Gary Foster

Gary Foster's interest in Social Work began half a world away in the ranks of the London Metropolitan Police. During Gary's 15 year long career as a police officer in England, he was made Coordinator of a domestic violence unit that dealt with survivors of sexual assault. His work there sparked an interest in Social Work that followed him to Australia where he began his tertiary study. Today Gary is completing his Ph.D. in Social Work at The University of Queensland. In between his advanced studies Gary has maintained his work with domestic violence victims and perpetrators. Gary has worked at Kinections as a Men's Domestic Violence Programme Coordinator. During his time there he provided counselling to men who used domestic violence in relationships and ran a group programme with those men.

He has also spent time as a Male Sessional Worker at a women's refuge, working with the child witnesses of domestic violence. "It caused a lot of concern about the appropriateness of having a male in a women's refuge. I had concerns as well because women's refuges focus on providing safety for women away from men," Gary said.

Gary said the diversity of employment opportunities and the flexibility of hours a degree in Social Work offered appealed to him. "Because Social Work is a female dominated field, there is a lot of part time work which is beneficial for me because it provides a lot of flexibility, and I get to spend time with my partner and children," he said.

"Social Work is an interesting challenge for males because it is typically a female dominated profession. Men have traditionally left social responsibility to women. It's about men becoming more responsible and participating in all aspects of community life, caring as well as supporting".

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