TY - JOUR
T1 - Reflecting on social work practice in the Northern Territory, Australia*
AU - Garratt, Jill
AU - McDonnell, Emily
AU - Horan, Frances
AU - Mackell, Paulene
AU - Perrin, Julie
AU - Craven, Mel
AU - Staughton, Sophie
AU - Richardson, Andrew J.
AU - Lowe, Rebecca
AU - Short, Monica
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024/9/11
Y1 - 2024/9/11
N2 - At the core of practice for many non-Indigenous Australian social workers is learning how to work in deeply respectful, culturally appropriate ways alongside First Nations Peoples. Larrakia and Warumungu woman, and Northern Territory social work scholar, Dr Christine/Karen King’s (2011) writings provided the impetus for this inquiry. King (2011) invites social workers to critically reflect on their practice and worldviews. Responding to this invitation, 10 non-Indigenous social workers with policy, academic, and/or practice experience conducted a co-operative inquiry into the question “What have we learnt about practising social work in the Northern Territory, Australia?” We explored the uniqueness of the Northern Territory and identified three interwoven themes. The first theme grounds our practice to Place—on Country. Here, we identified the importance of engaging with the diverse histories of the Peoples we work alongside. Second, we reflected on our vulnerability as social workers and explored the limitations of our professional knowledge base for working with First Nations Peoples. The third theme relates to the importance of engaging with First Nations Peoples’ worldviews. We conclude by affirming the importance of social work practice being led by First Nations People on Country. IMPLICATIONS Social workers working in the Northern Territory alongside First Nations Peoples will benefit from engaging with vulnerability, reflexivity, and critical reflection on their values, understandings, language, and unexamined aspects of practice and cultural self. Social workers in the Northern Territory need to commit to ongoing learning and ground their practice with First Nations’ worldviews and wisdom.
AB - At the core of practice for many non-Indigenous Australian social workers is learning how to work in deeply respectful, culturally appropriate ways alongside First Nations Peoples. Larrakia and Warumungu woman, and Northern Territory social work scholar, Dr Christine/Karen King’s (2011) writings provided the impetus for this inquiry. King (2011) invites social workers to critically reflect on their practice and worldviews. Responding to this invitation, 10 non-Indigenous social workers with policy, academic, and/or practice experience conducted a co-operative inquiry into the question “What have we learnt about practising social work in the Northern Territory, Australia?” We explored the uniqueness of the Northern Territory and identified three interwoven themes. The first theme grounds our practice to Place—on Country. Here, we identified the importance of engaging with the diverse histories of the Peoples we work alongside. Second, we reflected on our vulnerability as social workers and explored the limitations of our professional knowledge base for working with First Nations Peoples. The third theme relates to the importance of engaging with First Nations Peoples’ worldviews. We conclude by affirming the importance of social work practice being led by First Nations People on Country. IMPLICATIONS Social workers working in the Northern Territory alongside First Nations Peoples will benefit from engaging with vulnerability, reflexivity, and critical reflection on their values, understandings, language, and unexamined aspects of practice and cultural self. Social workers in the Northern Territory need to commit to ongoing learning and ground their practice with First Nations’ worldviews and wisdom.
KW - Co-operative Inquiry
KW - Critical Reflection
KW - Decolonisation
KW - First Nations Peoples
KW - Northern Territory
KW - Remote Social Work Practice
KW - health
KW - education
KW - human services
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U2 - 10.1080/0312407X.2024.2393321
DO - 10.1080/0312407X.2024.2393321
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85204213663
SN - 0312-407X
SP - 1
EP - 14
JO - Australian Social Work
JF - Australian Social Work
ER -