Social Worker Spotlight – Maria Gencarelli
Guided by a strong set of values throughout her decades-long career, Accredited Social Worker Maria Gencarelli currently serves as an Ethics and Professional Standards Officer with the AASW.
“What inspired me to want to serve those most vulnerable and disadvantaged in the community were the values of respect, compassion, fairness, and equality embodied by my late father, and the countless acts of altruism I’ve witnessed,” she reflects.
“The social work profession – with its aligned values, ethical principles and qualification – provided me the springboard from which to do so.”
Maria’s social work career began with student placements in children and family services and counselling. After graduating, she worked across a diverse range of areas, including drug and alcohol, disability, homelessness and health. When the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly required her to step away from direct clinical practice, Maria used the time to critically reflect on her years of practice experience to consider her next steps.
This led her to a role with the AASW, where she provides guidance and support to colleagues, services and the broader community through the AASW Ethics Consultation Service. The service offers social workers across Australia a supportive space to identify and discuss ethical dilemmas and conflicts, assess, and review plausible options creating pathways to ethical social work practice.
“A rewarding part of my role is having the privilege to witness social workers who have participated in a consultation walk away with a better understanding of what constitutes ethical practices, consider their future actions and conduct to ensure the best outcome is achieved, and avoid the potential for risk of harm, ethical violations and or complaints.”
Maria’s experience with the AASW has reinforced the importance of values and ethics in social work. In her own words:
Social work is an act of service, one that is often carried out by social workers who are quiet achievers, in the shadows without bells and whistles or accolades.
Social workers want to be able to serve their community with respect, integrity, accountability, and in an ethical manner. However, we often have to navigate complex situations, in systems that are overburdened and under resourced – providing the perfect environment for ethical conflicts and conundrums to fester.
Today, social workers face the challenge of trying to uphold social work values, maintain professional identity and integrity when who we are, what we do, and what we stand for is often misunderstood and devalued.
My advice to social workers to ensure ethical practices is to embody social values, continuously review the Code of Ethics and Practice Standards, become familiar with best practice frameworks, service specific organisational polices and relevant legislation, engage in continuous CPD and prioritise supervision.
Ethical conundrums and conflicts are often confusing, unsettling, and stressful for social workers to navigate, so don’t do so alone. Seek out support from your colleagues, managers, supervisors, and the AASW Ethics Consultation Service.
My hopes for the social work profession are to achieve nationwide registration, social work title protection, social work recognition and pay parity, and expansion of our scope of practice so that we can ensure the highest quality of social work service.