Hi, my name is Imogen and I’m a Senior Social Worker at Royal Far West (RFW).
Where’s your country? – Where do you feel most connected to?
I grew up in a small suburb between Gayamaygal, Birrabirragal and Gamaragal land.
I now have the privilege to live and work on Kamilaroi/Gomeroi land, surrounded by mountains and by the waterways coming down from them.
What does your role involve?
I am part of the Social Work Team, but primarily have been working on providing a clinical perspective to the intake of all referrals into the Child and Family Services.
I also do clinical face to face work where needed. This work consists of completing psychosocial assessments to discover how the children we see fit into their world at home. This ensures that we as a service are able to better understand a child and family’s needs from a holistic perspective by understanding their family history and the environment in which they live.
How long have you been with Royal Far West?
Over 1.5 years now. I began working for Royal Far West in August of 2023.
What led you to work at Royal Far West?
I grew up in the Northern Beaches and have always been aware of the great work that RFW had done over its long history. However, it was not until I decided to move to Country NSW and had my own children that I recognised the increasing need for health support in rural and remote areas. When the opportunity arose, I asked a friend and fellow Social Worker who also works at RFW how he found the atmosphere, and he couldn’t have spoken more highly about the wonderful and supportive culture. This sealed the deal for me and I applied!
Can you describe your typical day?
When working in the intake space, a typical day consists of reviewing new referrals alongside the intake operations coordinator to see who is eligible, and who we can support with referrals elsewhere. Following this I go through the referrals and questionnaires of families who are ready to come to RFW. I review these, and then I call the families to conduct an intake call and talk about how best they can be supported when they begin in our Child and Family Services. This allows the work done by the multidisciplinary team to be more informed to create the best possible experience for each family.
If I also have a family I am working with as a part of the assessment service, I would conduct a joint assessment with a psychologist where we would sit down with a child’s parent or carer and do a psychosocial assessment. During this I would draw up a genogram – which is basically a family tree – and get to know more about the child and their family while we talk about all things family. We also may look at other aspects of a child’s life such as their friends, their school, important people and things in their lives.
What do you love about working with families from rural and remote Australia?
I love that we can create a space where families are welcomes and supported, and I hope that this only adds to being able to link families back in with their communities for ongoing support. There is such strength and resilience in rural and remote families and communities, and I think being able to find those strengths and build on them is a privilege.
What do you think makes Royal Far West unique?
RFW aims to make access to support as far reaching and as accessible as possible, and I feel as though this only has the potential to grow. The goals and work that goes on to achieve this I feel is all focused on ensuring better accessibility for rural and remote families, as well as the rural and remote health work force.
Can give us an example of a family’s positive outcomes through working with Royal Far West?
Something which is not a singular positive outcome, but rather a regular one I have personally seen, is when family members recognise their own strengths in how they have supported their child up until this point, or how their child has shown their own strength in the face of challenge. I find through psychosocial assessments and connections with the family’s we are able to explore and celebrate these strengths.
Can you share some career highlights from your time at Royal Far West?
A big highlight for me has been being able to work in a supportive and like-minded team to reduce our waitlist for assessment. Being able to bring this down and try to help the wider team and organisation make this process even better and more accessible for families is a goal which provides small wins each day.