Inherent requirements for Bachelor of Social Work
These inherent requirements apply to the following course: Bachelor of Social Work (1666).
Introduction to inherent requirements for the Bachelor of Social Work
The University of Western Sydney and the School of Social Sciences and Psychology strongly supports the rights of all people who wish to pursue a social work course to achieve their potential and career objectives. The School is committed to making reasonable adjustments to teaching and learning, assessment, field placement and other activities to address the impact of students' disabilities so that they are able to participate in their course.
To support potential and current students' decision making a series of inherent requirement statements has been developed. These statements specify the course requirements of the undergraduate social work courses for student admission and progression. The statements are clustered under seven domains consisting of ethical behaviour, behavioural stability, legal, communication, cognition, sensory abilities and sustainable performance. Some of the activities that you will be associated with whilst participating in this course are time sensitive, where the capacity to perform certain activities within specified time limits is required to reduce or avoid risks to clients’ safety and wellbeing. The safety and wellbeing of you and others is always of paramount importance.
Students are required to undertake field placement activities in mixed gender environments which reflect the Australian social work context.
The inherent requirements outlined below provide a guide for students and staff when deciding whether you are able to meet these requirements and the type of reasonable adjustments that could be put in place to allow you to complete the course without compromising the academic integrity of the course.
How to read the inherent requirement statements
If you are intending to enrol in an undergraduate social work course at the School of Social Sciences and Psychology, you should look at these Inherent requirement statements and think about whether you may experience challenges in meeting these requirements. If you think you may experience challenges related to your disability, chronic health condition or any other reason, you should discuss your concerns with a campus Disability Advisor or the School of Social Sciences and Psychology staff, such as the Director of Academic Program, Academic Course Advisor or School Disability Coordinator.
These inherent requirements should be read in conjunction with other course information and Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) publications such as the AASW codes of ethics and the AASW Practice Standards (opens in a new window).
Each inherent requirement is made up of the following five levels:
- Level 1 - introduction to the inherent requirement
- Level 2 - description of what the inherent requirement is
- Level 3 - explanation of why this is an inherent requirement of the course
- Level 4 - the nature of any adjustments that may be made to allow you to meet the requirement
- Level 5 - examples of things you must be able to do to show you've met the requirement
Inherent requirement domains
There are seven domains of inherent requirements in each of the undergraduat social work courses. Some domains have a number of sub-domains.
- Ethical behaviour
- Behavioural stability
- Legal
- Communication
- Cognition
- Sensory ability
- Sustainable performance
Ethical behaviour
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Students undertaking social work studies are governed by practice standards and codes of ethics where students are both accountable and responsible for ensuring professional behaviour in all contexts. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates knowledge of, and engages in, ethical behaviour in practice. |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Compliance with the standards and codes (opens in a new window) facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships with people to ensure their physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual wellbeing is not placed at risk |
| 4 | Adjustments must not compromise codes and standards or result in unethical behaviour. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Complying with academic and non- academic misconduct policies |
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Behavioural stability
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Behavioural stability is required to function and adapt effectively and sensitively in a demanding role. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates behavioural stability to work constructively in a diverse and changing academic and field placement environment. |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Behavioural stability is required to work in a changing and unpredictable environment. Social work students will be exposed to highly complex human situations and will be required to have behavioural stability to manage these events competently and professionally |
| 4 | Adjustments must support stable, effective and professional behaviour in both academic and field placement settings. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Being receptive and responding appropriately to constructive feedback |
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Legal
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Social work is mandated by specific legislation and professional regulations to enable the delivery of safe and appropriate professional practice in the field placement context. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates knowledge and compliance with Australian Law, professional regulations and scope of practice. |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Knowledge, understanding, and compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements are necessary prerequisites to field placements in order to reduce the risk of harm to self and others |
| 4 | Adjustments must be consistent with legislative and regulatory requirements. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Complying with the requirement for student registration with the Australian Association of Social Work (AASW) |
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Communication
This course requires effective, verbal, non-verbal and written communication skills.
Verbal
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Effective and efficient verbal communication, in English, is an essential requirement to provide safe delivery of care. |
| 2 |
Student demonstrates: |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Communication may be restricted to verbal because of physical limitations of the individual (e.g. injury, disease or congenital conditions) |
| 4 | Adjustments for impaired verbal communication must address effectiveness, timeliness, clarity and accuracy issues to ensure safety. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Participating in tutorial and clinical discussions |
Non-verbal
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Effective non-verbal communication is fundamental to social work and needs to be respectful, clear, attentive, empathetic, honest and non-judgmental. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates: » The capacity to recognise, interpret and respond appropriately to behavioural cues » Consistent and appropriate awareness of own behaviours » Sensitivity to individual differences |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » The ability to observe and understand non-verbal cues assists with building rapport with people and gaining their trust and respect in academic, work and professional relationships |
| 4 | Adjustments must enable the recognition, appropriate response or initiation of effective non-verbal communication in a timely and an appropriate manner. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Recognising and responding appropriately in classroom situations |
Written
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Effective written communication, in English, is a fundamental social work student responsibility with professional and legal ramifications. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates capacity to construct coherent written communication appropriate to the circumstances. |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Construction of multiple essays/assignments to academic standards is required in order to convey knowledge and understanding of relevant subject matter, procedures and professional practice standards |
| 4 | Adjustments must meet necessary standards of clarity, accuracy and accessibility to ensure effective recording and transmission of information in both academic and field placement settings. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Constructing an essay to academic standards |
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Cognition
This course requires knowledge of theory and the skills of cognition and literacy.
Knowledge and cognitive skills
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Consistent and effective knowledge and cognitive skills must be demonstrated to provide professional and competent social work practice. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates: » Capacity to locate appropriate and relevant information » Ability to process information relevant to practice » Ability to integrate and implement knowledge in practice |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Safe and effective social work practice is based on knowledge that must be sourced, understood and applied appropriately |
| 4 | Adjustments must ensure that a clear demonstration of knowledge and cognitive skills is not compromised or impeded. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Ability to conceptualise and use appropriate knowledge in response to academic assessment items |
Literacy (language)
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Competent literacy skills are essential to provide safe and effective professional care. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates: » The ability to accurately acquire information and convey appropriate, effective messages » Ability to read and comprehend a range of literature and information » The capacity to understand and implement academic and practice conventions to construct written text in an appropriate manner for the intended audience |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » The ability to acquire information and to accurately convey messages is fundamental to ensure safe and effective assessment, treatment and professional care |
| 4 | Adjustments to address literacy issues must demonstrate a capacity to effectively acquire, comprehend, apply and communicate accurate information. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Conveying a spoken message accurately and effectively in a field placement setting |
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Sensory ability
Visual
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Adequate visual acuity is required to assist in the assessment of environments and non-verbal cues. |
| 2 |
Student demonstrates sufficient visual acuity to perform the required range of tasks. |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Sufficient visual acuity is necessary to demonstrate the required range of skills, tasks and assessments to maintain consistent, accurate and safe professional care of self and others |
| 4 | Adjustments must address the need to perform the full range of tasks involved in practice. Any strategies to address the effects of the vision impairment must be effective, consistent and not compromise assessment or safety. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Observing non-verbal behaviour |
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Sustainable performance
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Social work practice in the field placement context requires both physical and mental performance at a consistent and sustained level to meet individual needs over time. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates: » Consistent and sustained level of physical energy to complete a specific task in a timely manner and over time » The capacity to maintain consistency and quality of performance throughout the designated period of duty |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Sufficient physical and mental resilience is an essential requirement needed to perform tasks in an assigned period to provide effective, safe and professional care in the field placement context |
| 4 | Adjustments must ensure that performance is consistent and sustained over a given period. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Participating in tutorials, lectures, skills throughout the day |
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*Developed from: Johnson, A., Allan,T., Phillips,K., Azzopardi,T., Dickson,C., Goldsmith,M & Hengstberger-Sims, C. (2011). Inherent Requirements of Nursing Education (IRONE), UWS School of Nursing & Midwifery and Student Equity & Disability Services.
