Information valid for students commencing in 2025
Course code	112510
Course type	Bachelor Degree (AQF Level 7)
Professional accreditation status	This is an AASW-accredited qualification. It is an entry qualification into the social work profession and has been determined to meet the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards.
Owner	Academy
College	Arts, Society and Education

Award Requirements

Admission Requirements

Course pre-requisites	English (Units 3/4,C)
Minimum English language proficiency requirements	Applicants of non-English speaking backgrounds must meet the English language proficiency requirements of Band 3c – Schedule II of the JCU Admissions Policy.
Course includes mandatory professional placement(s)	Clinical placement/professional practice: This course includes prescribed professional or clinical placements. Students may be required to undertake such placements away from the campus at which they are enrolled, at their own expense (Note: health professional courses generally involve extensive professional or clinical placements). Further information about placements can be found at Coursework Enrolment Procedure.
Post admission requirements	On-campus attendance requirement: The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) requires all students to demonstrate that they have attended 20 days on campus face-to-face throughout their entire course. Students need to be aware that meeting the AASW attendance requirements does not mitigate the attendance requirements for specific subjects within this course. Throughout this course more than 20 days attendance face-to-face on campus may be required. Honours: The embedded honours degree is available only to students admitted to the Bachelor of Social Work at this university. A student must submit an application to the Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) Course Coordinator to undertake the embedded honours degree if the student has satisfied the College requirements relating to the selection of subjects and the standard of academic achievement necessary to undertake the honours degree. Under approved circumstances students may enrol in Honours part-time. Suitability to Work with Children Card (blue card): This course includes prescribed professional or clinical placements that may involve contact with children under 18 years of age. Students are required to obtain a Suitability to Work with Children Card (which involves a criminal history check undertaken by the Queensland Police) before the start of the first placement. Students must retain a current Suitability to Work with Children Card for the duration of their course, as failure to do so will result in the termination of their admission to the course. For more information, refer to: Blue Card Services

Academic Requirements for Course Completion

Credit points

96 credit points as per course structure

Course learning outcomes

The graduates of James Cook University are prepared and equipped to create a brighter future for life in the tropics world-wide.

JCU graduates are committed to lifelong learning, intellectual development, and to the display of exemplary personal, professional and ethical standards. They have a sense of their place in the tropics and are charged with professional, community, and environmental responsibility. JCU graduates appreciate the need to embrace and be acquainted with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples of Australia. They are committed to reconciliation, diversity and sustainability. They exhibit a willingness to lead and to contribute to the intellectual, environmental, cultural, economic and social challenges of regional, national, and international communities of the tropics.

On successful completion of the Bachelor of Social Work, graduates will be able to:

Conduct themselves as social workers according to the professional values, Code of Ethics, and principles of social justice and human rights
Identify the unique, complex, historical, and contemporary relationship between social work and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and practice in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to support their aspirations and priorities
Critically appraise the impact of social, political, economic, and historical issues on environmental and social sustainability in Australia and internationally
Critically review and analyse social systems, institutions, structures, processes, practices, and inequities to practice inclusively and respectfully with regard to culture and diversity
Consolidate, synthesise and evaluate social work theory, research evidence and social policy to make professional decisions addressing the holistic needs, strengths, goals and preferences of people and communities
Communicate social work knowledge processes, practice and ethics clearly and coherently through well-developed literacy, numeracy and technological skills to a range of audiences
Manage service provision and professional practice to engage with and enable individuals, groups and communities to achieve social and environmental justice
Apply professional values, knowledge and skills, autonomously and in collaboration with others, to strengthen and promote the identity and standing of the social work profession
Demonstrate initiative and well-developed judgement in engagement, planning, decision-making, problem-solving and provision and evaluation of specialist advice and functions, to achieve practice, organisational and/or policy outcomes
Demonstrate responsibility and accountability for own learning, and professional development and supervision.

Inherent Requirements

Inherent Requirements	Inherent requirements are the identified abilities, attributes, skills, and behaviours that must be demonstrated, during the learning experience, to successfully complete a course. These abilities, attributes, skills, and behaviours preserve the academic integrity of the University's learning, assessment, and accreditation processes, and where applicable, meet the standards of a profession. For more information please visit: Bachelor of Social Work.
Reasonable adjustments	All JCU students have the opportunity to demonstrate, with reasonable adjustments where applicable, the inherent requirements for their course. For more information please visit: Student Disability Policy and Procedure.

Course Structure

CORE SUBJECTS

Level 1

WS1005:03 Human Rights, Social Justice, and the Law

WS1006:03 Self in Professional Helping

WS1007:03 Lifespan Development and Psychology for Social Welfare Practice

WS1008:03 Social Policy and Social Development

WS1010: 03 Interpersonal Skills

Level 2

SS2222:03 Foundations of Social Work Research

WS2010:03 Women, Power and Society

WS2121:03 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Skills and Frameworks for Practice

WS2214:03 Eco-Social Justice

WS2511:03 Professional Ethics

WS2512:03 Organisational Practice

WS2513:03 Community Work

WS2515:03 Professional Skills for Social Work Practice

Level 3

WS3005: 03 Evidence Informed Practice

WS3025:03 Group Work

WS3027:03 Working with Children and Families

WS3505:06 Field Education 1: Part 1 of 2

WS3506:03 Field Education 1: Part 2 of 2

Level 4

WS4201:03 Field Education 2: Part 1 of 2

WS4202:06 Field Education 2: Part 2 of 2

WS4514:03 Advanced Social Work Theory

WS4503:03 Social Work and Mental Health

WS4511:03 Professional Identity and Social Work Practice

WS5021: 03 Advanced Contemporary Practice

Plus

Select 9 credit points from level 1 PL, SS, SY, CU, or CY subjects or a subject approved by Course Coordinator

Plus

Select 9 credit points from level 2 or 3 PL, SS, CY, IA, SY subjects or WS2008 or a subject approved by the Course Coordinator

Location

COURSE AVAILABLE AT	NOTES
JCU Cairns	Internal and mixed-mode attendance
JCU Townsville	Internal and mixed-mode attendance

Candidature

Expected time to complete	4 years full-time or part-time equivalent delivered in trimester study periods
Maximum time to complete	10 years
Maximum leave of absence	2 years

Progression

Course progression requisites	Nil
Course includes mandatory professional placement(s)	Yes Further information about placements can be found at: Coursework Enrolment Procedure. Students may be required to undertake placements away from the campus at which they are enrolled at their own expense.
Special assessment requirements	Refer to Review of a Student’s Suitability to Continue a Course Involving Placement policy.
Professional accreditation requirements	Graduates are eligible for full membership of AASW. Student preliminary membership is available.
Supplementary exam for final subject	Not applicable

Credit

Eligibility	Students may apply for credit transfer for previous tertiary study or informal and non-formal learning in accordance with the Credit Transfer Procedure.
Maximum allowed	48 credit points
Currency	Credit will be granted only for studies completed in the 10 years prior to the commencement of this course.
Expiry	Credit gained for any subject shall be cancelled 20 years after the date of the examination upon which the credit is based if, by then, the candidate has not completed this course.
Other restrictions	Diploma: Maximum 24 credit points at various year levels Advanced Diploma: Maximum 27 credit points at various year levels Credit will not be granted for Field Education 2 subjects WS4201 and WS4202 Credit will not be granted for studies or work experience used to gain admission to the course towards the core subjects of the course

Award Details

Award title	BACHELOR OF SOCIAL WORK
Approved abbreviation	BSW
Inclusion of majors on testamur	Not applicable - this course does not have majors
Exit with lesser award	Students who have completed 24 credit points of their course award requirements, and withdraw from or fail to meet the requirements for progression in the later years, may be eligible for the award of Diploma of Tertiary Studies.
Course articulation	Students who successfully complete the entry requirements for the embedded honours program will be eligible to apply for entry to the Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) [Embedded] upon completion of all core subjects across levels 1, 2 and 3.
Special awards	Students may receive an Award of Recognition in accordance with the Recognition of Academic Excellence Procedure

Honours

Honours availability	Available as an Embedded honours program
Eligibility	By application to the Bachelor of Social Work (Honours) Course Coordinator Achievement of an overall grade point average of 5.0 (i.e credit average) across the core subjects in levels 1,2 & 3 of the Bachelor of Social Work course, with distinction or higher in 1) SY2005, WS2009 or SS2222; and 2) WS3513 or WS3005.