NSW Department of Community Services Director General Carmel Niland will sign a deal with Charles Sturt University tomorrow (Tuesday 1 December) to boost support, expertise and training in social welfare work.

Ms Niland will launch the joint CSU-DoCS deal at the Wagga Wagga Campus at 1.00 pm.

The agreement to establish a joint appointment in the Greater Murray-Riverina area for a Senior Social Worker/Senior Lecturer in Social Work will be co-signed by CSU Arts Faculty Dean, Professor Ross Chambers. Professor Chambers said the deal marked; “a major new element in our close collaboration with DoCS. The department is already one of the main employers of graduates from our social welfare program, which it also supports with scholarships and student field placements.”

He said the arrangement would extend existing cooperative efforts, and followed the success of a similar joint appointment at the CSU Dubbo Campus in January. The jointly-funded appointee would have offices both on campus and in the DoCS Wagga Wagga Area Office.

“The high attrition of staff in rural areas is a big issue with community services, because a lot of these employees are often working on their own, in close, stressful situations, in jobs that have high ‘burnout’ rates,” Professor Chambers said.

Ms Niland said the initiative aimed to address traditional difficulties faced by rural and remote areas, to attract and retain quality staff. She said the new recruit would: · Train and supervise DoCS supervisors, so they can provide face-to-face staff with the most up-to-date information and advice; · Ensure best practice is followed by tapping into University research and expertise; · Offer work experience to social work students, to give them first hand experience of the job and encourage them to work at a local DoCS office after graduation; and · Publish and promote innovative work in DoCS.

“This new partnership will ensure that DoCS has a steady stream of skilled staff, who have expert skills in the needs of a rural community. The winners will be the local residents who use our services,” Ms Niland said.