Locating Critical Social Work at the Heart of What we do: Queensland University of Technology's Approach to Critical Pedagogy and Homelessness in Social Work Education

The last decade has seen an unprecedented and relentless attack by the Commonwealth Government on Australia’s social welfare system. This is reflected in weak or absent, social policy responses that exacerbate the crises in housing affordability, violence against women and poverty. It is widely anticipated amongst many social workers that when the 2021 data is released, it will show a profound increase in rates of homelessness throughout the country in all operational groups (that is, rough sleeping, emergency accommodation/shelter, couch surfing, boarding houses, severe overcrowded housing). This article explores the journey that Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has taken to promote critical social work theory and practice as central in its social work programs, and what this means for providing a contemporary education for future generations of social workers. We highlight the importance of student’s developing a structural analysis of political economy, an attuned capacity for critical self‑reflection and the praxis‑oriented relationship between social work education and the housing and homelessness sector