← Education and social services

ANZSCO 2725Skill level 1Education and social services

Social worker

Support individuals, families and communities through child protection, mental-health, hospital and community-services roles.

Registration: AASW eligibility for membership

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Salary

Cited figures from Job Outlook and QILT. ExamExplained does not publish predictive earnings or projections.

FigureAUDSource
Full-time weekly earnings$1800Job Outlook (2025-06-01)
Graduate starting salary$70,000QILT (2025-03-01)

How far does this stretch in each city?

What a social worker actually does

A social worker's day depends heavily on setting. A hospital social worker starts with a multidisciplinary handover (medical, nursing, allied health) and then spends the day on assessments, discharge planning, family meetings, and coordinating community supports for people about to leave hospital. A child-protection statutory worker (DCJ, DCP, DFFH, DCYJMA) spends mornings on intake or court report writing and afternoons on home visits, sometimes with police present. A community-mental-health social worker mixes case load reviews, home visits, group facilitation and liaison with GPs and psychiatrists. Across all settings expect heavy documentation: case notes, risk assessments, court reports, tribunal reports. Hours are nominally 38 a week, but on-call rosters and after-hours crisis work are common in statutory and hospital roles. The emotional load is real. Most teams have group supervision and individual clinical supervision built in because you will sit with stories of harm, loss and grief most days. Burnout and vicarious trauma are not edge cases in this field, they are the central risk to manage.

Typical tasks

  • Conduct psychosocial assessments.
  • Coordinate case plans and supports.
  • Advocate for clients with services and tribunals.

Skills you'll use

  • Psychosocial assessment and risk assessment
  • Case planning and care coordination
  • Court-report writing and giving evidence at tribunal
  • Crisis intervention and de-escalation
  • Trauma-informed practice and reflective supervision
  • Working with statutory, NGO and clinical systems
  • Cultural safety with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and CALD clients

How to become one

  1. 1Finish Year 12. There are no strict subject prerequisites but English helps and most BSW courses use ATARs in the mid-60s and up
  2. 2Complete a 4-year accredited Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), OR a non-cognate degree followed by a 2-year Master of Social Work (Qualifying) accredited by the AASW
  3. 3Complete the 1000 hours of supervised field education built into your degree across two placements
  4. 4Apply for AASW (Australian Association of Social Workers) eligibility for membership on graduation. AASW membership is not legally required but is the de facto credential for Medicare, hospital and senior roles
  5. 5Apply for a Working With Children Check and (where required) a Working With Vulnerable People or NDIS Worker Screening check
  6. 6Apply for entry-level roles in statutory child protection, hospital social work, community services or mental health. State governments run graduate intakes
  7. 7For Medicare-billable mental-health social work, complete the AASW Accredited Mental Health Social Worker pathway (2 years post-qualifying experience plus continuing professional development)

Where you can work

  • Public hospitals (NSW Health, Vic Health, Queensland Health, etc.)
  • State child-protection departments (DCJ, DFFH, DCP, DCYJMA)
  • Community mental health and headspace
  • Non-government community services (Anglicare, MercyCare, Wesley, Salvos, Mission Australia)
  • Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations
  • Veterans' Affairs and Defence community programmes
  • Private practice under Medicare for mental health social work

Career progression

Typical stages and salary bands. Salary figures are sourced from Job Outlook, QILT or industry bodies; brackets are 25th-75th percentile not absolute floors or ceilings.

  1. Graduate
    0-2 years
    Typical roles: Hospital social worker, Child protection caseworker, Community services social worker
    Salary band: $70,000 - $85,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  2. Senior practitioner
    3-7 years
    Typical roles: Senior social worker, Clinical lead, Court advisor
    Salary band: $95,000 - $120,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  3. Specialist or team leader
    8-15 years
    Typical roles: Team leader, Accredited mental health social worker, Programme manager
    Salary band: $115,000 - $145,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  4. Service leadership or private practice
    15+ years
    Typical roles: Service manager, Director of social work, Private practitioner with Medicare provider number

Is this for you?

You might love this if

  • You can sit with difficult stories without trying to fix everyone at once
  • You can hold professional boundaries while staying warm
  • You're willing to invest in long-term clinical supervision
  • You can write a clear court report under deadline
  • You're comfortable with public-sector pay and the limits of the system

This might not suit you if

  • You can't put work down at home
  • You take rejection or hostility from clients personally
  • You want a job with predictable outputs and clean wins
  • You can't tolerate paperwork and statutory documentation
  • You expected high private-sector earnings as the default

Three ways in

Uni, TAFE and trade routes for social worker. Not every career has all three; we only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.

University

Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.

TAFE / VET

Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.

No direct TAFE pathway to this career.

Apprenticeship trade

Earn while you learn through an Australian Apprenticeship.

Not an apprenticeship trade.

Sources

ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Job Outlook directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.