Dorothee Hölscher

Dr. Dorothee Hölscher is a social work lecturer in the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work at The University of Queensland and a research associate with the Department of Social Work & Criminology at the University of Pretoria. Previously, she worked at Griffith University in Australia and the Universities of KwaZulu Natal, and the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

Dorothee began her social work education in Germany, followed by the completion of a Master of Social Science (cum laude) and a Ph.D. (by publication) in South Africa. Her practice experience comprises social work with refugees and other cross-border migrants, community development, and child protection.

Dorothee’s research areas are applied ethics (with a focus on justice), anti-oppressive social work theory and practice, and social work with migrants and culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Her research skill set comprises a wide range of qualitative and post-qualitative methodologies. To date, she published a total of 40 books and edited collections, book chapters, and scholarly articles; serves as a reviewer for eight local and international journals and presents regularly at local and international conferences.

A co-founder and a longstanding executive member of the Association of Schools of Social Work in Africa (ASSWA), Dorothee currently serves on the editorial board of the journal, Ethics & Social Welfare (ESW), and has recently completed - with Profs Richard Hugman from the University of New South Wales and Donna McAuliffe from Griffith University - an edited volume on social work theories and ethics with Springer Nature (June 2023).