Emma, I did a Bachelor of Social Work at the Uni of NSW.

I seem to recall that you are on the North Coast. Is that right? There is a Bachelor of Social Sciences at Southern Cross Lismore campus. This degree is similar to a Social Work degree. Or there are a range of community services diplomas and certificates at TAFE.

It really depends on the type of job that you want to do or the area that you want to work in. I chose to do the Bachelor of Social Work because there are specific jobs that only Social Workers can apply for. People can refer to themselves as 'social workers', or 'social welfare workers' or 'community workers', etc. but there are some jobs that request a Social Worker (ie. graduate of the 4 year bachelor degree). I hope that makes sense?

Depending on your interests, you may not need to do the 4 year Social Work degree. I am glad that I did it. I have never actually applied for a job that asked specifically for a social worker though. These type of jobs are likely to be in government agencies, eg. DoCs, Centrelink, Health Dept. I have always worked in the community sector.

Do you know what area you would like to work in? I recommend checking out the website of the Australian Association of Social Workers AASW - Australian Association of Social Workers and click on 'careers'

Hope that helps