Mutual Benefits: Developing Relational Service Approaches Within Centrelink |
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Authors: | Greg Hall Jennifer Boddy Lesley Chenoweth Katherine Davie |
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Institution: | 1. School of Human Services and Social Work , Griffith University , Logan Campus, Queensland , Australia;2. Social Work Services Centrelink , Coffs Harbour , New South Wales , Australia greg.hall@griffithuni.edu.au;4. School of Human Services and Social Work , Griffith University , Gold Coast Campus, Queensland , Australia;5. Griffith Health Institute , Queensland , Australia;6. Social Work Services , Centrelink , Logan , Queensland , Australia |
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Abstract: | Abstract The machinery of income support can have considerable influence in people's lives, creating opportunities for social work but also tensions: access to vulnerable people, but not always on their terms. This paper argues that the challenge to social work is about more than holding on to professional discretion. It considers how social workers can influence service delivery approaches to work more relationally, pursuing a more equal involvement of clients, and recognising the complex interactive context of social and community life. The authors trace the development of such an approach within the Australian Government human services delivery agency Centrelink in Logan, Queensland, and briefly consider a parallel innovation in Newcastle, New South Wales. The authors suggest that grounding a large institutional social service agency in the realities of client and community experiences has mutual benefits, creating a more humanising, cooperative space, and displacing inefficient and sometimes tragic cycles of misunderstanding, confrontation, and disconnection. |
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Keywords: | Human Services Social Inclusion Strengths-based Approaches Relational Social Work Early Intervention |
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