From 1946 until June 1989 social workers in Western Australia (WA) were represented by the WA Branch of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). This arrangement meant there was an Australia wide federation of social workers, the AASW, consisting of legally separate jurisdiction & regional based organisations, which also operated under the oversight of the Federal Council of the AASW. The separate legal status of the WA Branch was lost when it joined the AASW in July 1989. The AASW was established as a company of limited liability by guarantee, registered in the Australian Capital Territory. It is now constituted under the national companies legislation, as a company of limited liability by guarantee.

The resignation of the WA Committee of Management of the 'WA Branch' of the AASW in June 2003 resulted in the reestablishment of a wholly state based organisation, the Society of Professional Social Workers (Inc) (SPSW). The SPSW operates under the State's incorporation of associations legislation. This meant two different organisations have represented the professional interests of social workers in WA - a purely State based body the SPSW & the AASW as a national company operating through a system of 'Branches'.

Click here to view or download a PDF version of a 9 page overview of the circumstances and historical context to the establishment of the SPSW in late June 2003.

Archive of WA Social Work Newsletters

This archive consists of a collection of social work newsletters published in WA between 1998 and mid 2005 - The West Australian Social Worker (from the September/October 1985 to June 2003) & WA Social Work News until June 2005. (Note: Newsletters from mid 1985 to mid 1997 are only available as hard copies, but more recent newsletters are available as PDFs. The newsletter was published as Social Work News up to the July/August 1985 issue.)

Click on a link to view or download a PDF of a newsletter.