Children’s Contact Service Worker

Better Place Australia has a vision of “An Australia where all people experience positive relationships, truly value each other and live safer, more fulfilling lives”.  Our purpose is “To empower people to become more resilient and experience improved wellbeing to better determine their futures”.

Our organisational values are at the forefront of all interactions with our employees, our clients and our stakeholders.

We are:

• Creative
• Welcoming
• Responsive; and
• Thriving

As a community focused ‘for-purpose’ organisation with an ever-growing range of psychological and community support services, Better Place Australia is taking a leadership role in the provision of high-quality, effective services for a wide range of community groups across various locations in Victoria.

This is an opportunity to join our expanding team of highly experienced and passionate people who want to make Australia a better place.

The Role 

The primary focus of Better Place’s Children’s Contact Service (CCS) is the safety and well-being of children and young people. The program maintains a clear commitment to prioritising the needs and welfare of children and will actively intervene to ensure that the best interests of children are protected and promoted at all times.  The CCS provides safe, neutral onsite facilitated changeovers and supervised visits for children and their separated parents with a trauma-informed and child-focused approach. These contacts are often court mandated due to high conflict familial circumstances and often exist within a broader suite of family law services.

Children’s Contact Service Workers serve as a facilitator and observer of clients during scheduled visitation.  As part of this, there will be a requirement to greet clients, support their participation in the service and document observations during the provision of service.

Key work tasks include:

• Facilitation of supervised visits and supervised changeovers
• Fostering positive relationships between children and their parents or carers
• Maintaining all case notes and client records with a high standard of accuracy and in accordance with best practice, confidentiality and privacy requirements
• Liaising with parents, family members, legal representatives, court staff and other case workers
• Providing information and support to all the parents who would like to access Better Place services and to ensure referrals are provided where required.

Required Qualifications and Experience 

Essential

• Diploma or Bachelor qualified in Social Work, Family Therapy, Psychology or similar Human Services qualifications and are eligible for membership of AASW, AAFT, APS or PACFA member associations.
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge of child development, family violence and strength-based assessments and trauma-informed practice.
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge of working with children and families, particularly in the areas of family conflict.
• Direct experience working with a service operating supervised contact visits for children and young people of separated parents.
• Strong understanding of family law and its impact on families in conflict.
• Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to handle sensitive communications and clients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
• Demonstrated case work or case management experience.
• Experience in facilitating referrals of clients to appropriate services, programs and organisations as well as to other Better Place Australia services, as required.

Better Place Australia 

Better Place Australia is a for purpose organisation, providing services for all members of the community regardless of religion, age, gender, sexuality, lifestyle choice, cultural background or economic circumstances.  We offer a workplace culture reflective of a vibrant, learning organisation where our people are highly engaged in their work and committed to making a difference.  At BPA, we all have a shared responsibility for supporting a culture of inclusivity and diversity.  Our organisation is committed to child safety and we carry out police record, working with children and reference checks to ensure that we are recruiting the right people.

Further Information 

Applications are invited from prospective candidates seeking employment on a casual basis who meet the above criteria. This role will involve casual engagements during the week and on weekends (currently on a Saturday).  For further information, download a copy of the position description. Our organisation is committed to child safety and satisfactory completion of a Working with Children Check and National Police Check are mandatory for the preferred candidate. Better Place Australia currently requires employees to have up-to-date (boosted) vaccination status with an approved COVID-19 Vaccination and to provide evidence of same by way of uploading a Digital Vaccination Certificate to our HRIS Information System (or confirmation that they are an excepted person). You will be provided with relevant information including during the recruitment process. Whilst we appreciate the interest of all prospective candidates, please note that only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Apply today!