Deakin is adapting to State and Federal Government advice on the COVID-19 pandemic. Deakin recommends, but does not require, students to be immunised for field education placement. Students are a potential source of infection for service users and colleagues and may be required to comply with any requirements for immunisation as specified by a particular placement provider. 

Students who have not been immunised may be limited in the placement opportunities available to them. 

Depending on the unit the student is enrolled in, students are required to complete a set number of hours work (excluding lunch breaks) under the guidance of a supervisor assigned by your organisation or the University. 

Placements are undertaken by students in the following trimesters (timing based on a full-time study load): 

*Trimester 1 (March – June)
* Trimester 2 ( July – October)

Placements (500 hours) must be completed over at least 65 days. Placements can be completed part-time, 3 days per week over the 22 week period or full-time for about 13 weeks. The actual week days and times of attendance are negotiated between the host supervisor and student before commencement. This may depend on the student’s availability around other university or work commitments, the supervisor’s days of work and available desk space at the organisation. 

Eligible students receive detailed instructions to their Deakin student email accounts from the Academic Leads and Placement Coordinators during the placement preparation phase which occurs approximately three months before placements commence. The dates for compulsory on-campus pre-placement intensives will be provided in this email as well as a range of information about student documentation requirements and the placement matching process.  

All placements are sourced and allocated by the placement coordinators who take a range of factors into consideration (i.e. students are asked NOT to source their own placements although they are invited to indicate any preference and/or potential host organisation contact details for coordinators to follow up). All Deakin students are required to attend an interview with their potential host organisation before being accepted for a placement.  

Students may consider a ‘workplace-based placement’ in a different area of their place of employment via an application process coordinated by Academic Leads. Students liaise directly with Academic Leads about the various criteria for this option before being invited to apply. 

While on placement, the student and Field Educator develop a co-operative working relationship that enables the student to derive the maximum benefit from the field placement and provides the student with a role model for future supervision. 

Field Educators, who have overall responsibility for the student’s placement and for the work the student does in the organisation, may assign the student to Task Supervisors for some aspects of the work they do.  

Deakin University Liaisons are social workers employed by the university supervisors who will be in contact (3 times) with students and field educators during the placement period to assess progress and identify any additional support and education needs.   

During the placement, the student must be supervised by a qualified Social Worker who: 

• is eligible for membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) 

• has practiced social work for a minimum of two years since qualifying 

• can provide a minimum of 1.5 hours formal supervision per student for each 35 hours of placement 

External Field Educator supervision may be arranged by Deakin when a suitably qualified staff member is not available within the host organisation. This may only occur for one of the two placements each student undertakes, and the organisation must  provide day-to-day task supervision for the student.  

Some excellent placement opportunities are found in organisations where there are no qualified Social Workers available to supervise the student. If a placement is offered without a qualified Social Worker as Field Educator the University may approve that an Agency Task Supervisor be appointed, with an External Field Educator (Social Work supervisor) engaged to provide formal supervision. 

Please visit the Deakin Student Placement Procedure for full details. 

In addition to completion of foundational social work pre-requisite units, students are required to participate in compulsory pre-placement preparation intensives. These seminars prepare students to go out into the field and cover topics such as preparing for interviews, field education supervision, the AASW Code of Ethics, boundaries, safety, privacy, confidentiality, duty of care and writing a Field Education Learning Plan. Students are required to become familiar with the current AASW (2020) Code of Ethics; the AASW (2023) Practice Standards for Social Workers and the AASW (2008) Practice Standards for Mental Health Social Workers, to emphasise the importance of confidentiality, privacy and other ethical considerations in Social Work settings. 

Supervision is provided through :

• On-site Field Educator – a qualified Social Worker with a minimum two years of practice experience in the field  

• Off-site/External Field Educator – a qualified Social Worker with two years practice experience, external to the organisation when there is no on-site Field Education supervisor available for the placement 

• Agency Task Supervisor – a suitable staff member in the placement organisation (always where there is an external Field Educator and sometimes where there is an on-site Field Educator) 

• University Liaison – a Field Education Unit staff member or suitable person appointed locally (minimum of three contacts per placement) 

Students will be required to complete assessment tasks as part of their Social Work Field Education placement unit. The Placement Workbook (and relevant assessment tasks) is completed via the e-portfolio platform, PebblePad and shared with the University Liaison and placement supervisors. 

The Unit Chair will make the final decision as to whether a student passes or fails the unit. 

As per the Fair Work Act (2009), students undertaking a ‘Vocational Placement’ do not need to be paid for their work or normal travel costs between home and the host organisation. 

If you would like to pay students a allowance to help cover the costs of attending placement, this is done at your discretion. 

If a student works extra hours in addition to their total placement hours, you may be liable to pay the student the appropriate wage if an ‘employment relationship’ is found to exist under the Fair Work Act (2009). 

Deakin does not require any student to have a driver’s licence but encourages students to obtain one if possible. Students may use cars owned by the host organisation (‘fleet cars’) as required (e.g., to attend off-site meetings or conduct community consultations), however Deakin is unable to provide insurance for the vehicles. Students must have a full driver’s licence if they are to drive a host organisation’s vehicle. Note that students are not permitted to transport clients in their own private vehicles. Students should not use their own vehicles for placement work. 

Any organised placement experience undertaken as part of the University course requirements recognises the Work Health and Safety ACT 2011 (Cth) and any relevant state/territory legislation such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic). It is essential that students are made aware of any hazards that could occur while on placement. Students and host organisations have an obligation to protect and minimise any potential incident from an identified hazard. Students must participate in an occupational health and safety (OH&S) induction provided by the host organisation. General best-practice health and safety principles are also covered as part of students’ pre-placement preparation.

In cases where students will be absent from placement, students must notify their Field Educator (and Agency Task Supervisor) immediately. Absence from placement for more than 2 weeks may jeopardise the practice learning and continuation of the placement. Individual situations will be addressed by the Unit Chair and/or the Academic Lead of Social Work Field Education if this is likely to be the case.

Students are not permitted to complete their placement at an existing place of employment/volunteer work, or with a family member/friend, unless pre-approved by the Field Education Academic Lead. Placements cannot be approved retrospectively. 

Supporting students with disabilities is crucial to ensuring an inclusive learning environment and equal access to education. It is a student’s responsibility to disclose disabilities or health issues that may affect their ability to carry out a placement. Ideally, this should be done at the pre-placement interview. Host organisations can take various steps to support students with disabilities, such as through establishing clear procedures for requesting and implementing accommodations, and creating a non-discriminatory environment that encourages disclosure of disabilities. Please visit Disability Support for information on how Deakin support students with a disability. 

Students are required to disclose any disability or health condition that will prevent them from meeting the requirements specified for the placement or where there is an increased occupational health and safety (OH&S) risk. Where a disability or health condition does not preclude participation in a specific placement but may affect a student’s ability to succeed (such as late-stage pregnancy), the student is strongly encouraged to disclose any needs before the placement commences. The social work field education placement team will inform the host organisation if a student has a disability or health condition and agrees to disclose their condition. 

Some students may be reluctant to disclose their disability due to discrimination concerns. We recommend discussing any reasonable adjustments the student may need before they commence their placement. There are multiple ways to have this discussion, such as informing them clearly about support services available, and how to disclose their disability at any stage of engagement. You may share any policies with them and ask if they have any questions. Alternatively, you may ask the student: Do you have any reasonable adjustments that may be required to help you complete your placement? Opening the discussion promotes and normalises inclusion and makes it feel safer for students to disclose. 

You will get 3 emails from PebblePad initially, an email to set up for login, an email for workspace and an email for workbook. You will need to start with the email to set up login to begin with or you will not be able to access the workspace or workbook.  

Please refer to PebblePad instructions for External users.