can anyone tell me how easy/hard it is to gain employment in this area of work. do you need to sit endless exams or complete an equivalent DIPSW course. any info would be appreciated.
bec+egg

I may be wrong but I think the DIPSW will not necessarily get you a job (in the UK, possibly as assistant sw) and the degree must be sponsored. It's all changing though next year. As for social work in Australia, my wife was offered a place after the Victoria government held a recruitment fair here. There seems to be quite a demand for senior social workers or there was several months ago. In addition, the government offer circa 8K relocation as opposed to £400 offered by the NZ goverment for the same job.

If you want more specific and up to date information, send me a PM and I'll give you my wife's e-mail addy. She will most certainly be able to help you more than I can.

hello bec and egg

i see you are in newport south wales - i worked for the city council up til last year and worked heaps with social workers, i was in housing (yeh i know..!) maybe our paths crossed...

I work for a different borough (monmouth/torfaen) so I doubt it, but you may know some of my friends who work for newport council. I work for the youth offending team. I have done some reading on the internet and there doesn't appear to be many social work jobs in relation to offending (maybe I am looking in the wrong place). Where abouts are you? what work are you doing now?
bec+egg

oh yeh we used to do quite a bot with the YOT in newport, there was a nice bloke there, cant remember his name now... we are in adelaide - when we moved out i was nearly 6 montsh pregnant so i am a stay at home mummy! i do miss my job (housing officer) and taking people to court for rent arrears and evictions!! im not sure about youth offending schemes here to be honest. my partner is in the police, i can ask him if he knows anything about that side of things if you like?

To work as a SW in Oz you need to be eligable for membership to the Australian Assoc. of SW's. That means a 4 year degree in most states or a 5 year degree in Perth. It might be worth contacting the Australian Assoc of SW's to find out whether your qualifications match up or whether you need to do further study. A 3 year degree in Oz usually enables you to work as a welfare officer which means considerably less money and fewer job opportunities.

There seems to be plenty of work for SW's here in NSW at present. Jobs are mainly in hospitals doing counselling and discharge planning and within non profit organisations such as Mission Australia. The current salary range is between $58K and $68.

Hope that helps.