Unit Outline

In this unit, you will learn about community practice, and its potential to help you work towards social change in a world impacted by violence, poverty, and climate change. While working with individuals and families often comes to mind when considering social work and human service practice, working with communities is equally important. This unit introduces you to community practices within and outside Australia, broadening your understanding of this essential aspect of social work and human service practice.

You will learn about the complexities of community development and aid provision in international contexts, challenging conventional western centric approaches to community practice. This unit will extend current thinking around community practices, by presenting a broad understanding of what community practice can be when local voices, including those of Indigenous communities worldwide, are privileged. Through engagement with Indigenising and decolonising processes, you will also gain insight into social and cultural sustainability, extending your understanding of sustainability beyond its environmental aspects.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Describe a diversity of community practices undertaken by social workers and human service practitioners within and outside Australia
2	Analyse the contested nature of sustainable community development
3	Discuss decolonising, Indigenising, and sustainability focused community practices
4	Evaluate and respond to conventional Western-centric community practice approaches

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	HGW101 HGW102

Alterations as a result of student feedback

This unit is being taugh for the first time in 2025. You will have the opportunity to provide feedback at the end of the semester.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Present a community practice example	Week 4	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Plan for responding to a community practice challenge	Week 9	30 %	LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Indo-Pacific health challenge scenario	Week 13	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Present a community practice example

Task Description:

You will present one example of community practice occurring within the Australian context. You will explain the role of workers, community members and relevant knowledge holders. You will also provide a description of the work being undertaken and explain the underlying rationale.

Task Length:

10-minute video recorded presentation

Due Date:

Week 4 (19/Mar/2025)

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Detail an Australian community practice (40%)	LO1
2	Examine the community work being undertaken and why it is being undertaken (40%)	LO2
3	Analyse decolonising, Indigenising and sustainability processes within the community practice example (20%)	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Plan for responding to a community practice challenge

Task Description:

You will be presented with a current challenge being experienced within the Tasmanian community (which can include issues relating to, for example, grief and loss, workforce shortages and burnout, trauma, child safety, mental health, alcohol and other drug use, family violence and homelessness). You will develop a community practice plan for addressing and responding to this challenge. The plan will detail what you would do to respond to the challenge and what that would look like in terms of community practice. This will include a rationale for your plan informed by decolonising, Indigenising, collaborative and sustainability processes.

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

Week 9 (30/Apr/2025)

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Propose a detailed community practice response to a Tasmanian social justice community challenge (40%)	LO2
2	Explain how your plan is informed by decolonising, Indigenising, and sustainability processes (30%)	LO3
3	Identify how your plan challenges conventional Western-centric community practice approaches (30%)	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Indo-Pacific health challenge scenario

Task Description:

You will be presented with a real-world case scenario of a health challenge confronting an Indo-Pacific community that directly relates to the current climate emergency. You will analyse the scenario, exploring how community practice principles are being applied. You will then provide suggestions for how the challenges being experienced could be responded to by engaging decolonising, Indigenising, and sustainability approaches. Finally, you will reflect on the questions that remain unanswered for you after analysing the current and proposed responses to the scenario.

Task Length:

2000 words

Due Date:

Week 13 (28/May/2025)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Analyse community practice principles being applied within a scenario (30%)	LO1, LO2
2	Propose a community practice response that is decolonising, and informed by Indigenisation and social and cultural sustainability (40%)	LO3
3	Reflect on the questions that have been raised for you whilst engaging with the scenario (30%)	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

All readings required readings

Week 1

Kenny, S., & Hand, T. (2022). The nature of community development. In Developing Communities (6th ed, pp. 2- 45). Cengage Australia.

Gooda, M. (2016). Forward. In C. Kickett-Tucker., D. Bessarab., J. Coffin., & M. Wright (Eds.), Mia Mia Aboriginal Community Development: Fostering Cultural Security (pp. vi-ix). Cambridge.

Bessarab. D., & Forrest. S. (2016). Anggaba jina nimoonggoon: Whose knowledge is that? Aboriginal perspectives of community development. In C. Kickett-Tucker., D. Bessarab., J. Coffin., & M. Wright (Eds.), Mia Mia Aboriginal Community Development: Fostering Cultural Security (pp. 1-18). Cambridge.

Week 2

No reading

Week 3

Howard. A., Rawsthorne. M., Joseph. P., Terare. M., Sampson. D., & Harris, M.K. (2023). The basics. In Social work and human service responsibilities in a time of climate change: Country, community and complexity (pp. 76-105). Routledge.

Week 4

Mooney, J., Riley, L., & Blacklock. F. (2016). Dimensions of Aboriginal community development. In C. Kickett-Tucker., D. Bessarab., J. Coffin., & M. Wright (Eds.), Mia Mia Aboriginal Community Development: Fostering Cultural Security (pp. 54-72). Cambridge.

Week 5

Howard. A., Rawsthorne. M., Joseph. P., Terare. M., Sampson. D., & Harris, M.K. (2023). Acting for Change. In Social work and human service responsibilities in a time of climate change: Country, community and complexity (pp. 106-125). Routledge.

Week 6

Westoby, P., Day, E., Hawthorne, F., Toon, M.F.P., Oldham, K. (2023). A community development story and portrayal of a phenomenological reflective practice in the social field of paediatric palliative care, Community Development Journal, 58(3), pp. 402–418. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsac023

Week 7

Westoby, P., & Shevellar, L. (2018). From ‘dilemmatic space’ towards ecological practice: Community development in disaster recovery in Queensland, Australia. In L. Shevellar., & P. Westoby (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Community Development Research (pp. 253-266). Routledge.

Thornton, A., Lyons, K. & Sharpe, S. (2018). Carving out space for community gardens in Australia Exploring the potential of community gardens as social movements for urban change in Sydney and Canberra. In L. Shevellar., & P. Westoby (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Community Development Research (pp. 223-235). Routledge.

Week 8

Pope, N.E., & Greenfield, E. (2022). Community events as part of age-friendly community practice, Journal of Community Practice, 30(3), pp. 299-318. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2022.2106526

Week 9

No reading

Week 10

Munyoka, E., & Goel. K. (2023). Beyond humanitarianism’s universal norms: Rethinking White Supremacy in developmental work and humanitarian aid. In: J. Ravulo., K. Olcoń., T. Dune., A. Workman, & P. Liamputtong (Eds.), Handbook of Critical Whiteness: Deconstructing Dominant Discourses Across Disciplines (pp. 1-19). Springer.

Week 11

McConnell, C., Paul, A., & Paul, K. (2021). Engaging with Communities. In C. McConnell., D. Muia., & A. Clarke (Eds.), International Community Development Practice (pp. 55-84). Routledge.

Week 12

Khan, S., & Eversole, R. (2024) Reproducing poverty through participation: examining the constraints of community development strategies in fostering empowerment and social change, Community Development Journal , pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsae045.

Week 13

Wadsworth, Y. (2011). Everyday evaluation on the run: The user-friendly introductory guide to effective evaluation (3rd ed) Routledge.

Chapter 1 What is Evaluation and Chapter 2 The Evaluation Research Cycle.