Walking the Journey: the student experience

[Extract] The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and people have a long and complicated history with social work and social workers. Yet, as has been presented in Stephanie Gilbert's chapter 2, the 'People who populate Aboriginal social work', there is also a proud history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people making a significant contribution to the practice of social work in Australia.
As social workers we are often asked if non-Indigenous people should become involved with practising social work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities. The authors believe that collaborative social work practice is the key, but also acknowledge that social work as a profession needs enough graduated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social workers to make this collaborative work a sustainable reality.