Why study at UOW

A practice-based professional and academic discipline promoting social change and the wellbeing of people. The core goal of social work is to improve the social, health and emotional wellbeing of people and their communities. Social workers use their knowledge, skills and experience to help people help themselves and their communities.

• A five-star education: In the 2020 Good Universities Guide, UOW received a 5-star rating for learning resources in the study area Social Work.
• One of the best in NSW and the ACT for Humanities: The Federal Government's Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) ranked UOW in 2019 as second in New South Wales and the ACT for Humanities, Culture and Social Science.
• UOW graduates 1st in NSW: The latest QILT Employer Satisfaction Survey ranked employers’ overall satisfaction with UOW graduates at 89.6% (84.3% national average), placing UOW 1st among NSW universities and 2nd nationally among public universities.

Why study Social Work

• UOW Social Work actively provides practice-based learning and integration with theoretical learning in all practice subjects.
• You will learn critical and valuable professional skills such as health, mental health, child and family services, aged care, migrant services, social policy and planning, program development, community and indigenous development.
• You’ll benefit from up-to-date technology and simulation labs for practice teaching - their simulation labs give you experience on real-world issues and scenarios so you learn the skills you need to make the most of your compulsory professional placement experiences.
• Professional experience is an integral part of their program - students undertake 1,000 hours over two placements.
• Students will engage with people and organisations within the Illawarra and Shoalhaven to improve the services of the community, learn how to work collaboratively to achieve common goals, and appreciate the diversity and complexity of the region. 
• The Bachelor of Social Work is provisionally accredited by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), which is a qualification required by many employers.

Overview of Careers

As part of Social Work at UOW, their students learn specifically about working fields of practice (health and mental health, child and family services, aged care, migrant services) and methods of practice (social policy and planning, program development, community and Indigenous development and community-based research). This prepares graduates for a wide range of career opportunities upon graduation such as:

• Health Disability
• Aged Care
• Children and Child Protection
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities
• Family Services
• Community Development
• Housing
• Migrant and Refugees Services
• Social Planning
• Mental Health
• Social Policy
• Homelessness
• Youth Services
• Community-Based Research
• Program Planning and Evaluation
• Women (Including Domestic Violence) and Trauma

UOW is consistently rated in the top 200 universities in the world for the quality of their graduates (QS 2020)