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, financial, 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 OR HGW111) AND (HGW102 OR HGW112).

Alterations as a result of student feedback

As always, the teaching team will greatly appreciate your feedback both informally during the delivery of the unit in 2026, and formally through the University of Tasmania’s Unit Survey following your completion of the unit.
This unit was delivered for the first time in 2025, and several changes have been made based on tutor and student feedback. This includes a revised Assessment Task 3 to provide more variety in assessment tasks, updates to the reading list, and additional activities for students to engage with on MyLO throughout 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:	Reflective Journal	Week 12	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.
Due Date: (20/03/2026)

Task Length:

10-minute video recorded presentation

Due Date:

Week 4

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Present an Australian community practice (40%)	LO1
2	Examine the community work being undertaken and why it is being undertaken (40%)	LO2
3	Discuss your initial understanding of 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 Australian 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 as a social worker 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.
Due Date: (01/05/2026)

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

Week 9

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Propose a detailed community practice response to an Australian 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: Reflective Journal

Task Description:

In this task, you will reflect on your developing understanding of sustainable community practice from a social work perspective. Based on the learning from weeks 1-11, each week you will write a 160-word (approx.) journal entry based on the learning for that week. You will be provided with guiding questions and prompts to assist you in your exploration of the weekly learning.
Due Date: (22/05/2026)

Task Length:

1750 words

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Analyse diverse community practices in local and global contexts (25%)	LO1
2	Examine the complexities and debates in sustainable community development (25%)	LO2
3	Reflect on Indigenous and decolonising approaches in community practice (25%)	LO3
4	Evaluate conventional Western-centric community practice approaches as they relate to your emerging social work identity (25%)	LO4

How your final result is determined

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

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.