Social Development and its Relevance to Australian Social Work*

Abstract

This paper presents Midgley's theory on social development to an Australian social work audience. It explores the concept and theory of social development, examines the relationship between social work and social development, and discusses the relevance of social development to social work in Australia. The paper suggests that although social work and social development may share similar broad goals, their strategic approaches differ, with the former cast within a professional model concerned with welfare broadly conceived and the latter directly concerned with the alleviation of poverty in the less-developed parts of the world. The paper concludes with thoughts on the Australian face of social development and suggests changes that would need to be made if social work were to embrace social development.

Keywords:

• Australian Social Work
• Community–Business Partnership Development
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Social Development

Notes

*This article was accepted under the editorship of Christine Bigby and Sharon McCallum.