ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter we discussed the importance of context and some of the complex historical and environmental factors that feature in shaping the practice of regional, rural and remote social work. This chapter builds on this and discusses the intersection between the worker and the regional, rural or remote setting of their practice. It describes the interdependent themes of context and connection – including the lessons learned from location, and the complex set of relationships and associations between practitioners, their practice and place. The concept of ‘place’ is significant to regional, rural and remote social work, as a descriptor not only of the location and setting of work but also of the connections between people and place. It is suggested that Australian ‘rurality’ is best understood by the connection to agriculture, isolation, self-resilience and wide open spaces (Davies et al., 2002). The primacy of the environment and the connections between people and place were characterised by participants as an important defining characteristic of living and working in regional, rural and remote Australia. Bodor and colleagues (2004), argue that social work in these settings is intensely entwined with context, in that ‘the true meaning of rural and remote is understood only through the stories that are shared’ (p. 56).
