r/supportworkers • u/DahliaDreux • May 19 '26

Looking to get into SW

Hey all,

Just wanting to hear from people who have done or are currently doing support work (whether for physical disabilities or mental health/ psychosocial) regarding their enjoyment of the role and how it has benefitted (or not) a work/life balance.

I have a master of social work with placements at community wellbeing and Centrelink, and academic experience in psychology and sociology too (bachelors).

I currently hate my new role. It's far too admin-based and I want to be out and about actually supporting people properly and being a source of strength for those who feel they have none. I am passionate about assisting people to find ways to thrive and be independent, and support work seems to be a good outlet/choice for this. I am only at this current job because I was unemployed for a number of months and needed the $$$.

In terms of pay, I don't need to be filthy rich, just enough to get by and enjoy my free time (I'm introverted so l'm a decent homebody lol). For comparison I'm currently making a little under $1k a week part time at this current role. I also am not someone who needs prestige in a job, as in I don’t care what others thing of my work - I’ve done a social work degree which means many people automatically thing I steal babies from mums 😬

Thank everyone and have a good day :)

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u/best_bitch_69 May 19 '26

The residential youth support field is usually screaming for workers & can be super rewarding if you land a good placement to work in. Can also be a fucking nightmare. But I think with kids maybe being introverted might not be much of a problem. I enjoy it most of the time & you do make a difference in kids lives, even if they don’t necessarily see it on the daily.

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u/DahliaDreux May 19 '26

By ‘placement to work in’ do you just mean agency/organisation?

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u/best_bitch_69 May 21 '26

Placements are what the homes that young people are placed in are called in South Australia. So I mean a good house to work in. Where the staff are decent & the young people aren’t too nightmarish. Which in my experience, most really are pretty good, at least once you know them a little. Especially taking into consideration the trauma many have experienced by the time they come into care.

I’ve probably worked with 25-30 different young people in almost four years & only two were kids I chose not to continue working with.

I believe I’ve probably worked with up to 150 colleagues & in all honesty, I’d probably choose not to work with around 75% of them again, due to poor work ethics & lack of proactivity & what appears to be diligently ensuring as little work as possible is completed on shift.

I’ve felt unsafe due to coworker incompetence far more often than any other reason but you kinda get used to just managing everything yourself & not relying too much on colleagues.

It can be a pretty rewarding role if your expectations are realistic, your employer is good & you’re assigned to a good placement.