Public Lectures

12^th South Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Annual Public Lecture – Working in Challenging Environments: What is the Work? 

This public event was a panel conversation with Professor Donna Baines, University of British Columbia, and leading experts from SWIRLS and Flinders University discussing the ways in which people navigate work environments where risk is seemingly inherent in the role. Specifically, we explore what it means to work in a role where managing verbal violence and intimidation, witnessing violence and/or its victims is considered simply a part of the job.  By focusing on workplaces where workers are required to manage their own and other people’s safety - both physically and psychologically - the panel explored how we define work, the narratives that workers use to manage challenging work environments and how organisations support or diminish workers ability to manage these environments.

Hosts: 

• Associate Professor Barbara Baird, Women’s and Gender Studies, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Flinders University, South Australia
• Dr Ben Lohmeyer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, and member of the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS), Flinders University, South Australia

Panellists

• Professor Donna Baines, School of Social Work, University of British Colombia, Canada
• Professor Sarah Wendt, Matthew Flinders Fellow, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, and Director of the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS), Flinders University, South Australia
• Dr Kate Seymour, Senior Lecturer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, and member of the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS), Flinders University, South Australia 
• Professor Sharyn Roach-Anleu, Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Flinders University, South Australia

SWIRLS AND CSWIR international public lecture – Uncertainty and child protection

This public lecture, presented by the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research (CSWIR) at the University of Sussex in the UK and the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS) at Flinders University in South Australia, is an ‘in conversation with’ presentation, where academics, and practitioners discuss how practice has adapted to the heightened sense of uncertainty engendered by the pandemic in everyday child protection social work. The unique perspectives of social work practitioners and managers from Australian and UK practice contexts are brought together in conversation with academic colleagues from SWIRLS and CSWIR.

Hosts: 

• Professor Gillian Ruch, Professor of Social Work in the Department of Social Work and Social Care and Co-Director of the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research (CSWIR), University of Sussex
• Dr Carmela Bastian, Senior Lecturer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, and member of the Social Work Innovation Research Living Space (SWIRLS), Flinders University, South Australia

Panellists

• Lorna Miller-Cooper, Social Worker, Brighton and Hove City Council
• Jody Satala, Principal Aboriginal Consultant, Southern Region, Department for Child Protection, South Australia
• Julie Powell, Manager at Department for Child Protection, South Australia

SWIRLS and CSWIR lecture - Social Work Registration: Changes, Challenges and Opportunities

On World Social Work Day (Tuesday, 15 March 2022) SWIRLS and the University of Sussex's Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research (CSWIR) hosted an online event to discuss what the registration of Social Work means for values, principles and identity.

Investigator lecture - Challenging structures and changing policies to drive inclusion, diversity, equal rights and a voice for all

In this public lecture a discussion with industry leaders examines how innovation can drive diversity and equal rights for all.

Professor Sally Robinson, Professor in Disability and Community Inclusion at Flinders University (SWIRLS) is joined by Professor Richard Bruggemann, disability advocate and SA Senior Australian of the Year 2021; Tanya Hosch, Executive General Manager Inclusion & Social Policy with the AFL, and Helen Connolly, South Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People.

SWIRLS lecture - Hands upraised: can social work activism help reduce violence against women?

Hosted by Professor Sarah Wendt, this public lecture aligned with the annual global 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. The lecture explores the relationship between activism and social work, recognising the critical role of activism in naming and responding to violence.

The event is presented as an in conversation with panellists Dr Kate Seymour, Senior Lecturer, Flinders University, Kimberley Wanganeen, Principle Aboriginal Consultant, Anglicare, and Maria Hagias, CEO, Women’s Safety Services South Australia.

BRAVE Flinders Research & Innovation Series - No where to call home

Watch Professor Sarah Wendt and Associate Professor Kristin Natalier discuss the social issues that lead women and children to experience homelessness and disadvantage.

You’ll hear more about their research conducted in partnership with Housing SA (Department of Human Services, South Australia), and their evidence-informed safety-first, housing-first approach for service system response.  

Social transformation lecture - Service chaos amplifies family chaos

Every year South Australia welcomes about 20,000 newborn children into the world and around 3,700 of these children are in and out of home care, experiencing prolonged stress, neglect and trauma, and need service responses from multiple agencies and professions.

In this public lecture, Hosted by Professor Sarah Wendt, CEO of Relationships Australia Dr Claire Ralfs explores how family services may be professionally organised and clinically coherent, but vulnerable families still find family services chaotic, confusing, unresponsive and not integrated. Dr Ralfs presents on the need to identify and remove roadblocks to improve collaboration between services. She discusses how more holistic and standardised screening processes need to map strengths and vulnerabilities. Examples of restorative practices introduced in the UK are explored, including how ‘high challenge – high support’ strategies can shape services in the future.

She is joined by a panel of leaders from the sector to discuss ways to build a more integrated family service system in South Australia including Ms Ann-Marie Hayes, Executive Director, Early Years and Child Development at the Department of Human Services, Mr Craig Rigney, Chief Executive Officer, KWY and Ms Cathy Taylor, Chief Executive of the Department for Child Protection.

Social transformation lecture - Service chaos amplifies family chaos

World renowned social work expert Emeritus Professor Eileen Munro of the London School of Economics visited the SWIRLS Research Centre to lead informative discussions about the changing context of social work and increasing demands of accountability and professional excellence experienced in the UK.

Professor Munro has written extensively on how best to combine intuitive and analytic reasoning in child protection risk assessment and decision-making, and the importance of understanding how systems’ factors influence workers’ actions. In 2011, she completed the Munro Review of the English Child Protection System.

In this public lecture, hosted by SWIRLS, Professor Munro, in partnership with the Department for Child Protection and Uniting Communities, presents on “Social Work with Children and Families”, explaining how complexity can be managed but not controlled. She explores the implications for social work in relation to its practice, and the limited predictability of human behaviour, along with outlining research into developing knowledge of universal applicability.

Symposium - Engaging men who use violence: invitational narrative approaches

The ANROWS qualitative study engaging men who use violence: invitational narrative practice explored how invitational narrative ways of working successfully engage men and enable behavioural and attitudinal change. The study explored the historical and philosophical foundations of invitational narrative practice, and the principles and skills that practitioners use in their work.

As an outcome of this project, ANROWS, in partnership with Flinders University and Uniting Communities, hosted a symposium for policy-makers and practitioners on invitational narrative approaches to engaging men who use violence. The symposium, led by Professor Sarah Wendt, explores the key findings of the research project.

To read the research report visit our Reports and publications section here.

To listen to the ANROWS Insights podcast episode - How do we engage men who use violence? - visit our Podcasts and webinars section here.

BRAVE - Flinders Research & Innovation Series - Beyond the Bruise

Little is known about how social and geographical isolation shape women’s coping abilities and domestic violence service provision.

Domestic and family violence is more than just a headline; the actual work involved in responding to this complex issue is largely invisible and unknown. How can we best support the sector and workforce to tackle domestic and family violence to ensure the best outcomes for families as well as maintain a sustainable workforce?

In this lecture, Professor Sarah Wendt explores domestic and family violence, raising questions about the future of the domestic and family violence workforce and what we expect, as part of the BRAVE Flinders Research & Innovation Series.

ANROWS lecture – Seeking help for domestic violence: exploring rural women’s coping experiences

Little is known about how social and geographical isolation shape women’s coping abilities and domestic violence service provision.

This study engaged with five different types of social and geographical locations at sites in South Australia and Western Australia to explore how isolation impacts on different women’s abilities to seek assistance and cope with experiences of domestic violence.

Principle Chief Investigator, Professor Sarah Wendt presents at the ANROWS Inaugural National Research Conference.

Read the research report by visiting out Reports and publications section here.

For further information on this study please consult ANROWS website.