Meet our graduates
'In Conversation' / Master of Social work
Two former and one current student sit down for an open and honest conversation about social work, life at Monash and their careers.
Abbie
Master of Social Work
Recent Monash graduate, Abbie McNamara has already put her Master of Social Work degree to good use, by tackling youth homelessness.
Abbie chose to study a Master of Social Work following her arts degree, where she had minored in criminology. Abbie’s experience as an undergraduate student made continuing her studies at Monash a natural choice, with access to prominent industry leaders a huge benefit. For Abbie, her favourite part of her social work degree was the relationships she built with her tutors and lecturers.
“Listening to tutors stories about direct practice and experiences were invaluable and often my favourite part of tutorials. Their generosity in sharing their own challenges and ethical dilemmas in practice along with how they dealt with issues was incredibly enlightening.”
Now, Abbie works in child welfare and protection with young people aged 9-16 years old. Abbie helps these children access mental health support and informal counselling, and collaborates with their schools to better support her clients.
“There is a clear trajectory of out of home care into homelessness, so the program I work within is aimed at interrupting that pipeline.”
A proud career moment for Abbie was working on a VIP day with clients from her organisation. Working with Homie, a Melbourne-based streetwear label and social enterprise that works to employ young people experiencing homelessness and hardship. Abbie was able to supply young people with free haircuts, manicures, clothing, toiletries and beauty products, and a fully catered lunch.
“It was nice to do something that had the sole purpose of being fun and an afternoon of pampering for the young people we work with.”
One of the things Abbie finds most rewarding about her work is when a young person finally gets to the point where they can trust her.
“I remember with one of my first clients, we used to do outreach and I would sit outside of his closed bedroom door and check in with him. Slowly he began to crack the door open each time I visited. It then progressed to colouring in at the kitchen table, and eventually leaving the house for walks. The young people I have worked with have experienced a lot of trauma at the hands of adults, so it can understandably take a while for them to get to a point where they can trust you and be open to your support.”
Though Abbie loves her work, she has noticed how often similar issues crop up with her clients, and hopes that she can move on to address these issues in a broader context.
“Family violence, parental substance use, parental incarceration, school disengagement, mental health concerns. Each client is so different yet so similar in so many ways. To me, unless there is a change at a structural or policy level, these adverse experiences will continue. While direct practice is so incredibly important, it is my eventual goal to be working in policy and research to implement change at a structural level.”
Abbie advised future social work students to be ready to look after themselves just as much as their clients.
“Practice what you preach! We learn so much about how to support others and how important support networks are for clients, this is also incredibly important for you as a student. Particularly with the long placement blocks, looking after yourself is really important. It will be a challenging 2 years (or 4 if doing part time), but it will be so worth it in the end. Placements are invaluable and can often lead to employment opportunities as it did for me and many of my peers.”
Roxanne
Master of Social Work
I completed my Masters of Social Work degree in 2021 and have since been working as a Social Worker at a tertiary paediatric hospital.
Choosing Monash University for my degree set me on the right path to securing my dream job. The course content helped me establish a solid theoretical foundation underpinning the work I do now and supported me to becoming a more reflective person and social worker. It also enabled me to discover my interest in research and provided me with the opportunity to choose an elective subject that further deepened my knowledge in health social work.
The academic staff at Monash were extremely knowledgeable, approachable and helpful. Lectures and tutorials were always fun, informative and interactive. As an international student, I also had access to resources provided by the Department of Social Work to support my learning. Field education organised by Monash was an invaluable experience as it gave me the opportunity to work at a paediatric hospital. This allowed me to apply and practise social work theories and skills I learnt in a health setting and eventually gave me an advantage in my job hunt as a graduate.
Overall during this 2-year degree, I was able to achieve not only professional but personal growth supported by Monash.
Lena
Master of Social Work
When I decided to study Social Work, I did it because I was driven by my passion to make a real impact on individuals’ lives and communities. It was my desire to learn how to cover peoples’ needs, guarantee their wellbeing, and support them to achieve their best potential. I wanted to make this my lifelong profession.
I am glad I chose Monash to accomplish my dream because it provided the best opportunities to achieve my goals. I was taught by excellent qualified professionals that were able to support me during my learning process in an interactive and supportive manner. The curriculum of this course was extremely rich, it helped me to explore the different social work fields of practice from which I could work to support people. Additionally, the assignment style was very engaging and useful at the time of finding a job. These included a diverse range of tasks that challenged my thinking and helped me to enhance my skills through constant feedback.
The work component of this course also gave me the confidence to be able to excel and find my dream job. The opportunity to put into practice my skills in a guided space was pivotal to enhance my career opportunities in Australia.
Jacinta
Master of Social Work
I completed a Masters of Social Work in 2020 and am now employed by an NGO in Community Aged Care. I was able to secure a position through contacts I made via my placement. Studying at Monash prepared me for placement and, consequently, full time employment, through teaching leadership and advocacy skills. Having a combination of practical based skills such as counselling techniques, genograms and biopsychosoical assessments, underpinned by a strong understanding of theories consolidated my learning and gave me confidence to use these skills in the workplace. Staff encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone and always supported me to do this, making themselves available to answer questions or direct me when I was unsure of the path to take. Dedicating a unit to preparing for placement helps to identify skills employers are looking for and assists in focusing on working with my strengths to gain employment. Having a variety of electives gave a deeper knowledge of intricacies of particular fields of practice which enabled a choice of the best area to explore the area I was most passionate about.
Nchimunya
Master of Social Work
I’m originally from Zambia and moved to Australia in 2011. I studied media and public relations in my undergraduate degree but when it came to my master’s I wanted to do something different, something I loved and would reflect who I am and what my passion is. I took a year off to really think about what I wanted to do and social work stood out.
All my life I’ve seen how disrespectfully women have been treated, and growing up in a society where it is seen ok to be abusive towards women affected me and made me want to be the voice of the voiceless. I believe women and men should have equal rights and no one deserves to be treated with disrespect because of their gender. Being a social worker helps me make a difference to society, as it starts with me.
Studying the Master of Social Work made me more empathetic and I look at life differently to how I used to. The opportunity to do placement while studying expanded my knowledge and helped me put theory into practice, preparing me for the future.
Chie
Master of Social Work
“The Master of Social Work degree at Monash University enhanced my social work career across the practice in Australia and my home country of Japan. From the experiences of social worker and academic staff in universities in both Australia and Japan, the in-depth knowledge I acquired from this course is interchangeable within global contexts.
As a professional Social worker, it is important to take into consideration different cultures and social backgrounds. For me personally, this course allowed me to gain individual and professional growth in terms of comprehending wider perspectives in order to understand people in different cultures and contexts underpinning of the theories and methods.
Additionally, I was able to network with excellent professionals, who inspired me to clarify my vision of professional life, which is to develop my knowledge further and help to improve the welfare system in Japan.
The course is considered in the best interests of students and is delivered by excellent professionals. I would like to add that this course makes you gain international perspectives and fundamental knowledge for life as a professional social worker.”
Ali
Social Work Graduate
“During the first 2-3 weeks of the course, I knew that Social Work was the career pathway for me, and I have never looked back. Since graduating, I have worked in a variety of roles over the past 15 years including in hospitals, child protection and youth justice and across three jurisdictions: Victoria, ACT and the United Kingdom.
In addition to working directly with children, young people, and families with complex needs, I have in more recent years worked in positions that have allowed me to embed research in practice and design best practice initiatives that develop the capability of the sector. This has included co-developing and implementing a therapeutic trauma informed service for children and a Foundational Program which prepares new child protection practitioners for operational work.
All of this has been possible due to the solid foundations underpinning the Social Work course at Monash, including the opportunities I had for not only skill development but also to learn about social policy and research principles and apply these to my work upon graduating.”