Social work placement requirements

Compliance checks are required by both the University and your host organisation. They are there to protect you and the people you work with and to ensure you are safe on placement. You cannot start placement until all you have completed all your compliance requirements and they have been verified by the Work Integrated Learning (WIL) Support Team. 

You should keep all original copies of documents in a safe place, as you may be asked to produce these by your host organisation.

You will not be eligible for placement until deemed fully compliant.
 

Compulsory Compliance for ALL Students

Compulsory compliance for South Australian based Placements

Compulsory Compliance for Interstate-based Placements

Additional compliance for SA Health Placements

Additional Compliance for Aged Care Placements

Additional Compliance for Education Placements

Other Additional Compliance (as instructed)

Additional Compliance for NDIS Placements

An International Police Check (IPC) is required by students if in the last 10 years they have lived in a country other than Australia, for more than 1 year since turning 18 years of age.

Fit2Work is an accepted provider of an IPC or you may already have an IPC and can upload this as evidence on InPlace. 

• Students must supply a valid Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check (NCCHC) prior to the commencement of their placement. 

Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check (NCCHC)

Valid for three years from date of issue

Commonly referred to as a Police Check, a National Coordinated Criminal History Check (NCCHC) is a document that lists all criminal convictions recorded against a person in the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) database. For more information visit the ACIC website.

Police Checks (NCCHCs) can be issued by:

• State, Territory or Federal Police
• Private brokers that have been accredited by the ACIC

An acceptable Police Check (NCCHC) must meet the following requirements:

• Unsupervised Contact within the Health/Aged Care Sector.
• The following information is provided to assist you complete an application form for your Police Check:
  - Reason for Check – Unsupervised Contact with Vulnerable Groups (if there is a character limit, ensure ‘UNSUP VULN GRPS’ is recorded at a minimum).
  - Proposed Place of Work – Health/Aged Care Sector
  - Location - Adelaide, South Australia

Please note – if you are completing a Police Check for a Northern Territory placement, please follow the instruction provided by Flinders NT or your discipline specific checklist.  In the absence of this advice, follow the above instructions to complete the application form.

Students are responsible for the cost of obtaining their Police Check (NCCHC).

Students completing placements in South Australia may choose to apply for a Police Check (NCCHC) directly through their local police, or through a commercial broker. If a Police Check (NCCHC) is required urgently (e.g., sooner than 4 – 5 weeks) then it is advisable to apply online through an accredited broker that offers fast turnaround.

Police Check (NCCHC) providers:

• South Australia Police (SAPOL) - We strongly recommend you use the SAPOL Police Check as this is the most accepted document.
• Third party providers are  www.checked.com.au and www.cvcheck.com.
• State clearances are most widely accepted across organisations and interstate, third party provided clearances may not be accepted by host organisations outside of the control of the University.

Please note that Flinders University does not endorse these providers and cannot guarantee their turnaround times.

What happens if there are offences listed on my Police Check?

Students with criminal convictions should refer to the SA Health Criminal and Relevant History Screening Policy Directive. Students with serious criminal convictions may be precluded from placement. Students with criminal convictions are advised to meet with their course coordinator to discuss their ability to satisfy the requirements of their placement topic.

Will you accept a Teachers Registration Board (TRB) Registration Certificate?

No. The TRB undertakes a Police Check (Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check) as part of the registration process, however, no outcomes are listed on the registration certificate. You are required to obtain a separate Police Check (NCCHC).

How can I obtain a replacement Police Check?

Replacement Police Checks (NCCHCs) can sometimes be obtained by contacting the organisation that issued the original certificate. In many cases, students who have lost their Police Check (NCCHC) will need to apply for a new one.

Northern Territory (NT) Health placements and the National Police Certificate

In accordance with the NT government guidelines for clinical placements within NT Health, only National Police Certificates (NPCs) provided by police services in Australian states or territories will be accepted. NPCs issued by 3rd party providers are not accepted.

Valid for one year from date of issue.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training is completed annually. Students are responsible for organising their training through an external provider.

Acceptable training can include:

• courses accredited to the HLTAID009 Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation standard OR
• Basic Life Support courses completed through SA Health OR
• workplace CPR training that includes a practical component.

Acceptable evidence of training can include:

• a certificate of completion issued by the training provider
• a letter from an employer stating the date of completion of training.

Course providers may include:

• IntelliLearn
• St John Ambulance
• First Aid Pro
• Red Cross Australia
• First Aid Training Adelaide CBD

Find additional accredited training providers by searching for HLTAID001 courses near your location.

Enrolment in field placement topics (SOAD3102, SOAD7018, SOAD9107, SOAD4007 or SOAD9208) is restricted. Students will not be able to enrol themselves into their allocated placement topics until advised.

If you have any queries, please contact askflinders@flinders.edu.au.  

The Flinders University Field Education program operates in accordance with the ASWEAS 2012 V2.1 (Revised November 2021), with particular reference to Guideline 1.2: Guidance on Field Education programs.

What is the length of placement?

Students are required to complete  two separate placements of 500 hours each, totalling 1000 hours of field placement in order to graduate

What days do I attend placement?

Students are required to attend placement four days per week, which takes approximately 18 weeks (4 – 5 months) to complete 500 hours. Bachelor and Master students have different availability to attend placement due to their study timetable:

• Bachelor of Social Work students attend placement Tuesday to Friday
• Master of Social Work students attend placement Monday to Thursday.

When do placements start?

Field placements are non-semester topics, and it is imperative that you are available and onshore to commence placement, or engage in placement related activities, at least two  months before semester begins.

• Non-Semester 1 placement: February to mid-July
• Non-Semester 2 placement: July to early December.

Where are placements located?

Placements occur in a variety of locations including metropolitan Adelaide, rural and remote areas.. Interstate students mostly undertake their placements in their home state.

The College of Education, Psychology and Social Work WIL Support Team are responsible for placement compliance, matching and other pre-placement administrative tasks.

The WIL Support Team will communicate regularly with you via emails from swplacements@flinders.edu.au and the Social Work Field Education FLO site.

There will be a pre-placement information session available for students early in the Semester.

Confirmed placement matches will be communicated with students via their Flinders University email address and InPlace.

Students will need to become familiar with the University’s placement management system, InPlace. Students have their own page on InPlace, where documents and information can be uploaded and information about placements can be found. Refer to the student guide to InPlace.  

Can I find my own placement?

Adelaide based students: It is against our policy for students in the Adelaide metropolitan region to organise their own placements (for many reasons, including our agreement with agencies and our responsibility to meet ASWEAS requirements). Students are asked not to contact agencies to find a placement.

Interstate Students: Due to their local knowledge (and often contacts) interstate students are required to take the lead in finding their own placements with support from the WIL Support Team. 

How does the placement matching process work and how long does it take?

It is essential that students have the opportunity to participate in a broad range of learning experiences in field education and the placement matching process takes this into account. Commonly, final placement students and those with variations to their placement will be prioritised in the placement allocation process, but this does not necessarily mean that they will be matched first.

While there are some exceptions, the placement matching process takes around 12 weeks to complete. Students will receive information about their allocated placements via InPlace and their Flinders University email.

What factors are considered in matching a student to a placement?

The placement matching process must consider multiple factors, including ASWEAS requirements, practical considerations (e.g., access plans, driver’s licence, where students live, availability of onsite social work supervision) and agency requirements. While final student interests are considered, there can be no guarantee that a student will be matched to an area of interest. Placement opportunities are entirely dependent on the pool of available placements and the matching of agency and student characteristics.

Agencies may have requirements that preclude some students from consideration. Agency requirements include: driver’s licence; minimum and maximum days a student can attend placement; dates for starting and/or completing placement; student’s level of experience; first or final placement students; after hours availability; variations in attendance (e.g. later start time); student’s communication skills; student’s undergraduate degree (some agencies will only consider MSW students with a related undergraduate degree); student’s interest in field and/or method of practice (e.g. group work); students ability to speak a particular language (e.g. Arabic).

Further, as previously described ASWEAS (2021) requires students have a diversity of learning experiences. It is therefore expected that students will be open to diverse placement contexts and fully engage in their placement learning regardless of where they are placed.

If you have considerable prior experience working in human service agencies you may be eligible to apply for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), effectively crediting you for placement. RPL will only be considered for the first placement in MSW or BSW.

The application process has two stages requiring you meet specific criteria set by the ASWEAS and demonstrate learning from your prior experience in order to be granted RPL.

You can apply for RPL at any time, but due dates are set if you intend to go on placement in the following semester. Stage 1 applications are due the end of week 5 of semester and stage 2 applications are due by the end of week 10 of semester.

If granted RPL the ASWEAS outlines conditions for a student’s final placement following RPL.

Variation requests to the placement structure will need to be approved by the relevant Field Education Topic Coordinator.

What if I have a medical condition or disability that needs to be considered?

The social work program is committed to facilitating the integration of students with disabilities into the University community. Reasonable adjustments can be made for students with disabilities provided those adjustments do not compromise topic requirements and the Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards (ASWEAS).

If students have a disability that may affect their ability to successfully complete a placement, they should contact Disability Services who may be able to prepare an access plan for them.

Students with an existing access plan who have any concerns about their ability to meet placement requirements are advised to have it reviewed the semester before enrolling in a field education topic.

Students with an access plan who require accommodations in their placement arrangements should contact their Topic Coordinator and update InPlace within the student information for placement criteria.

Students are required to attend an interview with the agency they are matched to (before their placement can be confirmed).

What you need to take to an interview

Students will need to take copies of your compliance documents to the interview.

Agencies may confirm a placement offer at the interview, but this doesn'’t always happen. If you haven'’t heard from the interview chairperson one week after your interview, you can contact them to confirm your placement.

What happens if you'’re unsuccessful at the placement interview?

If unsuccessful at  an interview, every attempt will be made to match a student to an alternative placement agency. Students that fail two consecutive placement interviews will not be eligible for a third placement interview within a given semester

Students must email swplacements@flinders.edu.au if they have not been successful at their interview.

If you have completed the pre-placement requirements but can no longer go on placement please email swplacements@flinders.edu.au  immediately.

Students on placement should advise their Field Education Liaison and/or Topic Coordinator as soon as possible.

Once your placement is confirmed you will be allocated to a field education liaison (FEL). Your FEL will make contact with you within the first two weeks of you starting placement. 

If you require an external field educator (social work supervisor) your FEL will provide their contact details.

The WIL Support Team will communicate regularly with you via your Flinders email account from swplacements@flinders.edu.au and on InPlace. Please ensure you check your emails regularly in the lead up to placement.