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For over forty years feminist women in Australia and other parts of the world have come together in women-only social service organisations to support, empower and advocate for women who are disadvantaged and oppressed by partners, families, other mainstream organisations and wider social structures. Women working in such organisations have attempted to model alternative ways of structuring and managing; and of providing social welfare services. They have pursued these alternative goals by exploring different ways of working with each other and with women who use the services. However the gains made for and by women in past decades are fragile and forever in danger of erosion. In the last 15 years many of the unique features and much of the robust vitality of the Australian women's movement have been abolished. The consequences and impact of gender neutral policy development on funding levels and socio-political support for organisations providing women-only services is significant. In this context the significance of women-only spaces as places where women's health and well being can be holistically addressed is challenged devalued and dismissed. This paper argues that women-only spaces provide supported opportunities for women to escape cycles of poverty and disadvantage while simultaneously fostering empowerment and activism. The paper draws on the experiences of an Australian organisation (The Women's Centre) which operates in a sociopolitical climate where bureaucrats are hesitant to name a specific commitment to women in case this is interpreted as a lack of commitment to men. An exploration of tensions and contradictions experienced by The Women's Centre within this increasingly hostile political, social and economic climate will contribute to the discussion surrounding the future use and value of women-only spaces.

Feminist services in Australia were established in the 1970's in response to compelling evidence that women's wellbeing was not well served by existing health and social service systems. Since that time the women's services sector has experienced ebbs and flows in government and community support, a growing commitment to professionalism and varied success in influencing social policy. Over time, however the use of the word 'feminist" to describe service philosophy and service provision has diminished. In the last decade an increasing neo-liberal focus on service provision has presented challenges for services addressing women's issues such as sexual assault and family violence. Many services continue to apply a gendered analysis to their work contrary to an increasing trend in funding agreements to de-gender policy and practice. This paper will explore policy and practice examples from women's services in Queensland and Victoria with a view to understanding how services are reframing and resisting these developments. Our analysis will assess whether it is timely to revive the "F" word

The ability to recognise and understand your own cultural context is a prerequisite to understanding and interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds. An intercultural learning approach encourages us to develop an understanding of culture and cultural difference, through reflecting on our own context and experience.

As critical discussions on the internationalisation of social work continue, the importance of preparing social work students undertaking international study is increasingly recognised. This article describes the preparation process developed for a group of Australian students undertaking international study experiences in Asia. In particular, the content of an online 'Intercultural Learning Module' is discussed, highlighting a process that moves beyond notions of cultural competence towards a critical appreciation of cultural diversity, imperialism, racism and privilege. Critical reflection on self and culture to develop intercultural practice skills is discussed and student reflections on the value and impact of these materials presented.

Social workers face unique challenges in working with families, young people and children in rural and remote communities. Simultaneously, workers juggle dual relationships, personal boundaries and high visibility. Social work practise in rural Australia also faces high staff turnover, burnout and difficulties with recruitment, retention and available professional supervision. A lack of professional supervision has been identified as directly contributing to decreased worker retention in rural and remote areas. This paper reports on emerging themes from a qualitative research study on peer supervision in virtual teams in rural and remote Australia. Data collection consisted of pre- and post-trial individual interviews, monthly group supervision sessions, online evaluations and focus groups. A key conclusion from the study is that peer group supervision worked in supporting rural and remote workers to perform their everyday professional roles. The ease and access afforded by the use of simple technology was noteworthy. Whilst the research was conducted with social workers in rural and remote areas, the use of peer group supervision could be applicable for other professionals who work with families and communities in rural and remote Australia.

This paper examines the ways personal use of illicit substances and alcohol are constructed as either mitigating or aggravating factors to explain offending. We consider the differential constructions of these factors for people who appear in supreme and district courts in northern Queensland, Australia, for offences involving illicit substance use, alcohol use, drug-related offences, and violence. Qualitative analysis of courtroom observations is understood through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Our findings reveal that personal use of illicit substances was primarily constructed by legal practitioners as an indicator of disadvantaged circumstances when discussing non-Indigenous defendants. In these cases, drug use was connected to other disadvantages such as poor mental health, physical pain, and trauma. In contrast, alcohol use was primarily raised as an aggravating factor for First Nations defendants, constructed by legal practitioners as a personal flaw linked to violent offending, and overshadowed the interrelated disadvantages that many First Nations defendants experience. This reflects social attitudes about First Nations people, reinforces individualistic explanations for offending patterns, and points to the institutional racism embedded in the structural processes of Queensland's higher courts that continues to profoundly impact First Nations people.

This paper reports on recently completed research which explores the key question of whether public child protection practice requires a vision embedded in family empowerment. The principle objective of the study was to promote our understanding of the experiences families have with child protection services. The project progressed in two different phases. In phase one, a qualitative in-depth interviewing method was applied to explore the experiences and views of the families. The findings were then thematically analysed through a critical theoretical process. For the second phase, we developed an empowerment framework to analyse and map the key themes from the findings, which outlines the families' difficulties to engage with, and their alienation from, the services in all stages of interventions. The mapping outcomes indicate a link between the process of empowering the families and the process of improving the child protection service.

AbstractCurrent research agendas in developed countries focus on academics engaging collaboratively with communities and industry partners to achieve research outcomes that demonstrate reach and significance. Social work academics are in a prime position to undertake collaborative research that has specific project benefits and wider social impacts. This article reports on a systematic literature review of articles in social work journals that reported on academic industry partnerships. The review aimed to analyse publications documenting the engagement of social work academic researchers with industry partners, to examine the nature of the research undertaken through this engagement and to ascertain the reported impact. Findings highlight that collaborative research processes could be described in greater detail, further explicit detail on collaboration and impact is needed, and while project level impacts are described in reviewed publications, most are not presenting broader societal impacts.

Purpose: Protecting children from mistreatment is a global concern, and further research and evaluation in child protection services is required. Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) has demonstrated potential, but to date, there is no systematic review of studies that evaluate the application of CQI in child protection. Method: This systematic literature review examined the application of CQI in child protection services. The review identified published, English-language evaluations of CQI in child protection from 2000 to 2016 and critiqued the characteristics, methodological quality, and reported benefits of the included studies. Results: A search of social science electronic databases identified eight peer-reviewed studies, including six quantitative studies, one mixed-methods study, and one qualitative study. Discussion: The review highlighted that many studies on this topic lack specific validating data, but there is evidence that CQI models have some potential to improve processes for working with children and families by promoting implementation fidelity.

AbstractThe national Closing the Gap reform provides a mandate for mainstream organisations to undergo structural transformation to better address the needs and concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. In the criminal justice sector, the reform resonates strongly with ongoing discussions about how both policy and practice can address the significant over‐representation of Aboriginal people across the criminal justice system. One way that structural transformation can occur is through the genuine involvement of Aboriginal knowledge holders and communities in policy development. This study illustrates how this might happen in relation to youth justice policy and programme design. Eighteen Aboriginal community members from a town in rural New South Wales participated in a series of interviews relevant to the Closing the Gap target. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify four key themes relevant to the development of justice policy: supporting cultural identity in a post‐colonial context; articulating strengths and resources which can be mobilised in the community; the centrality of poverty to offending; and responding to intergenerational trauma. The study illustrates how non‐Indigenous policymakers and practitioners might approach the task of engagement and consultation by identifying Aboriginal knowledge as a legitimate epistemic resource that they can draw upon to guide the ongoing development of evidence‐based policy and programmes.

Student learning abroad experiences are encouraged to develop students' intercultural understanding and global citizenship. This article reports internationally collaborative research exploring social work student short-term mobility programmes and international field education placements. Findings from interviews with staff from Australian schools of social work are presented. Themes developed from the data explore the establishment and ongoing resourcing and sustainability of international exchange programmes, including implications for risk and safety, relationships and partnerships, and reciprocity. The complex landscape of student international experiences is discussed, and it is proposed that the lack of adequate resourcing of learning abroad opportunities threatens their sustainability.