Advocacy has been a core skill of the social work profession since its beginnings and remains integral to social work practice. 

In all contexts, social workers maintain a dual focus on assisting people to develop to their full potential and improve their well-being; and on identifying and addressing the systemic and structural factors that create and perpetuate inequality and injustice. 

As the representative of the profession in Australia, we embody that dual focus.  As well as engaging in policy reform alongside vulnerable and marginalised people, we take an active role advocating on behalf of members for improvements in our service delivery system.  We gather input from our members which are based on their observations of the structure of programs, model of service delivery and features of the workforce.  The AASW uses those insights to advocate at many levels.  We submit and present evidence to parliamentary Inquiries and royal Commissions, and we participate in governmental planning, implementation and review processes. 

We are also leading the campaign for registration of the social work profession. 

Our AASW Code of Ethics underlines our role in promoting a just and fair society through the pursuit of social justice and effective social policy. Part of the AASW Strategic Plan is to be a strong voice for social justice and this means providing a public voice on advocacy for social issues and the profession itself. The AASW advocates for the profession at many levels that include responding and presenting evidence to government inquiries and royal commissions. 

We also lead the campaign for the registration of the social work profession with the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme.

We can help you develop and write policy submissions. For more information read: 

AASW How to write a policy submission