Ms. Rachael Fernald
Lecturer, Social Work, Community and Human Services
Campus
Biography
Rachael is a social worker who lectures in the Bachelor of Community and Human Services. She is also completing her PhD, where she is researching criminal justice responses to victims of family violence. She is interested in the research and development of appropriate trauma-informed responses to victims of family violence.
Rachael holds multidisciplinary industry experience in social work practice in the areas of family violence case management and crisis counselling, and advocacy responding to victim survivors of sexual assault. Her previous experience includes working in aged care and working within law enforcement operations as a front-line police officer. She has a diverse background with experience and training in social work, aged care, criminal justice administration and law enforcement.
Rachael is passionate about her students' learning, cares about her students and provides support throughout their learning journey to ensure they have a strong knowledge base of the principles of practice, theoretical frameworks and a practical application of discipline knowledge, to find their strong professional identity in their future career and practitioner journey in social work and community and human services.
More about Rachael
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (submitted for examination), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
- Bachelor of Social Work (First Class Honours), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
- Associate Degree in Criminal Justice Administration, Harold Washington College
- Specialist in Law Enforcement Diploma, Military Fleet Training Centre, Norfolk, Virginia
Areas of interest
- Social work practice and policy
- Practice-based responses to interpersonal violence and abuse
- Gender and family violence
- Policy work in gender equity and community safety
Areas of expertise
Rachael has a background in family violence support work and crisis counselling. She is a qualified social worker with expertise in supporting victims of family violence and sexual assault. She supports her students through their learning journey and focuses on students adopting trauma-informed approaches, compassionate care and critical reflexive practice and applied theory.
Rachael is interested in research on system responses towards victims of violence, the preservation of practitioner-constructed safe spaces for service users in practice and extending this knowledge in multidisciplinary approaches. She has submitted her PhD for examination. Her research is titled 'Reporting and Recording of Breaches of Family Violence Intervention Orders: Experiences and Perspectives of women and support workers'.
- Social work theory and practice
- Community and human services in diverse communities
- Family violence risk assessment and risk management
- Ethics in professional practice
Refereed conference proceedings
- 'Exploring Gendered Trauma Within Family Law”' at the Australian Institute of Family Studies 2018 Melbourne Conference: What matters most to families in the 21st Century?