Master of Social Work

Two placements, 500 hours each, four days a week for roughly 18 to 20 weeks apiece - that's the structural spine of Flinders' graduate-entry social work degree, and it's worth stating plainly because the placement load is what distinguishes a professional social work qualification from an adjacent human services degree. Students attend Monday to Thursday during placement blocks, which effectively means putting paid work or other commitments on hold for those stretches.

Coursework runs alongside and before the placements, covering practice with diverse populations, work with children and families in complex situations, mental health across the life course, and trauma and resilience - areas chosen to map onto where Flinders' placement partners in South Australia actually operate, from statutory child protection to community mental health services.

At 72 units across two years full-time (or four years part-time), this is the graduate-entry pathway for people who already hold a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field and want the professional social work qualification without repeating an undergraduate degree. The professional registration outcome - eligibility for Australian Association of Social Workers membership - is the whole point of the structure being this placement-heavy.