Social workers have many different demands placed upon them daily. From a necessity to consistently engage in professional development and reflection through to the requirement to challenge social injustice and strive for social change, much is made of our ethical responsibilities and practice standards. This is as it should be due to the complex and demanding nature of our work. Yet far less is said about how social workers can effectively meet these strong commitments and who can support us to do so. The question of who 'advocates for the advocates' remains side-lined in the continuing development of our profession. This article examines unionism and how it may provide the support and advocacy needed to progress some of the long-standing issues faced by the social work community, as well as some of the key obstacles to this. In addition, an overview of the Social Workers Action Network (SWAN) within the Public Service Association (PSA) is provided to examine how these conceptual dilemmas are being dealt with in practice.

Social workers from two different Wellington-based community service providers, Newtown Union Health Service (NUHS) and St Vincent de Paul (SVDP) Wellington Area discuss their organisations and how they worked together to build an award-winning 1 practice model in their community. Their reflection on their work raises important questions regarding our responsibilities and options to meet client needs in a heavily contracted funding environment and presents the learnings and challenges of their collaboration.