Events Calendar

Watch the 1 hour recording of AASW webinar: How to write for journal publication - Getting published in Australian Social Work.

This webinar addresses the topics and types of papers the journal publishes and the benefits of publication for all social workers. Presented by the Editor (Fiona McDermott) and Associate Editor (David Hodgson) of Australian Social Work, and an academic with wide-ranging experience in writing for publication (Clare Tilbury), the presentation draws on their collective knowledge and experience of editing and writing for publication.

Participants will learn the process of getting published, tips and tricks for authors and what the reviewers are looking for at Australian Social Work.

1 hour of CPD activity attributable to all AASW credentials.

Mindfulness is an evidence-based practice to build resilience, manage stress, anxiety and anger. Regular practice reduces personal reactivity to emotional stimuli and can be used as a therapeutic approach with various clients. It is also an excellent tool for practitioner self-care.

This introductory program will provide an overview of the theory and benefits of mindful meditation and guide you through two practice sessions that will enable you to incorporate the practice into your daily routine.

40 minutes of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Mental Health (FPS)

Watch the 1 hour recording of AASW webinar: The language of MARAM - Lessons learnt in implementing the MARAM framework.

The Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Management (MARAM) framework identifies key principles and elements that should be embedded into policies, procedures, service delivery and practice, and identifies the responsibilities of various organisations and staff across the system. Successful implementation requires collaboration and trust across all agencies.

Learn from our panel of experts as we discuss the challenges and successes of MARAM implementation across varied practice fields.

1 hour of CPD, attributable to the AASW Family Violence, Child Protection, Clinical, Disability and Mental Health credentials.

Watch the 1 hour recording of AASW webinar: Introduction to Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy for Social Workers, presented by Dr Jenny Dwyer.

EMDR is a therapy designed to assist those suffering trauma and has been endorsed by the World Health Organisation as an effective treatment for children and adults.

This introductory webinar provides an overview of the therapy to better inform their decision to commence level 1 training as an EMDR Practitioner (FPS under Medicare).

1 hour of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Mental Health (FPS); Clinical

Watch the recording of AASW's Suicide First Aid webinar.

Brought to you by the AASW and LivingWorks - the world's leading suicide first aid training.

This webinar will provide an overview of LivingWorks programs and a presentation on the evidence behind the shift from risk assessment to a focus on safety.

1 hour of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Mental Health; Clinical

Watch the 1 hour recording of AASW webinar: Using legal and psycho-social interventions to respond to Elder Abuse.

Elder abuse is the mistreatment or exploitation of an older person. It can present itself in many forms and is commonly committed by someone that the older person knows and trusts.

This webinar covers various social work interventions such as case-management, safety planning and counselling, while also examining the legal interventions available to support an older person who is a victim of Elder Abuse.

1 hour of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credentials: Mental Health; Aged Care (coming soon)

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's Building Resilience webinar.

Built from a foundation of positive psychology, this webinar will teach you how to equip yourself with strategies to develop the qualities that underpin resilience, such as self-awareness, time management, relaxation skills and empathy.

This practical webinar introduces tools, techniques and behaviours to manage our individual responses to effectively strengthen our resilience muscles - in the moment and ongoing.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Supervision (coming soon)

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's Embracing the power of emotional intelligence webinar.

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathise with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. This session explores the key skills and behaviours of emotional intelligence, to build trust and rapport for high performing teams, and build a positive culture for effective quality service provision.

The session introduces concepts and practical skills in Emotional Intelligence (EQ) using the work of Daniel Goleman. His framework of EQ will be unpacked, exploring the five dimensions, the benefits, the behaviours and strategies to build skills for EQ development across each dimension.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Mental Health; Supervision (coming soon)

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's Managing Unconscious Bias webinar.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Supervision (coming soon)

The AASW has sourced a learning package from Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA) to provide social workers with accessible CPD in cultural awareness and cultural responsiveness. This course offers two levels of learning with a total of 10 hours of CPD across the package.

10 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's Understanding, connecting, and supporting individuals on the Autism Spectrum webinar.

This webinar recording will provide insight into working with individuals on the Spectrum and will explore how you can connect, engage, communicate, and work effectively with your clients to ensure that they feel understood, heard, and empowered to lead a rich and meaningful life.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Disability

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's Mandatory vaccination and social work information session from 29 November 2021.

With 19 years’ legal experience and a special interest in Occupational Health & Safety law, Anthony provides information about rights and obligations regarding Covid-19 vaccination under Chief Health Orders. Anthony also answers audience questions and discusses the legal context of mandatory vaccination; including implications for your practice with clients and as private practitioners.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 3, professional identity

Watch the 1 hour recording of AASW's Online therapy and telehealth: supporting clients via remote practice webinar.

This webinar provides a brief overview of contextual changes across the social work practice settings that propel the shift from face-to-face to virtual service provision. It will review challenges when delivering services online or over-the-phone appointments and will explore suitable therapeutic approaches when practising virtually.

1 hour of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Mental Health (FPS), Clinical, Disability

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's REWIRE: A practice model and framework for supporting trauma-affected students in schools webinar.

This webinar recording addresses the foundations for the REWIRE model as well as each element of the framework. It provides participants with the key steps and essential ingredients in supporting trauma-affected students to be successful in school while enabling them to capitalise on the positive experiences and opportunities that schools are uniquely placed to provide their students.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credentials: Clinical, Mental Health, Child Protection; School (coming soon)

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's Queer in the Classroom: Promoting Inclusivity and Well-being for LGBTIQA+ Students webinar.

This webinar will draw on the growing body of data around LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing and will apply a Critically Reflective, Queer Social Work, and Public Health theoretical approach.

Participants will engage in information and activities about the experience of LGBTIQA+ people in school settings. After discussing and exploring the data on queer student experiences, participants will then have an opportunity to synthesise this knowledge with their experiences to build on their practice using well placed questions and a case study.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Mental Health; School (coming soon)

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's Developmental trauma: Perspectives on trauma supportive care and relational healing webinar.

This webinar recording draws from evidence informed literature on neurobiology, developmental trauma research, psychotherapy principles, social models of health and disability, mental health, and allied health. It encourages social workers to step back and view a child’s situation through a trauma lens, especially when the child’s presentation is particularly complex or intense.

The webinar recording offers key principles and strategies that social workers can use to offer trauma informed support to their clients, even if they are not working in a trauma treatment role. It offers therapeutic strategies to use in client work, and appropriate interventions that could be integrated into the child’s care network to support trauma healing.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Mental Health, Child Protection

Watch the 1.25 hour recording of AASW's COVID-19 Impacts and Social Worker Wellbeing webinar from 29 September 2021.

This webinar is an insightful and explorative conversation on the COVID-19 environment in NSW, the impact on the health system, and how this impact is affecting social workers and the delivery of social work services.

1.25 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Watch this 1.5 hour webinar recording of how to navigate and approach difficult conversations with more confidence.

It will give you the context to appreciate where difficult conversations fit into healthy professional relationships, before moving into practical skills and tools you can use to ensure success in your own difficult conversations.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Supervision (coming soon)

This 1.5 hour webinar recording will address the various ways that social workers can engage with communities in undertaking disaster preparedness strategies, in the immediate aftermath of a major event or indeed in the long-term reconstruction phase when communities are coming to terms with their ‘new normal’.

This discussion provides insights into new forms of disaster practice and the need for social workers to have a greater understanding of this emerging field of practice.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

This webinar recording will address the pressing issue that most health and welfare professionals receive limited tertiary education around engaging men, and practically no training around engaging those perpetrating domestic and family violence.

It will draw from contemporary national and international research and practice experience in engaging with men who use violence and coercive control. The facilitator will offer key strategies that social workers can use to engage with and increase the visibility of men who use violence and control. This approach may also enable men who use violence and coercive control to embark on a journey of change towards engaging respectfully and non-abusively.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Family violence; Child Protection

Presentation recordings from the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 on the topic of Policy and Social Protection, Housing and Homelessness, and Refugees.

3 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Presentation recordings from the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 on the topic of Social Work Research and Publication.

3 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Presentation recordings from the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 on the topic of Social Work Practice.

4 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Presentation recordings from the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 on the topic of Social Work Education.

6.33 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Presentation recordings from the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 on the topic of Gender Equality and LGBTIQA+ Rights.

3 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Presentation recordings from the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 on the topic of Environment and Climate Change.

3.25 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Presentation recordings from the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 on the topic of Health, Disability, and Older Persons.

2 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Disability; Clinical; Aged care (coming soon)

Keynote speech and panel recordings from the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021.

3.8 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Presentation recordings from the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 on the topic of Family and Sexual Violence.

2 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Family Violence

Presentation recordings from the 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 on the topic of Children, Young People, and Families.

3 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Child Protection; Family Violence; Clinical

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's Inclusive and Empowering Aboriginal Child Protection Practice webinar.

Within the Aboriginal community, there is an expectation regarding Social Workers that they can be either harmful or helpful. This recording discusses several practical strategies to assist you in engaging with Aboriginal children, families, and communities (including prior to entering a community) and how to build appropriate, professional relationships.

This webinar draws on storytelling examples and case studies to provide social workers with practical strategies to apply in their own professional practice when working with Aboriginal children and families. The facilitator, an experienced Aboriginal Child Protection Social Worker, expands on introductory cultural awareness theories by providing real-life, practical examples to help practitioners develop their professional skills and abilities.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Child Protection

Watch the 1 hour recording of AASW's Pathways into Private Practice webinar.

This webinar explores what it means to work in private practice and common motivations for doing so, encouraging participants to identify their own motivations for wanting to start a new business. Common challenges in starting a private practice are also discussed, including logistical requirements such as setting up a fee structure and finding a suitable location for clients. Pathways into private practice are explored, alongside discussion of possible forms of support and guidance. The identity, structure and necessary supports for a business are also discussed – all decisions which must stem from a clear understanding of the client.

1 hour of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Watch the 2 hour recording of AASW's Disability and the Health System webinar.

This webinar provides an overview of the NDIS and its key features, before unpacking the separate roles and responsibilities of the health care system and the NDIS in supporting people with a disability. Participants will learn through case studies and guided activities to apply theory into practice.

Based in social work theory and evidence-based practice, participants will learn ways to support clients along the NDIS pathway, as well as best practice for discharge planning. Additionally, this webinar will provide information for non-NDIS supports/services available for people with a disability.

2 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Disability

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's Responding to young people who display harmful sexual behaviour webinar.

This recording provides introductory information for those who wish to understand harmful sexual behaviour and provides some useful strategies to those who support children, young people, families and communities when harmful sexual behaviour has occurred.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse identified nine practice principles that should be considered when responding to harmful sexual behaviours. This recording explains these principles and elaborates on those that are most relevant to social work practice.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credentials: Child Protection; School (coming soon)

Watch the 1.5 hour recording of AASW's Growing your private practice webinar delivered by owner of one of Australia's busiest family therapy and mental health practices Dr Joel Cullin. Dr Cullin shares his experiences and practical strategies for building a successful client facing business and provides recommendations for: growing a network of referrers; marketing; evolving your business; business lifecycles and how to prepare for them; and the importance of self care as a business owner and social worker.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Presentation recordings from AASW's 2022 Child Protection Symposium.

2.25 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Child Protection

Presentation recordings from AASW's 2022 Child Protection Symposium.

2.15 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Child Protection

Presentation recordings from AASW's 2022 Child Protection Symposium.

3 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Child Protection

This two-part interactive workshop will take an evidence-based approach and will offer participants the opportunity to develop strategies for working with Autistic adults using ACT, both individually and with groups in the form of a half-day retreat.

The workshops will incorporate case studies, group discussions, and interactive activities, and will provide further opportunities for self-directed learning and reflection.

6 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credentials: Disability; Mental Health (FPS)

This webinar will draw on evidence-informed practice and consider research findings that support the efficacy of online Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (iCBT). With specific reference to iCBT treatment programs developed by THIS WAY UP, participants will build upon their clinical knowledge, confidence and understanding of how to support clients through iCBT interventions. This session will also explore how THIS WAY UP’s iCBT interventions can enhance treatment & practitioner self-care to allow clinicians to focus on more complex issues during in-person or telehealth consults, and assist in generalising core CBT skills outside of the therapy room.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credentials: Mental Health (FPS); Clinical

Peer Supervision - Yoga and Mindfulness Practice Group

Paola Cheng will present "Caring for others without losing self" and will lead us into a practical mindful self-compassion (about 30 mins) especially for health care workers.

1 CPD Hour

No cost to attend

An interactive discussion forum focusing on issues facing Social Workers in Organisations and Private Practice. An opportunity to identify issues and develop action plans to address issues at a local level.

As social workers we may learn the basics about trauma, development, attachment and the effects of neglect in these experiences during our degrees. However, the practical application of this knowledge and the subsequent skills are difficult to maintain or obtain if workers are not adequately supported through supervision, ongoing training or experience and an unsupportive or risk averse team and organisational culture.

Trauma informed practice requires a high level understanding of your own practice framework, values and reactions to what can be difficult and stressful scenarios for clients. It requires ongoing training, supervision, support and a positive and trauma informed work environment/organisational framework.

This 3 hour interactive virtual workshop gives an opportunity for social workers to refresh and learn through experiential activities, case study reflections and delivery of knowledge.

3 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Mental Health; Focussed Psychological Strategies (FPS)

A clear understanding of the purpose and content of case planning and case notes documentation is an essential skill for social workers. Strengthening and refining these skills needs to be a career-long focus, which is supported through experience and ongoing training. This two-part workshop series is an opportunity for participants to refresh their case planning and case notes knowledge and build upon these skills in a small group environment.

6 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credentials: Mental Health; Clinical

This half day hands-on workshop/networking event, will provide an opportunity for participants to develop their creative client engagement skills using art activities and to enhance their use of focused psychological strategies within a networking framework.

Trauma and mental ill-health are increasingly prevalent in Australia’s refugee and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, resulting from experiences such as war, separation from family, resettlement and the migration process. This webinar will discuss the unique lived experiences of CALD young people in Australia, before exploring the importance of self-reflection in identifying and addressing bias in social work practice.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Mental Health

This webinar will introduce participants to Words and Pictures, using case studies to provide a clear understanding of the methodology and its uses. The Words and Pictures methodology is an integral part of safety planning within the Signs of Safety approach to child protection. This methodology uses simple words and stick figures to empower parents to explain complex situations to children without creating blame or shame. After attending this webinar, participants will be empowered to deepen their approach to safety planning, with an emphasis on walking alongside children, families, carers and other professionals in situations of complex child abuse and neglect.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Child Protection

This event is now sold out - please click here for July's workshop.

Effective leadership encourages teams to deliver outcomes, support clients effectively, and develop individual team members’ potential. Most social work practices are needing to do more with less, and this key influence for performance cannot be overlooked.

This workshop will introduce you to critical leadership skills for navigating day-to-day workplace challenges and manage team behaviour and performance.

3.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

This webinar will draw on Solution-Focussed Brief Therapy, Client Directed-Outcome Informed Therapy, and the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. The techniques from these models allow practitioners to maintain clarity in another’s crisis, modify their and their client’s expectations of what can be done and help clients to achieve small, but important goals to set the foundations for ongoing recovery and/or thriving in the face of adversity.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credentials: Mental Health; Clinical

This two-part interactive workshop will take an evidence-based approach and will offer participants the opportunity to develop strategies for working with Autistic adults using ACT, both individually and with groups in the form of a half-day retreat.

The workshops will incorporate case studies, group discussions, and interactive activities, and will provide further opportunities for self-directed learning and reflection.

6 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credentials: Disability; Mental Health (FPS)

General Practice Group Meeting

Topic Discussion : Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness with a disability focus

1 CPD Hour

No cost to attend

This webinar will outline the role of social work in residential aged care facilities (RACF) and present a framework of practice that has evolved as an effective way of engaging with Older Adults. “Normative Narrative Practice” will emphasize the need for our practice to be normalized as opposed to being focused on pathology and diagnosis.

The webinar will also highlight the special role that Narrative Therapy and Reminiscence can play in addressing the emotional wellbeing needs of older adults entering RACF’s through reflection and the telling and retelling of stories. The importance of understanding the nature and type of relationship between social worker and client that has the best chance of developing trust, transparency and authenticity in this age group is also explored.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credentials: Mental Health; Aged Care (coming soon)

An interactive discussion forum focusing on issues facing Social Workers in Organisations and Private Practice. An opportunity to identify issues and develop action plans to address issues at a local level.

Effective leadership encourages teams to deliver outcomes, support clients effectively, and develop individual team members’ potential. Most social work practices are needing to do more with less, and this key influence for performance cannot be overlooked.

This workshop will introduce you to critical leadership skills for navigating day-to-day workplace challenges and manage team behaviour and performance.

3.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

Diaphragmatic Breathing (DB) is evidence-based, non-pharmacological, non-invasive, cost-effective and simple. Social workers are ideally placed to integrate DB for anxiety, depression and mood disorders experienced by their clients.

This two-part interactive workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to experience, and learn and develop proficiency in slow, diaphragmatic breathing as a simple skill for mental health practice.

• facilitator-led workshops: 5 hours
• self-directed learning and practice:1 hour

6 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credentials: Mental Health (FPS); Clinical

Yoga and Mindfulness Practice Group

Topic-TBC

1 CPD Hour

No cost to attend

An interactive discussion forum focusing on issues facing Social Workers in Organisations and Private Practice. An opportunity to identify issues and develop action plans to address issues at a local level.

This webinar will explain the NDIS service system and your social work role within it, providing strategies to market and promote your point of difference to build a stable and professionally rewarding caseload of NDIS Participants for the long-term.

Common service delivery challenges and misconceptions will be clarified including:

• Service Agreements, item numbers and cancellations
• Key language and terminology to use in letters and reports
• NDIS funding (core supports, capacity building and capital)
• Practice issues (neurodevelopmental conditions and psychosocial disability)

Additionally, the scope of social work in the NDIS will be traversed with on-the-ground tips and hints (including traps to avoid) when working within the NDIS service system.

1.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge
AASW Credential: Disability

General Practice Group Meeting

Topic Discussion : Update on Linda's Research

1 CPD Hour

No cost to attend

An interactive discussion forum focusing on issues facing Social Workers in Organisations and Private Practice. An opportunity to identify issues and develop action plans to address issues at a local level.

Location: 162 Victoria St - Entry on Gregory St ("AECOM" building)

Yoga and Mindfulness Practice Group

Topic-TBC

1 CPD Hour

No cost to attend

An interactive discussion forum focusing on issues facing Social Workers in Organisations and Private Practice. An opportunity to identify issues and develop action plans to address issues at a local level.

This interactive, small group workshop provides a fun and safe environment where participants will learn and practice the “how” and “why” of providing feedback. This workshop will begin by establishing the importance of feedback and its role in our professional lives, before delving into common challenges to providing feedback. The session will focus on strategies and techniques that are helpful in delivering feedback in a constructive and supportive way.

Participants will leave this session with the skills to implement best practice feedback strategies, and improved confidence when approaching these discussions.

3.5 hours of CPD activity: Category 2, skills and knowledge

AASW Credential: Supervision (coming soon)

General Practice Group Meeting

Topic Discussion : TBC

1 CPD Hour

No cost to attend

An interactive discussion forum focusing on issues facing Social Workers in Organisations and Private Practice. An opportunity to identify issues and develop action plans to address issues at a local level.

Yoga and Mindfulness Practice Group

Topic-TBC

1 CPD Hour

No cost to attend

An interactive discussion forum focusing on issues facing Social Workers in Organisations and Private Practice. An opportunity to identify issues and develop action plans to address issues at a local level.