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The South Australian Government has announced a $14.9 million investment in a new digital initiative designed to modernise the systems that underpin the state’s child protection and family support services…. Stage one of this multi-year digital and business transformation is scheduled for completion by June 2027, with improvements to existing systems also underway during the transition.
Texas embodies the degradation of American capitalism, where staggering inequality is combined with political reaction and brutality. Despite—or rather because of—the immense wealth accumulated by billionaires in oil, gas, tech, weapons, ranching and healthcare, the social conditions facing the majority of Texans are among the worst in the country. According to the annual ranking conducted by CNBC, Texas was the worst of the 50 states in terms of quality of life in 2024, after having ranked 49th in the three previous years. The state ranks 49th in terms of the proportion of adults who are high school graduates, 48th in terms of child health, and 50th in the proportion of the population covered by health insurance. Above: A crew of firefighters from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, left, aid in search and rescue efforts near the Guadalupe River
Data released by the Department for Work and Pensions on Thursday shows that one in nine children are now affected by the policy, while 62% of affected families have three children and 59% are in work. Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) described it as a “brutal policy” that was making children’s “lives hard and their futures bleak”. “Giving all kids the best start in life will be impossible until government scraps this brutal policy, and a year after the election families can’t wait any longer for the help they desperately need,” said the charity’s chief executive, Alison Garnham.
All this, I admit, was music to my ears. I had spent almost a decade writing about cronyism and corruption in British politics. Now there was a party in power that seemed to care. But 12 months on, I’m far less optimistic. Time and again, Labour’s warm words about cleaning up politics have not translated into action. Rather than rebuilding faith in democracy, Starmer’s listlessness risks eroding it even further. Above: “Monstrous craws, at a new coalition feast” (1787) by James Gillray.
The Social Insurance Fund (SIF) faces several threats, including demographic pressures, economic fluctuations, and policy changes. The SIF’s income and expenditure are subject to considerable volatility. During periods of reduced employment, the SIF experiences both a decline in income and an increase in expenditure.
Bridgend County Borough Council’s recruitment programme focused on recruiting qualified and experienced international social workers, was announced as a winner… at the Social Care Wales Accolades ceremony, held at the Holland House Hotel, Cardiff.
Firestone’s writing captured the utopian spirit of radical feminism. In her last published book, Airless Spaces, she took stock of that movement’s failures amid the crisis of care unleashed by the destruction of the welfare state. Above: Still from Shulie: Shulamith Firestone, 1967
Social justice advocates are creating a queer history archive that celebrates Bayard Rustin, a major organizer in the Civil Rights Movement and key architect of the March on Washington. The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice will launch a digital archive this fall featuring articles, photos, videos, telegrams, speeches, and more tied to Rustin’s work.
The administration’s broadsides against scientific research have caused unprecedented upheaval at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the storied federal government research hub that has spearheaded advances against the disease for decades. NCI, which has long benefited from enthusiastic bipartisan support, now faces an exodus of clinicians, scientists, and other staffers — some fired, others leaving in exasperation.
Education Minister Helen McEntee (above) has set up a new Commission of Investigation, this time into sexual abuse in secondary schools, both lay and religious….Ms McEntee claimed that religious orders would contribute to the vital element of redress – despite the failure of religious orders to live up to their responsibilities for a quarter of a century now. She offered no ceiling for compensation payments, or any minimums for church contributions, but said the Government would be looking to identify assets held by religious organisations.
First female Professor of Social Work at the University of Lagos and immediate past Head of the Department of Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. Chinwe Rosabelle Nwanna, has received the prestigious Social Work Education Award.
When student complaints were made against a high-achieving female scientist, her institution launched a one-man inquiry that found her blameworthy merely ‘for doing my job’, she writes: a ‘textbook case of institutional gaslighting’ that was a betrayal of scientific standards
Dr. Jeremy Goldbach, a nationally recognized scholar on LGBTQ+ mental health and the inaugural Masters & Johnson Distinguished Professor in Sexual Health and Education at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, died Saturday, June 7, 2025 of cancer. He was 42.
While speaking in Washington, D.C., Secretary Rollins declared that there would be “no amnesty” for immigrant farm workers despite the President saying just days ago that he was willing to let these workers stay at their jobs. Instead, Rollins said that the mass deportations of farm laborers would “continue in a strategic way” and administration policy would be to “move the workforce toward automation and 100% American participation, which, again, with 34 million people, able-bodied adults on Medicaid, we should be able to do fairly quickly.”
BASW and ADASS have written to the Department of Health and Social Care urging them to bring forward the implementation of Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) in England and Wales without further delay.
The anticipated impact would be significant. As the op-ed highlights: “Globally, a 2% minimum tax on billionaire wealth would generate about $250 billion in tax revenue—from just 3,000 individuals. In Europe, around $50 billion could be raised. And by extending this minimum rate to individuals with wealth over $100 million, these sums would increase significantly.”
UNICEF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population and the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan, supported the academic practice of second-year Social Work students from Magtymguly Turkmen State University and Seydi Turkmen State Pedagogical Institute as part of UNICEF’s ongoing efforts to strengthen social work education and improve family-focused social services in Turkmenistan.
Researchers from the University of South Australia recorded the experiences of 10 social workers and mental health practitioners delivering equine-assisted interventions (EAI) to children.
The Federal Communications Commission abruptly announced a two-year postponement of rules reducing prison and jail phone rates that it passed unanimously last year in accordance with the Martha Wright-Reed Fair and Just Communications Act. The FCC’s reversal defies the Act, a bipartisan law that gave the agency a deadline (which it is now blowing past) to implement these regulations.
Proposed federal spending cuts could significantly impact healthcare and basic needs access for many in Washington….”We think it’ll be between 200,000 and 350,000 people in Washington state who will lose coverage. That’s a lot of people who go from having insurance coverage to being uninsured, and if they need healthcare, they’re going to the hospital,” said Sauer.
This attack on American colleges and universities is a disaster for the advancement of knowledge, but an opportunity for Canada. Canadian institutions have long lived in the shadow of their British and American counterparts. The dismantling of American post-secondary education is leading many academics and students to look for greener pastures elsewhere, and Canada is a good option.
New research, launched to mark the start of Alcohol Awareness Week, suggests that almost two thirds (63%) of UK workers report drinking alcohol for work-related reasons, with job stress, pressure and anxiety behind increased consumption in the past 12 months.
Ceilidh, who has always lived in Weston-super-Mare, says the local focus is on the seafront, not the estates behind it.
19-year-old Charles Pugsley, left, and Joseph Boam, 22, have secured roles for Reform at Leicestershire county council.
Over the past 50 years, many countries have reported an increase in higher university grades. This includes the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. For example, a 2024 Australian report found a 234% increase in the number of distinction grades awarded to students at the University of Sydney between 2011 and 2021. But are grades improving due to changes in teaching and student performance, or rather is marking generally more lenient to keep students happy?
Activists in Seattle gather signatures to put a social housing initiative on the ballot. In early 2025, voters passed the measure, which implements a payroll tax on high incomes to fund the program.
Callie Jones, a social worker for Mayo Clinic Health System (MCHS) in Mankato, Minnesota, spends her days helping patients and their families navigate their healthcare journeys. She takes pride in living by Mayo Clinic’s primary value — the needs of the patient come first. In early February, however, Callie’s role quickly flipped from social worker to patient when she began experiencing life-threatening symptoms and complications related to her baclofen pump
Necks are alarmingly fragile. Blocking the jugular vein requires less pressure than opening a can of Coke. Evidence suggests that strangulation is now the second most common cause of stroke in women under 40. According to one piece of sobering research, it’s more dangerous than the torture known as waterboarding, because strangulation affects blood flow as well as airflow. Though some cases can cause loss of consciousness in seconds and death in minutes, in others consequences can be delayed by weeks. It can cause a change in voice, difficulty swallowing, incontinence, seizures, problems with memory, decision-making and concentration, depression, anxiety, miscarriage.
Mural by artist Elías Taño in the central El Carmen neighbourhood of Valencia featuring another common anti-tourism slogan: ‘+1 turista = -1 veïna’, One more tourist = one less neighbour.
Abbie documents her recovery on TikTok and gives support to other young people
New research in South Africa shows that COVID-19 lockdown measures worsened gender-based violence, trapping many survivors in abusive homes with limited access to help.
The contemporary obsession with feeling good might mean we’re losing sight of what makes life genuinely meaningful
New Zealand must urgently address the shortage of psycho-geriatric beds. Until these are in place, temporary secure accommodation must be made available under the care of mental health specialists. Medical teams can no longer be expected to manage the mental health crisis as well as their own medical workloads. It is unsafe, unethical and untenable for all involved.
The absence of structured, accurate education likely has implications for public health. According to the CDC, individuals ages 15 to 24 account for nearly half of all new sexually transmitted infections in the U.S. Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas have some of the highest teen birth and sexually transmitted infection rates. Yet, these states are also among those with the most restrictive sex education policies and poorest sex ed ratings. These communities also face higher poverty, limited health care access and lower educational attainment. The combination deepens health disparities.
Because Medicaid covers nearly 80 million Americans, this bill, and the Supreme Court’s decision, will sever federal support for health care that has nothing to do with abortion, such as annual exams, birth control and prenatal care. Abortions account for 3% of all of Planned Parenthood’s services.
More than 1 million people in the European Union died from avoidable causes in 2022, according to new data from a Eurostats report. Of these, over 386,000 deaths were attributed to diseases treatable with quality healthcare, while at least 725,000 could have been prevented through effective public health interventions.
The report, by Prof Alice Sullivan of University College London, recommends that students and staff “taking part in freedom-restricting harassment should face consequences commensurate with the seriousness of the offence”. Sullivan said her report “raises stark concerns about barriers to academic freedom in UK universities. Researchers investigating vital issues have been subjected to sustained campaigns of intimidation simply for acknowledging the biological and social importance of sex.”
LGBTQ organisations in Hong Kong have called for “real consultations” on a government-proposed framework to recognise same-sex partnerships, even as widespread opposition from lawmakers threatens to derail the plan.
The Social Work training program at schools is about 127-132 credits in 4 years of study. In addition to basic knowledge of the industry, depending on strengths and goals, the program at each school has its own points.
On June 6, The Guardian reported that the University of Michigan spent at least $800,000 on undercover surveillance services from Amerishield Protection Group. According to the piece, Amerishield provided the University with undercover investigators to monitor, surveil and intimidate students associated with pro-Palestine groups on campus…. This Editorial Board believes regents who authorized the payments to Amerishield — and even those who stood idly by — must be held accountable for their infringement of student rights.
Veterinarians in the United States are 3 to 5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population, with female veterinarians at particularly high risk. Animal rescue workers face a suicide rate of 5.3 per million—on par with firefighters and police officers. The reasons are complex: daily exposure to suffering and death, ethical dilemmas, compassion fatigue, and the emotional burden of euthanasia all play a role.
In my analysis of manifestos collected from 1966 to 2025, gender identity-driven violence appeared in nearly 40 per cent of them. These violent beliefs were either the primary or a significant secondary motivation for the attack. This includes direct expressions of hatred toward women, trans and queer people and references to feminist or LGBTQI2S+ movements. The Waterloo attacker did not explicitly identify as an “incel” (involuntary celibate), but the language in his manifesto closely echoes those found in incel and broader manosphere discourse. Feminism is portrayed as dangerous, gender studies as ideological indoctrination and universities as battlegrounds in a supposed culture war.
BASW’s Key Asks: Our manifesto put forward 40 asks for MPs in this parliament, with five ‘priority’ areas which we felt were essential for the government to deliver on.
The recent confrontation in central Kyiv between participants in the Equality March and supporters of so-called traditional values was yet another manifestation of the tensions that are growing amid a full-scale war. Under the slogans of ‘defending the family’ or ‘national morality’, there is increasingly a hidden language of hatred, intolerance and attempts to impose a single ‘norm’. It is particularly worrying that more and more young people are taking part in such actions, often wearing balaclavas, chanting aggressive slogans and showing a tendency towards confrontation.
The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) CEO Cindy Smith and Chair, Victorian Mental Health, Social Work Leadership Network, Kirsty Jungwirt, met with The Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) on 27 June 2025 to express concerns with the most recent offer made by the Victorian Hospitals’ Industrial Association (VHIA) as part of the public mental health enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA)…. The most recent offer made by the VHIA continues to entrench pay and recognition disparities between nurses and allied health professionals.
Clause positioning homosexuality as a crime alongside paedophilia and incest ‘has no place in a post-377A Singapore’, actor and blogger say
The University of Connecticut’s Graduate School of Social Work had been awarded a five-year grant of just over $3 million as part of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Congress passed in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The grant was meant to support 25 graduate students in social work to provide mental health services in four Connecticut school districts
Hannah Hurley, a housing advocate, said “criminalization policies make the problem of homelessness worse…. When homeless people are saddled with crippling high fines and fees for camping or incarcerated for having to live outdoors, it hurts their employment and housing options, access to education, family sustainability and communities,” said Hurley, a former member of the city’s Homeless Task Force. “This is not an effective way to keep our communities safe.”
Disabled people’s organisations say Scotland’s new Disability Equality Plan marks a “step in the right direction”, but must be followed by action to address deepening poverty, discrimination and exclusion.
A review led by Alice Sullivan, a Professor of Sociology at University College London, said free speech and academic freedom have come “under attack” at UK universities by those who believe “treating sex as an important category ‘denies the existence’ of trans people”. Protests called for the dismissal of Professor Kathleen Stock (above) in 2021 over her views on gender identity