What's your job about?
I’m a front of house social worker for Services Australia. Services Australia is the government agency responsible for the delivery of social, health care and child support services and payments. My role is to provide support for people experiencing vulnerability with a focus on our priority groups. This includes individuals at risk of suicide or self-harm and those affected by family and domestic violence. It also includes young people without adequate support and people impacted by disasters and emergencies. Support can include assessing immediate risk to a person’s safety and wellbeing and conducting assessments to determine eligibility for payments or exemptions. Also short-term counselling, referrals to external services and short-term social casework.
I work in a Service Centre and see customers face-to-face who are identified as requiring support in the office. Once a fortnight I work on the Social Work Line, providing immediate phone support for customers calling Services Australia.
My areas of interest include Unreasonable to Live at Home Assessments for unsupported young people and the opportunity for social casework. Casework often follows an initial assessment. I enjoy the opportunity for a holistic practice. This involves working with young people from the point of assessment when they often present in crisis. Then supporting them for up to 2 months to achieve some of their goals.
What's your background?
I grew up in the northeastern suburbs of Victoria. I completed a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Public Health) and a Bachelor of International Development. I then entered the Master of Social Work to put the knowledge gained through my undergraduate studies into practice. I moved to Alice Springs, Northern Territory for the 2021 Services Australia National Graduate Program in the social workstream.
Throughout my studies, I have taken on different experiences where I developed deep-rooted social justice values. Some of these experiences include Indigenous Immersion to the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands. Also fieldwork in the Philippines and a semester abroad in Boone, North Carolina, USA.
I requested the Northern Territory as the location of my graduate role for the opportunities for outdoor adventures. I had previously travelled to Alice Springs and Darwin and hiked for 2 weeks in Kakadu National Park. I also wanted the opportunity to work in an area with a different demographic than back home in Victoria.
What are the limitations of your job?
It can be challenging to be a social worker in a government agency. We work to strict criteria laid out in policy and legislation. This means we can’t always provide someone with the desired outcome of an assessment, despite them having experienced a difficult circumstance. However, being a social worker at Services Australia also allows you to support a shift in the perception of government services by endeavouring to provide every Australian with the support they deserve. This is regardless of their eligibility and while showing empathy and understanding for their circumstances.