ABSTRACT
Fieldwork is situated in the middle of three intersecting systems: the university, the fieldwork setting and the students’ world. Changes to higher education, legislative and common law requirements, and the structure and management of the human services make management of fieldwork more complex. The challenge for all field educators is how to manage these complex interacting systems on a daily basis. The university and the agency have a ‘duty of care’ in relation to the student. The university should ensure that students have a knowledge of the fieldwork agency before finalising the fieldwork contract. Students are becoming increasingly knowledgable about the university’s and human services agency’s responsibilities to them, and are asserting the contractual rights to ensure that a quality fieldwork education and assessment are provided. The chapter concludes with an exercise to explore the legal complexities of human services fieldwork.
