Advancing Social Work Research in Australia: Experienced Researcher Perspectives

Tilbury, Clare; Hughes, Mark; Bigby, Christine; Hitchcock, Clarissa

doi:10.1080/0312407X.2023.2251434

Advancing Social Work Research in Australia: Experienced Researcher Perspectives

journal contribution

posted on 2025-04-09, 06:26 authored by Clare Tilbury, Mark Hughes, Christine BigbyChristine Bigby, Clarissa Hitchcock

Abstract:

While social work research in Australia is in reasonable shape, it requires a strong research culture promoting rigorous research to enhance its credibility and influence on social policy discourses. This study explored proposals to advance social work research, based on interviews with 20 experienced Australian social work researchers. Strategies identified include improving research culture and training, the development of research infrastructure to promote and stimulate research, and forming new partnerships both among researchers and between researchers and research end-users. Growing and strengthening the research foundations of the discipline is essential to its future relevance.

Funding

Funding for this research was granted by Australian Research Council [DP170102412] Advancing the production, utilisation, and impact of social work research to generate innovation in human services.

History

Publication Date

2025-04-01

Journal

Australian Social Work

Volume

78

Issue

2

Pagination

13p.

Publisher

Informa UK Limited

ISSN

0312-407X

Rights Statement

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.