Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Peer Support Worker

Every year headspace centres help thousands of young Australians to access support and services for their mental and physical health. With a focus on early intervention, headspace services keep young people at the heart of everything they do.
We are looking for a Youth Peer Support Worker to join our headspace team to support young people aged 12 – 25 years, who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties.
In the context of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identified role, you will work within the social and emotional wellbeing framework to provide culturally appropriate Peer Support to young people who also identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. Additionally, you will support and facilitate relationship building and connection between the service and the local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community, other services, and key stakeholders.
This part time role is flexible with up to 4 days (30.4 hours) per week, based at our Southport centre, with travel required to our Upper Coomera centre.
This is not a clinical role and doesn’t require you to hold a qualification, but you must have a lived experience of mental health challenges and seeking support/treatment.
The salary for this position is $36 - $38.60 per hour plus super and we offer lots of benefits including five extra days paid leave (pro-rata), an Employee Assistance Program for self-care, and discounted access to gyms, pools, and leisure facilities across the country. Our intranet, Wellspring, offers a huge range of discounted products and services – from supermarkets to electronics to fashion!
What we are looking for:
Although this is not an entry level role, it would ideally suit someone in the early stages of their career – someone with a passion for utilising their own lived experience of significant mental health challenges, to help others through their own recovery and wellbeing journey.
Along with the ability to mentor and guide, you will have the following skills and experience:
If you have been a Youth Peer Support Worker previously, great! If not, you will be excited about learning how to facilitate groups and provide individual support in a safe, inclusive way. Collaborative, open approach – this is a newly developed team, and you will have the opportunity to contribute to developing the culture and environment. Strong communication and engagement skills - you will be having individual and group discussions with a range of young people. Being an active listener is also important. Appropriate sharing of your own lived experience, working within professional boundaries and positive role-modelling. Understanding of your own triggers, self-care, and self-reflection, and being open when you require support. Experience working with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Experience in facilitating or co-facilitating a support or social group. You’re super organised – you know how to plan and manage your time and workload and can juggle several things at once. You can easily talk to your peers but also switch gears to talk and advocate within a team of clinical professionals. Good computer skills, use of Microsoft Suite and Client Management Systems.
A Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work would be highly regarded, but we can also provide internal training opportunities within the headspace Peer Support Work model. You will need to have an Australian Drivers Licence and a Working With Children Blue Card.
This position is an "identified position" and Lives Lived Well considers that being an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person is a genuine occupational requirement for this position under s 25 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld).
About our team
The Peer Support Program is led by a people-focused Coordinator who is personable, flexible, and passionate about what she does. Our ideal candidate will have a great sense of humour, be a team player, and be willing to offer ideas and suggestions. We are open to change, and love to challenge the status quo. Young people are always at the centre of everything we do.
And the team has fun! You’ll get to support young people individually, and as part of groups including cooking classes, bushwalking, and surfing.
Other things you need to know:
headspace Upper Coomera and Southport are run by Lives Lived Well, a progressive, for purpose organisation, delivering leading edge services aimed at supporting people to live their lives well. We live and work by our values, so it’s important to us that you do too!
You are humble, human, and full of hope. You show up and share. You ask: Why not? And what’s next? You leave a positive wake.
What to do next:
Please click “apply” to submit your application – you will be required to complete a few pre-screening questions, where you can tell us your story and why you are interested in working with us.
Please obtain the Position Description through our careers portal or by emailing ***********@liveslivewell.org.au to review the role and requirements before applying.
Applications close at 5.00pm on Friday, 1 March 2024, however we may be conducting interviews throughout the process.
Lives Lived Well is an equal employment opportunity employer. We encourage applications from a diverse range of social, cultural and gender backgrounds that reflect our community including First Nations Peoples.