Social work employer standard 8: Effective partnerships

Establish effective partnerships with higher education institutions and other organisations to support the delivery of social work education and continuing professional development.

Strong partnerships and good collaboration between employers and higher education institutions will lead to a more strategic approach to meeting workforce needs, providing high quality placements and designing and delivering good quality training and development for social workers. Partnerships should be effective joint decision-making forums that enable communication, joint planning and shared activities to produce high quality social workers.

The requirements for this standard are summarised below.

View the full details for this standard on the LGA website.

  • Implement formal partnership arrangements that promote and contribute to shared outcomes in the delivery of social work education and CPD.
  • Ensure that the strategic lead social worker manages these partnerships for the organisation.
  • Have a clear policy for recruiting, training and supporting practice educators.
  • Support staff to access qualifying social work education.
  • Provide support for social work students on placements.
  • Contribute to efforts to recruit social work students.
  • Work collaboratively with partner organisations to develop the skills and knowledge required to deliver high quality social work education.