Since 1973, well before RMIT became the global university it is today, old and new versions of the University have been teaching social workers the skills they need to transform lives and create social change.
Originally offered through the Phillip Institute of Technology, which amalgamated with RMIT in 1992, social work is this year celebrating its 50-year history at RMIT.
To celebrate the milestone, we spoke to two inspiring women; one a long-standing staff member and one who was part of the very first cohort of social work students in the 1970s.
Both reflected on the changes to the program over the past 50 years.
“What still makes me excited about RMIT is the critical philosophy on which the social work course is based, really concentrating on that systemic disadvantage to explain the opportunities people do and don’t have in their life.”
RMIT lecturer and social worker Christine Craik graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work in 1991 from The Phillip Institute of Technology, which merged with RMIT in 1992.
Her passion for social work ignited when she returned to RMIT in 1997 to do a Master of Social Work and has stayed ever since, also completing a PhD on domestic and family abuse screening in Australian public emergency departments.
Christine Craik
She said social work at RMIT has changed and evolved in different ways over its 50-year history.
“What drew me to the course and what and still makes me excited about RMIT is the critical philosophy on which the social work course is based, really concentrating on that systemic disadvantage to explain the opportunities people do and don’t have in their life,” she said.
“There’s a lot of nuance to the practice that wasn’t there when I started – more attention to people’s diversity, to people’s identity, to decolonising practices.
“The role that social workers played in colonisation and the stolen generations has come to the fore, and it’s about working with Aboriginal communities and individuals to address that in practice going forward.”
She said her message to future social workers is to be always present in the job.
“I always say to the students, you have to be the best human being you can be at that particular point of time because someone’s having the worst day of their life or the worst year of their life or, you know, the worst life, and you have to come in there and be the best you can be because that’s all there is to it.”
“I think RMIT is doing a great job; community development and social action are important skills to learn in order to help people who have had a bad time participating in life.”
Paula Hyndes was a member of the very first cohort of Social Work students at RMIT (then Phillip Institute of Technology) in the 1970s, looking for something different after a ten-year career as a nurse.
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Paula Hyndes
After graduating, she worked as a social worker for more than 40 years before retiring, including as a case manager at Kinglake and Whittlesea after the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.
Hyndes praised the work RMIT is doing to prepare students for future careers in social work.
“I think they’re doing a great job; community development and social action are important skills to learn to help people who have had a bad time participating in life,” she said.
