Assists individuals, families and groups with social, emotional or financial difficulties to improve quality of life, by educating and supporting them and working towards change in their social environment.
Previously referred to in ASCO as:
2512-11 Welfare Worker
Welfare workers work with individuals, families, groups and communities to
improve quality of life by empowering, educating and supporting people and by
helping them to change their social environment.
Welfare workers deal with situations which may involve emotional, social and
financial difficulties.
Welfare workers can work individually or as part of a team. They may work in
an office, visit clients in their homes and attend evening community meetings.
How much can I expect to earn?
Full-time employed Welfare Worker earn an average of $1160 per week. The
[average annual salary for this job is $60320 excluding super.]
Personal requirements
able to communicate effectively with a wide range of people
tolerance and an open mind
good planning and organisational skills
able to take initiative
sense of responsibility
able to deal with conflict in stressful situations
commitment to human rights and social justice.
This job also involves:
Reading or writing
These jobs require moderate or better reading and writing skills. Workers may
be expected to prepare, understand or act on written materials, such as
letters or reports. People may wish to avoid these jobs if their reading or
writing English skills are limited to a small range of words or phrases and
symbols. Jobs remaining may still require very basic reading or writing
skills.
This occupation offers jobs at the following skill levels:
Para Professional Jobs
Jobs in this group usually require completion of secondary education and/or
completion of some further study of a vocational nature, such as a Diploma or
an Advanced Diploma.
Professional Jobs
Jobs in this group usually require completion of a recognised Bachelor Degree,
or extensive relevant experience. Some jobs also require post-graduate study,
such as a Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Master Degree.
Study requirements
At school, you can study these subject(s) to get a good foundation for this
occupation:
Home Economics
School subjects that include some aspect of HOME ECONOMICS provide a useful
background to these jobs. In some cases a home economics-related subject is a
pre-requisite for entry to courses that provide the training for the job.
Duties and tasks of a Welfare Worker
Welfare workers may perform the following tasks:
provide support and assistance to clients who experience difficulties such as marital problems, unemployment, illness or drug abuse
arrange for clients to be referred to appropriate specialists or community agencies
help clients with long-term problems to bring about self-directed change in their lives
assess risks and provide intensive short-term crisis counselling for victims of domestic violence or child abuse
help to establish or administer neighbourhood houses or community groups
evaluate data and write reports, including submissions requesting funding for continuing programmes and new projects
act on behalf of clients who have a complaint against an organisation or government department
arrange and evaluate support services, such as Meals on Wheels delivery to elderly people living alone
recruit, train and coordinate volunteer staff
assist community groups to identify and implement strategies to deal with local issues.
Specialisations
Some specialise in helping families, adolescents, people with substance abuse
issues, homeless people, people with disability, people escaping domestic
violence, victims of crime or criminals.