AddressJoin one of Victoria’s biggest community health providers renowned for its great and flexible work culture. Make a real difference to the lives of carers and work closely with other professionals to meet their needs.
Permanent Full-time
Hybrid and flexible working conditions
Salary ranges from $82,351 - $88,608 + Super + Salary Packaging
Your new organisation:
At Merri Health, we strive to enrich diverse communities through the provision of quality health care and support services. A career at Merri will see you contributing to a culture that affects change for our clients and the wider community. We are committed to supporting the talent and skills of our employees because we know their capability is the key to our success.
Your new role:
Reporting to the Team Leader, Community Engagement, the role of Community Engagement Advisor has a dual function. Firstly, the role engages with the sector and promotes Carer Gateway and Support for Carer Program services to relevant stakeholders. Secondly, the role organises and delivers carer activities and events, such as peer support groups, to carers of all ages and backgrounds.
Service Description
Merri Health’s Carer Services Program supports carers in the Northern & Western Metro region of Melbourne. Carers can be parents, partners, spouses, young people and children, other family members, friends or neighbours. A carer provides support to someone who needs help managing at home or in the community because they are ageing, living with disability, a mental illness or a chronic medical condition.
We work in partnership with carers to learn about their needs, support them in defining goals and assist with planning for the future. We support carers in their caring roles and aim at maximising carers’ health, wellbeing and social connections.
The Carer Services Program delivers carer supports through a range of state and federally funded programs including the Carer Gateway and the Support for Carers Program
You will be responsible for:
Reporting to the Team Leader, Community Engagement, this role:
• Develops and maintains positive relationships with key stakeholders, including relevant government services, networks, service providers and key referrers, including internal stakeholders, to raise the profile of Merri’s Carer Services Program.
• Actively promotes and raises awareness of Merri’s Carer Services Program in Merri Health’s catchment area by conducting outreach activities, such as community forums, presentations and information sessions about the Carer Gateway and Support for Carers Program. This includes managing Community Engagement activities and carer peer support groups in the Melton LGA due to increase geographic reach of Carer Services.
• Proactively engages with carer support groups to generate opportunities for partnership and collaboration
• Contributes to Carer Gateway service mapping activities, Carer Gateway-led community development initiatives and Carer Gateway-led place-based co-design processes
• Contributes to the development and maintenance of a central repository capturing external service and referral information and makes this accessible to all Carer Services staff
• Engages with particularly vulnerable carers, such as carers affected by poor mental health, disability, old age, and dementia, or carers who identify as young carers or have an Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander background
• Facilitates outreach services and engages with relevant stakeholders such as schools, youth services, training organisations and similar to increase awareness of issues affecting young carers and to increase young carers’ participation in education, training and employment
• Develops strategies and initiatives to reach “hidden” carers, particularly young carers
• Plans and delivers face-to-face and online carer activities, such as peer support groups, for a variety of carer groups, such as young carers, carers supporting a person with mental health issues and disability, and carers of older persons
• Links carers into groups and activities delivered by external bodies
• Participates in relevant networks
• Contributes to projects and events around significant dates, such as annual Carers Week
• Maintains accurate records and case notes
• Contributes to Carer initiatives to improve and streamline practice and processes
• Facilitates, receives, manages and incorporates feedback from carers and stakeholders into quality improvement activities.
• Assists with the evaluation of services.
Other Duties
• Undertake other duties as reasonably directed by the Manager, Carer Services in line with the incumbent’s skills and experience
• Support staff in the implementation of the Program and Merri Health’s Strategic Plan. Assist the Manager, Carer Services in managing team finances to ensure the program operates withing a responsible and sustainable financial framework
• Ensure compliance with all relevant legislation, funding guidelines, service standards and contractual obligations.
To succeed in this role you will have:
Essential
• Degree in Community Engagement, Community Development, Community Services, Social Work or related discipline;
• Proven ability to foster and maintain positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders and to relate to and work effectively with a diverse range of individuals and communities;
• Experience delivering information sessions and presentations to a range of audiences
• Working knowledge of the community care sector and experience in a client-facing role
• Very good organisational, planning, analytical and problem-solving skills;
• High level written and verbal communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills;
• Proficiency in the use of information and communication technologies.
Desirable
• Knowledge of carer services
• Knowledge of the aged care system, NDIS, and mental health services.
• Knowledge of issues impacting carers from Indigenous, CALD and LGBTIQA+ backgrounds and young carers
• Ability to speak a relevant community language.
• Ability to apply asset-based community development strategies
What we offer:
We offer a diverse, inclusive and flexible environment which encourages you to bring your whole self to work. As the successful applicant you’ll be joining an organisation where you will be supported to grow, learn and develop your skills to reach your potential.
You will also have access to generous salary packaging, purchase leave and flexible work arrangement options.
Please visit out 'work for us' page to learn more.
What you need to do now
Please click ‘apply now’ to be directed to our jobs page, where you can view the position description and see further application details.
Applications close 08/07/2024.
What else do I need to know
At Merri, diversity and inclusion is critical to everything that we do, we want everyone to be themselves regardless of their background, religion, sexual orientation, age or gender so we can truly reflect the communities that we work in. No matter how you identify, we encourage people from all backgrounds, abilities and identities to apply for our roles.
