As Australian social work education approaches its centenary in 2029, it is clear that much of the history of the profession has been forgotten or is merely shadowy memory, layered with gossip, cliché and stereotypes rather than facts.

Verl Lewis, social work educator and historian, was right when he said that understanding their own history is essential for social workers’ self-understanding and self-awareness. Who are the social workers today, and where have they come from? Are they doctors’ handmaidens, because of their origins in medical social work, or do their connections to the settlement movement make them radical drivers of change? Perhaps their beginnings in the Charity Organisation Society mean they are agents of social control. There is some truth in all these assertions, but the story of Australian social work education is both more complex and more nuanced than this.

For Social Betterment tells, for the first time, the history of Australian social work education from 1900 to 1960 – a story of a fight for standards and the tenacity of a group of women (and a few men) who were determined to improve care and conditions for those most vulnerable in our community. It also reflects on why the rights of women and First Nations peoples were overlooked for so long, and examines the future challenges for social work in Australia.