1st Edition
Social Work Fields of Practice
Lists of figures
List of tables
List of contributors
1 Introduction
Section 1: Theories and Methods
2 Context of Australian Social Work
Margaret Alston
3 Aboriginal Peoples, Anti-Racist Practice, and Confronting White Supremacy in Social Work
Bindi Bennett and Donna Baines
4 Social work theory in practice
Karen Healy
5 Trauma and resilience
Louise Harms and Larissa Fogden
6 Social workers and policy practice
Philip Mendes, Manohar Pawar, Meghan Tangney, Anna Hallam and Khanh Luong
Section 2: Social Work with Particular Groups and Communities of Interest
7 Relational Practice Grounded in Country: Working with Aboriginal Peoples
Bindi Bennett and Jamie Sorby
8 Working with Women
Margaret Alston and Jennivee Binge
9 Social work with men
Chris Krogh and Alan Jenkins
10 Working with LGBTIQ+ People and Communities
Mark Hughes and David Betts
11 Social Work and People with Disability
Wendy Bowles and Marie Sheahan
12 Working with young people
Karen Healy
13 Working with older people
Mark Hughes and Karen Heycox
14 Social work in an ethnically and culturally diverse Australia
Linda Briskman
15 Neurodivergent-Affirming Practice
Bindi Bennett, Penny Buykx and Amy Russell
Section 3: Practice Settings
16 Social work in the healthcare context
Mim Fox, Jenny Rose, Linda Ford and Siobhan Russell
17 Social Work in Legal Settings
Donna McAuliffe and Shane Warren
18 Social work practice in education settings
Myfanwy Maple, Carrie Maclure, Tania Pearce, Damian Mahony, Ally Drinkwater, Danielle Kovac and Sarah Wayland
19 Social Work Practice in Mental Health
Jacinta Chavulak and Melissa Petrakis
20 Social work in the field of income support
Jacinta Waugh and Michelle Penny
21 Child and Family Social Work
Wendy Foote and Linda Ford
22 Indigenous cultural practice in family services social work
Sarah Wise, Lorne Samuels and Maddison Licciardo
23 Criminal Justice
Chris Trotter, Phillipa Evans and Tim Warton
24 Social Work in Private Practice
Ashton Hayes and Andrew Richardson
25 Community development as a field of social work practice
Chris Krogh, Lou Johnston, Leigh Creighton and Jen Cush
26 Rural and remote social work practice
Margaret Alston, Sarah Wendt and Tricia Hazeleger
Section 4: Emerging Trends and Issues
27 Digital Social Work
David Keegan
28 Social work and disaster practice
Margaret Alston, Tricia Hazeleger and Desley Hargreaves
29 Social work practice in faith-based organisations
Beth R. Crisp and Julie Edwards
30 Social Work at the End of Life
Amanda Gray and Sharna Browning
31 Social work and sustainability
Margaret Alston, Wendy Foote and Joanna Quilty
Index
Biography
Margaret Alston is Professor of Social Work at the University of Newcastle. She has undertaken a number of research projects across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region and has published widely on gender, rurality, social work and disasters. In 2025 she was recognised as being in the top 2% of social scientists in the world.
Bindi Bennett (she/her) is a Gamilaraay woman, mother, and social worker and is a Professorial Research Fellow and Deputy Director Indigenous Research at Federation University living, playing and working on Jinibara lands. She is a social justice scholar, a compassionate radical and activist requesting transformational change. Her research areas are disability/neurodivergence, Remote, Rural and Regional Aboriginal wellbeing and AI in the First Nations space.
Wendy Foote teaches social work and research at the University of Newcastle. She has had a long engagement with child protection as a practitioner and has worked across different areas of the system, including forensic assessments, counselling and support of families, family therapy in response to child sexual abuse, and out of home care policy. Wendy has also collaborated with sector stakeholders and contributed to policy development and advocacy for reform in NSW and Australia.
David Betts is a Senior Lecturer in the Social Work program in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries, and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle. His research interests include gerontology, queer studies, and social work practice. His research focuses on how queer spaces develop and change over time, how readers engage with queer representation within young adult literature, and how older queer adults create and develop supportive interpersonal networks.
Penny Buykx is an Associate Professor in the Social Work program in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries, and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle. She lives and works on the unceded lands of the Awabakal people. Much of Penny’s research work has involved examining barriers to equitable access to services. In addition to her research, Penny enjoys her role as an educator, teaching social work research methods and public policy.
“The latest edition of this book is thoroughly revised and refreshed to ensure that it continues to address contemporary social work practice. Offering wide coverage of fields of practice, it provides an essential resource for social work students, educators, researchers and practitioners. The editors and contributors are to be congratulated.”
Richard Hugman, Emeritus Professor of Social Work, University of New South Wales, Australia
