Rate My Professor Karen Healy

Professor Karen Healy AM serves as Head of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work in the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Queensland, where she holds the position of Professor of Social Work. She earned her PhD in Social Work from the University of Queensland in 1996 with a thesis titled 'Poststructural possibilities for activist social work: a discourse analysis of practice,' a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the same university, and a Graduate Certificate of Applied Statistics from Swinburne University of Technology. Throughout her career, Professor Healy has held prominent leadership roles, including National President of the Australian Association of Social Workers from 2011 to 2017, National Director of The Benevolent Society from 2011 to 2019, and National President of the Australian Association of Social Work and Welfare Education from 2005 to 2009. Currently, she chairs Clinical Care and Governance for Anglicare Southern Queensland and serves as Community Services Commissioner, while partnering with Micah Projects on social health initiatives such as the Parents' Rights Charter. Her research specializations encompass community-based integrated care for individuals facing adversity, particularly in maternity, mental health, and housing insecurity; family inclusion in child protection; social work theory and practice; and procedural justice in interventions. She has supervised 31 higher degree research students to completion and leads collaborative research partnerships with government, non-government, and lived-experience organizations, yielding policy and practice impacts through programs like Young Mothers for Young Women and integrated care models for homelessness.

Professor Healy's scholarly contributions include influential books such as Social Work Theories in Context: Creating Frameworks for Practice (3rd edition, 2022; 2nd edition, 2014; 1st edition, 2005), Writing Skills for Social Workers (3rd edition, 2019; 2nd edition, 2012; 1st edition, 2007), The Skilled Communicator in Social Work (2018), and Social Work Methods and Skills: The Essential Foundations of Practice (2012). Her accolades include appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2016 for significant contributions to social work in child protection, higher education, and research, and as Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK) in 2018. These achievements underscore her substantial influence in advancing social work education, child and family welfare, and health equity.