Functioning of Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), a key welfare organization in Australia. It explores the AASW's formation, its role in representing social workers, and its commitment to social justice, welfare, and well-being. The report delves into the AASW's ethical code, its promotion of social inclusion and human rights, and its role in promoting social work as a profession. Furthermore, the report analyzes the AASW's adherence to social learning theory, highlighting how the organization models ethical behavior for its members. The report also discusses the AASW's funding structure and financial transparency, concluding that the organization effectively promotes social justice and ethical practice within the field of social work, providing valuable insights into its functioning and impact.

Running Head: FUNCTIONING OF A WELFARE ORGANIZATION
ASSESSMENT COVER SHEET
Family Name: Given Name(s):
Student ID: Course:
Unit Code: Unit Name:
Lecturer: Assessment Number/Title:
Semester/Trimester and Year: Word Count:
Student’s Declaration of Authorship
 I certify that this assessment is my original work. No part of it has been submitted for another
assessment/unit/course, except where permitted by the lecturer/department.
 I have not copied any part of it from another source or other students’ work, except where I
have properly acknowledged it in this assessment.
 I have not participated in any unauthorised collaboration in completing this assessment,
including paying/arranging for another person to complete it in part or in full.
 I have done my due diligence to ensure that my assessment cannot be copied by other people.
 I understand that my assessment may be reproduced to submit to plagiarism detection
programs, which may retain a copy to assist in future plagiarism checking.
 I have retained a copy of this assessment and would be able to produce it, if required.
 I understand that it is my responsibility to become familiar with the college’s Academic
Misconduct Policy and Procedure found at
http://www.acknowledgeeducation.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/. I am aware that
committing academic offences, including plagiarism and collusion, may result in academic
penalties.

FUNCTIONING OF A WELFARE ORGANIZATION
Many professional social workers are associated with organizations that deal in
helping with people in doing professional courses, training people and helping them deal with
crisis. Many sociologists have pointed out the trend of social welfare organization is growing
rapidly all over the world. These organizations contribute to the well-being of the society.
They help people with their basic needs, from solving a community problem to teaching a
financially backwards person about any professional course. This report will deal with one
such welfare organization. The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) is one
such welfare organization where social workers collectively work to achieve social justice,
welfare and well-being (www.aasw.asn.au, 2019). This report will focus on the workings of
American Association of Social Workers, the work that they do on a regular basis and this
report will also try to relate its work to social learning theory and social justice to regulate
how they work. The report will also talk about the way it uses the task centered social work
practice to achieve its goal as a welfare organization.
Formed in the year 1946 as a national association Australian Association of Social
Workers (AASW) represents the various social workers that operate inside Australia
(ahpa.com.au, 2019). The strength of the association is more than 10,000. The main role of
the organization is to take care of the interest and needs of the professional social workers
working in various areas of Australia and in doing a wide range of job. The AASW is a part
of the international community of the social workers, since it is the government body that
deals with social work in Australia (ahpa.com.au, 2019). The AASW is a member of the
International Federation of the Social Worker. The AASW has their own model of working
for the social workers and many universities in Australia follow the AASW standard of
working. During the 73 years that it has been operating the AASW has been regarded as one
of the prime organizations in the field of social work. They fight against social injustice and
promote social inclusion, human rights and they deal with all those problems that can affect
1

FUNCTIONING OF A WELFARE ORGANIZATION
the life of any living individual. They also promote social work as a profession; they make
sure that the social workers have a proper code of conduct or a proper guideline which will
help them perform their jobs efficiently. They monitor the ethical standard that the social
workers need to abide by. AASW also promotes the field of social work as an academic
discipline. The AASW has their own formal ‘Code of Ethic’, which is the main document
that that provides the guideline for the social worker to act while performing their duty.
The idea of social justice is of prime importance in not only Australia but the entire
world. Scholars believe that the research in the area of social justice and its relationship with
social work is inadequate. The facets of social justice are multi-dimensional in nature. It has
its own socio-political implications and there is an area of subjectivity in the concept of what
can be classified as fair and the things that can be classified as unjust (Taylor, Vreugdenhil &
Schneiders, 2019). The emphasis of social justice in social work practice is on the areas of
values and principles of social justice (greens.org.au, 2019). In this context it can be said that
the values and principles of social justice can be used to improve the quality of life of the
people that the social workers are aiming to help. The AASW organizes a Norma Parker
Addresses, which is a series of lectures that is delivered by the president of the AASW
(www.aasw.asn.au, 2019). This report will try to understand the ways in which social justice
is related to the field of social work. From the lecture the thing that stands out is the social
justice as a concept and the idea of social justice as a social work practice (Ratts et al.,2016) .
This addresses pointed out that social justice can be used as an idea to help the social workers
deal with the c)lients in terms of practices and strategies. Social justice as concept will also
help in educating the social workers which will further help in doing their job.
There many theories of social work which mainly help in guiding the social workers
in doing their job. In this report the social learning theory can be used in showing the
functioning of the AASW (Deaton, 2015). The social learning theory is a social work theory
2

FUNCTIONING OF A WELFARE ORGANIZATION
which derives its idea from the work of Albert Bandura (Chen, Wang & Hung, 2015). He
believed that the only way to learn is by observing and imitating. According to the social
learning theory, new behavior gets reinforced not only by applying it and hearing it but also if
that behavior is remodeled, the process of learning get easier (Rosenthal & Zimmerman,
2014). Both cognitive and social development of learning is required in order to
professionally develop (Watson, 2013). According to this theory it can be said that the
working of the AASW is also similar to this. The AASW has developed a code of conduct so
that the social workers can do their seamlessly without any one pointing out their ethical
problems. They have not only enforced the code of conduct but by following the rules
themselves, they have made it easier for the social workers who are on field to understand
their ethical obligations. The AASW does not only impose the standard of policies and work
for the social workers to follow but also make sure that the social workers that are associated
directly with the organization follow the standards themselves. This shows that they abide by
the theory of social learning, they believe that imposing a behavior will not make easier to do
the work but professionally it will be better when the rules that are imposed are followed by
every single one of the social workers.
The AASW is primarily a social work organization of the government. The funding
that they get is directly from the government. The organization has an internal structure and
every year they present a report of their finances in which the detailed breakdown of their
spending’s, taxation issues, loans and other help that they receive are all stated in details but
it is government aided organization and the money that spend on teaching or training are all
provided directly by the government. The org
In conclusion it can be said that the American Association of Social Workers have a
followed a strict code of ethics for the social worker to follow on their duty. Since the time
they have been operating, they made a strict policy to encourage social justice and inclusion.
3

FUNCTIONING OF A WELFARE ORGANIZATION
The theory of social justice helps the organization in dealing with their work, and makes the
quality of life of the people they are serving better. The theory of social learning proves that
the organization has not only taught the social workers the code of ethics but also followed
them strictly so that the social workers would realize their responsibility to follow the code
strictly. The organization is a government funded organization. They provide the reports of
their finances on an annual basis and the organization is quite transparent when it comes to
the finances. The organization has been operating since the year 1946 and has been
successful in doing their work.
4

FUNCTIONING OF A WELFARE ORGANIZATION
References
ahpa.com.au. (2019). Australian Association of Social Workers - Allied Health Professions
Australia. Allied Health Professions Australia.
Chen, M. F., Wang, R. H., & Hung, S. L. (2015). Predicting health-promoting self-care
behaviors in people with pre-diabetes by applying Bandura social learning
theory. Applied Nursing Research, 28(4), 299-304.
Deaton, S. (2015). Social Learning Theory in the Age of Social Media: Implications for
Educational Practitioners. Journal of Educational Technology, 12(1), 1-6..
Greens.org.au. (2019). Social Justice | The Australian Greens. The Australian Greens.
Ratts, M. J., Singh, A. A., Nassar‐McMillan, S., Butler, S. K., & McCullough, J. R. (2016).
Multicultural and social justice counseling competencies: Guidelines for the
counseling profession. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 44(1),
28-48.
Rosenthal, T. L., & Zimmerman, B. J. (2014). Social learning and cognition. Academic
Press.
Taylor, S., Vreugdenhil, A., & Schneiders, M. (2019). Social Justice as Concept and Practice
in Australian Social Work: An Analysis of Norma Parker Addresses, 1969–
2008. Taylor & Francis.
Watson, S. (2013). Understanding professional development from the perspective of social
learning theory. Centre for research in mathematics education university of
Nottingham.
5

FUNCTIONING OF A WELFARE ORGANIZATION
www.aasw.asn.au. (2019). About AASW - AASW - Australian Association of Social
Workers. Aasw.asn.au.
www.aasw.asn.au. (2019). Ethics & Practice Standards - AASW - Australian Association of
Social Workers. Aasw.asn.au.
6