Master of Social Work (Final Year)

Carol Perdigão (she/her) is a Brazilian disability support worker and Master of Social Work student living and working on unceded Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country. Carol grew up in Rio de Janeiro and made her home in Naarm (Melbourne) in 2020. Her migration journey and multiple career changes shaped the way she thinks about identity, belonging, and healing as a holistic process. She is currently completing her final social work placement at Pola Practice and hopes to continue supporting diverse individuals on their self-discovery and healing journeys.

Carol brings multidisciplinary experience from her years working in food policy, digital communications, and facilitating community cooking and gardening workshops. In her previous placement at Kevin Heinze Grow, she honed skills in therapeutic horticulture and supporting disabled people.

Carol draws on lived experience of neurodivergence and mental health challenges, including the struggle of finding neuro-affirming and culturally responsive therapeutic support in Australia. This directly informs her interest in working with late-identified neurodivergent adults, and members of the LGBTQI+ and migrant communities.

Her work is grounded in social justice, strength-based approaches and trauma-informed principles. It is also underpinned by eco-social perspectives that locate personal distress within its social, political and ecological context.

Outside of work, Carol enjoys spending time in nature, gardening, cooking with friends and learning everything about her latest hyperfixation (currently training a Guide Dog prospect). She is also a co-founder and board member of Just Food Collective.

Education:

Master of Social Work, RMIT University, Current

Bachelor of Food Studies, William Angliss Institute, 2024

Bachelor Of Film And Audiovisual Communications, Universidade Federal Fluminense (Rio De Janeiro), 2011