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Neighbourhood Houses in Australia are community place-based organisations that provide education, support services, and develop responses to local issues with local communities. The practices within Neighbourhood Houses are informed by community development. Yet knowledge, understanding and practices of community development vary across the workforce. In 2019, Neighbourhood Houses Victoria commenced a programme of professional learning for the workforce. This paper draws on data from an impact evaluation and examines the benefits and barriers to embedding a professional learning programme in community development within its workforce. Using practice theory to examine the tensions and contradictions inherent in delivering professional learning in neoliberal times of managerialism and accountability in not-for-profit organisations. The contradictions of practice will resonate with organisations seeking to implement a professional learning across a broad range of human service organisations such as settlement houses, human services and community education settings. We claim most not-for-profit workforces are impacted by the discursive practices of neoliberalism such as contractual arrangements and the adoption of business practices to comply with funding requirements. These compliance requirements contrast with the philosophy and practices of community development and have the potential to impact on professional learning and the practices within these workplaces.

Assessment is said to drive student learning, though the value of a 'grade' within work-integrated learning (WIL) is still not clear and most field placement students do not want their learning to be assessed beyond a pass/fail grade. Is then, the 'learning' in WIL as important as 'learning' in non-WIL courses? The focus of this paper is on the 'value' stakeholders place on the academic standards and grading practices in WIL. Data from a small qualitative constructivists grounded theory study undertaken in the Human Services sector will be used and how to grade 'reflection' will link learning, assessment and grading practices, identifying the difficulties and challenges to mainstreaming WIL. The importance of employability from a WIL experience will be the focus of a future paper.

Over the last twenty years or so the number of international students in Australia has grown rapidly. At the same time, official responsibility for providing support to international students has been devolved from governments to educational institutions. In this paper we argue that while education institutions have a significant role in supporting international students, there is a large gap in social support provided to them when off-campus. This is a gap which we believe could be filled by local government, to provide international students with greater integration and security when they are off campus. The ideas outlined in this paper are based on a critical examination of international students' experience in Australia and are intended to contribute to and advance recent debates about the safety, security and value of international students to Australian society. We argue that international students' status as temporary visitors creates the conditions for social exclusion, that is, an inability to engage fully in the economic, cultural, social and political aspects of Australian life. In light of this, we suggest that local government, especially as it relates to the provision of human services, has a role in helping international students access social support services. We argue that local government can be instrumental in ensuring the social inclusion of international students in our communities. This, we suggest, would improve international students' overall study experience and contribute to their greater integration and participation in the Australian community.

This paper explores the contribution of a physical learning space to student engagement in social work education. Drawing on a constructivist methodology, this paper examines the findings of a survey conducted with students and staff in a social work and human service programme about their experiences of a Social Work Studio learning space. The analysis identified that students and staff who used the Studio reported that students were emotionally, cognitively and behaviourally engaged in the space, which enriched their development as social work and human service practitioners. The researchers concluded that the Social Work Studio is a useful tool for enhancing social work student engagement and increasing their confidence to address the "real-life" challenges they may face as social work practitioners.

Delivering essential health, education and human services in rural and remote communities remains a critical problem for Australia. When professionals have mandatory responsibilities (e.g. in child protection, law enforcement, education or mental health), tensions can arise between workers and the communities in which they live. This paper reports on part of an Australian Research Council Discovery project which is exploring the management of tensions in work-life balances for professionals in rural and remote communities, as well as investigating the views of community members impacted by the work. In this paper we present findings from the state wide survey of professionals (N [approximately] 900) who lived and worked in small communities and who had statutory responsibilities in their role. These data provide valuable insights into practitioners' views about their roles, their preparation for rural practice during education and training, major tensions in juggling allegiance to work and community and the strategies they employ to address these. It is hoped that the study in the long term will offer solutions to the complex medical, legal and social issues that arise for different professional groups in the discharge of their duties. This 3-year project uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to map the terrain of rural and remote statutory work, to explore the nature of the relationships between professionals and communities and examine how professionals manage ethical and allegiance conflicts which arise. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Using Moxley's (1997) program development framework as an agenda for a dialogue that juxtaposes an academic perspective with that of a seasoned youth program manager, this paper focuses on the relatively unexplored terrain of case management programs. In doing so, it exposes the convergences and divergences between academic and program manager perceptions of the issues of importance in case management service with young people. The paper identifies barriers to and necessary conditions for the development and maintenance of quality service delivery in youth support programs. It concludes with a shared view on the importance and feasibility of good case management programs in the contemporary service environment.

This paper outlines the findings of an exploratory study conducted in a small rural community in South Australia in 2006. Human service providers, experienced in working with victims and/or perpetrators of domestic violence, were asked about their experiences and perceptions of perpetrator programs in small rural communities. Specifically, questions about the value of, and the factors impacting on, the availability of perpetrator programs in the rural context were explored. Alternative intervention options to address domestic violence perpetration were also discussed. The key findings of the research were that concerns about anonymity, and community attitudes, which condoned male control of female partners, would prevent men from using behaviour change programs in small rural communities, and therefore impact on their viability. The implications for human service providers are outlined in the paper. (Contains 1 table.)

The once common use of restrictive interventions (the use of restraint and seclusion) for controlling the behaviour of people with an intellectual disability is now coming under greater scrutiny by government and community sector services. Questions are being raised with respect to the clinical efficacy and ethical appropriateness of such interventions. In Victoria, Australia, the Senior Practitioner was established in 2007 by the Disability Act (2006) to protect the rights of people with a disability who are subjected to restrictive interventions or compulsory treatments, and who are in receipt of a disability service funded by the Department of Human Services' Disability Service. Among other functions, the Senior Practitioner is mandated by the Disability Act (2006) to monitor and review the use of restrictive interventions in Victoria. The data included in this paper summarise findings from the first 12 months of operation of the Office of the Senior Practitioner's Restrictive Intervention Data System (RIDS) as collated at March 2009. The collection and analyses of these data are important because people know little about the prevalence of the use of restrictive interventions in disability services in Australia and, consequently, have a paucity of evidence to inform the development of policy and monitor practice. (Contains 4 tables and 1 note.)

Attempts to Indigenise the curriculum run the risk of implying the application of an "impoverished" version of "Aboriginal pedagogy" and the promotion of corrupted understandings of Indigenous knowledge (Nakata, 2004, p. 11). What is required, Nakata (2004, p. 14) argues, is a recognition of the complexities and tensions at cross-cultural interfaces and the need for negotiation between "Indigenous knowledge, standpoints or perspectives" and Western disciplinary knowledge systems such that meanings are reframed or reinterpreted. Attending to these cross-cultural negotiations and the pedagogical practices they imply are profoundly challenging for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators. This paper focuses on a project at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) which seeks to embed Indigenous perspectives in Humanities and Human Services curricula. It outlines the curriculum framework which was developed to guide the curriculum redesign in its initial phases. This is followed by a discussion of current research that has been concerned to identify material that can support the renegotiations of curricula endorsed by Nakata's work. The research findings indicate that it is possible to identify a number of pedagogical approaches that can assist that process. Such approaches recognise various levels of engagement beyond the "intellectual"; they insist on a consistent unsettling of Western authority; they acknowledge Indigenous positions/positioning; and require critical self-reflection. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

Arguably, living and working in rural communities can pose significant challenges for human service practitioners--challenges that are different from those encountered by their urban counterparts. Human services employers, like many other employers in rural areas, have difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff. There is now considerable evidence to support the notion that rural and remote practice constitutes a different and distinct form of practice and has undergone significant changes over the past decade. Living and working in rural communities means that practitioners are not only influenced by the rural and remote context of practice, they are also part of that context. Given the difficulty encountered in attracting and retaining rural practitioners and the changes in this area, an important question which emerges is: How can practitioners best be prepared for this work through largely urban based social work and human service education? The multifaceted and multilayered complexities in rural practice requires creativity, improvisation and a capacity for "integrative thinking" (Martinez-Brawley 2002) This paper discusses six elements of newer forms of rural and remote practice and how they might be most effectively addressed through social work and human service curricula. An education model which integrates these elements and other principles for rural practice is proposed.

Implications of an Australian national study on services for older people with intellectual disability include the importance of individual needs in planning recreation and leisure activities, planning future residential placements, and considering medical and health needs as they age. Choice and involvement in decision making for this population are emphasized. (SW)

This paper discusses a case-finding process for identifying all people 55 years and over with an intellectual disability living in 2 regions of Victoria (Australia). Results indicated that, although not all 215 people located were registered with specialist services, they were known to the generic system, suggesting the value of greater collaboration between the 2 service systems. (JDD)

Australian laws and regulations such as the Disability Services Act reflect the importance of ensuring that persons with disabilities receive appropriate services. A tension exists, however, between policy formulation and service provision, which is influenced by disagreements on government's role in service funding, lobby groups, and the tendency to move disability services into generic services. (JDD)

In Australia, a children's services advisor (CSA) makes regular visits to all providers of children's services in a particular area, identifies and advises on provider problems, and makes recommendations on provider licensing and funding. A college senior describes his experiences as an intern with a CSA in rural New South Wales. (SV)