Redefining the beginnings of social work in Australia

Abstract

Australian social work lacks a reading of its history that places it within the social reforms and movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries, unlike histories of American and British social work. The effect of this has been to ignore social activists, particularly women who pre-date professional social work and religious women, in the few social welfare histories written about Australia. This paper sets out the parameters for a (re)reading of 19th and early 20th century Australian social welfare activism as proto-social work practice. The paper challenges the generally conservative interpretation of the beginnings of social work in Australia and places Australian social work within Australian social history rather than within imperial narratives of colonisation.

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