Social Work Education and Homelessness: Mobilising Academia-Industry Partnerships to Create a Homelessness Subject

Homelessness is a significant issue facing many Australian people, and one that social workers are likely to encounter in their professional lives. At present, though, there are no guidelines for social work programs on how to transfer homelessness knowledge into social work education programs. Social work curricula need to be informed by homelessness research, policy, and practice to reflect the contemporary Australian terrain, and to be responsive to emerging concerns. One approach, discussed in this article, is the mobilisation of an academia-industry partnership to create a dedicated homelessness subject for social work students. The subject, profiled here, offers an example of how social work can incorporate homelessness knowledge to benefit graduates, the sector, consumers, and academia. IMPLICATIONS Homelessness is a critical issue for social work practice, policy, and research, the impacts of which graduates are likely to encounter regardless of their specific fields of practice. There are no current guidelines for including homelessness in Australian social work education programs. A dedicated social work subject can furnish graduates with a strong foundation for entering the homelessness sector. Academia-industry partnerships have the potential to provide a systematic method of translating homelessness knowledge to future social workers through educational programs.

Automated summary

Homelessness is a pressing issue in Australian society, and social workers need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to address it. However, there is a lack of guidelines on how to incorporate homelessness into social work education. Establishing partnerships between academia and industry can provide a platform for dedicated homelessness subjects to be included in social work programs, benefiting both students and the broader sector.