Family Violence Court And Social Support Worker

The Family Violence Court and Social Support Worker will work as part of the Victorian state-wide Family Violence service, providing a specialist Family Violence response to victim-survivors engaging with family law courts to:

• Provide assistance to families affected by Family Violence, including to navigate the complexities of moving between state and federal based court systems
• Conduct risk assessments, safety planning and coordinate and advocate for additional referrals and services
• Work closely and co-operatively with the family law courts, court staff and Safe Steps response staff to support the safety of service users and their children affected by Family Violence
• Work co-operatively with all stakeholders to support the safe, effective and efficient resolution of matters 

Key Responsibilities include:

• Conducting risk and needs assessments
• Engaging in a safety planning process
• Assessment of a family’s Social Support needs
• Coordinate and advocate for additional referrals and services
• Consider the needs of children in risk assessment and make appropriate referrals and links with child protection services as appropriate
• Liaising with the family law court’s registry and security staff about the implementation of the court’s safety plan for the family in relation to each court event
• Information, non-legal advocacy and support for families before, during and after court
• Referral of families in relation to their social needs and co-ordination in relation to use of those services
• Liaison with the court to obtain copies of court orders and other notices from the registry on behalf of families
• Advocacy on behalf of families with stakeholder organisations, e.g. housing services, Centrelink, victim support services, and where appropriate police in relation to the bringing of an application for a Family Violence protection order
• Assistance to transition between, the Commonwealth family law, state/territory Family Violence and state/territory child protection jurisdictions

 Skills and Experience: 

• Meets equivalency principles of Recommendation 209 
• Tertiary qualifications in a community/social service profession or other related field
• Demonstrated understanding of the nature and dynamics of Family Violence and knowledge of community resources and services to refer persons who have experienced Family Violence
• Demonstrated understanding of family law system
• Demonstrated understanding of trauma informed practices
• Demonstrated experience and skills in the provision of support, risk assessment and safety planning
• Demonstrated understanding of feminist practice and how this is used as a framework to understand and respond to the gendered nature of violence against women and children
• Understanding of cultural and language barriers, disability and other factors that may further marginalize women and children in crisis
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills
• Demonstrated capacity to work independently as well as part of a team
• Ability to deal appropriately with stress, maintain composure and apply effective engagement strategies with clients in crisis
• Capacity for self-motivation, ability to cope with changing work functions, workloads and tasks
• Competent computer database skills
• A current Victorian Drivers Licence

 IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• NOTE: This is a special measures role and while we reserve the right to exercise an Equal Opportunity Exemption in certain circumstances, Safe Steps values and encourages diversity, inclusion, and equity in all our services, programs, and practices.

• Safe Steps is a child safe organisation and is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all children, at all times. All Safe Steps services, programs and practices are in compliance with Victoria’s Child Safe Standards.

• Safe Steps recognises that risk management, and the sound and effective implementation of a risk management strategy with associated tools and plans, is a key process in a best practice framework at all levels of the organisation. We are committed to the implementation and maintenance of a formal risk management system in order to provide a sound quality and governance framework that aligns with the Australian Standard for Risk Management (AS/NZS ISO 31000:2018) and ensures there are linkages between risk management and decision making, there is clearly articulated accountability, and there is mandate and commitment from all key staff in the organisation.

• Safe Steps is committed to the principles of continuous quality improvement (CQI) in all aspects of its operations, service delivery and governance. We place the highest priority on the safety and wellbeing of those we support and provide services to.

• All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory background checks including a National Police Check (including an international police check if resided continuously in an overseas country for 12 months or more in the last ten years), Working with Children Check, disclosure of previous or current disciplinary action, referee checks, proof of eligibility to work in Australia and qualification checks.

• Where background checks are not to the satisfaction of Safe Steps in its absolute discretion, the offer of employment may be retracted or terminated.

• If you are offered employment with Safe Steps and are not currently an existing employee, you will be required to disclose full details of any pre-existing injuries or illness that may be affected by the work and/or undergo a health assessment. The disclosure/health assessment is conducted to ensure you have the health and mental capacity to meet the requirements of the position and to identify any adjustments that may need to be made in the workplace. Failing to notify or hiding a pre-existing injury or illness which might be affected by the nature of the proposed employment, could result in that injury or illness being ineligible for future compensation claims.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

We are committed to ensuring diversity, inclusion and equity are embedded throughout our organisation for the benefit of all our clients and our staff. We believe our people are our greatest asset and by supporting and incorporating their diverse talents, knowledge, perspectives and experiences, we can strengthen our relationships with the communities we work with.

Our focus is on eliminating discrimination in the services we deliver and the workplace we provide. Being a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports and enables equity, goes to the heart of our work and supports our strategic intent – “Building an organisation and culture that is supportive, responsive and sustainable”.

INTERESTED? APPLY TODAY!

If this sounds like the role for you then click on the 'Apply Now' button below.

Please ensure that you:

• Submit your resume and cover letter.
• Complete all application questions.