About us...

Act for Kids is a for-purpose organisation that delivers evidence-based professional therapy and support services to children and families, who have experienced or are at risk of harm. Established in 1988, we have helped over 170,000 children, young people and families at our 30 centres across Australia.

Through prevention, treatment, research, education and advocacy, we are committed to helping keep kids safe, heal from trauma and lead happy lives.

About the job...

We are seeking a caring House Parent to join our compassionate and friendly SafeKIDS team. This position is full-time, fixed term to 31 December 2023. Extension of employment contract beyond December 2023 is subject to the continued successful government funding of the program.

Located in the Aboriginal community of Kowanyama, you will have the unique opportunity to live and work within the safe house where you will be supported by a team of residential support workers to build a warm, supportive, and safe home atmosphere for children placed within the home.

The working week for this role is Thursday through to Monday including weekends.

Key responsibilities

• Providing direct care to children placed in the Kowanyama safe house including meal preparation, maintaining a daily routine for children, ensuring access to school and learning activities, teaching children new skills and making fun leisure and recreational activities for children to engage in.
• Responding calmly to stressful situations and children who are upset and who have difficult behaviours.
• Helping to encourage positive relationships between children and their families.
• Working respectfully and constructively within the cultural context of Kowanyama.
• Leading and influencing team members in best practice strategies for caring for children
• Working closely with the Program Coordinator and other members of the SafeKIDS team to keep within budgets, guidelines, policies and procedures and to record data and information about the running of the house:

About you...

• A Diploma or Certificate IV in Child, Youth & Family Intervention, Community Services, or related field.
• Completion of the Hope & Healing Foundations Framework online training.
• Eligibility for a Suitability Card for Child Related Employment (Blue Card) and Suitability Check to be engaged in the provision of care services by licensed out-of-home care service (LCS2) or exemption based on professional qualifications and registration.
• Demonstrated skill, ability and experience in caring for and raising children.
• Possess the necessary qualities and characteristics to engage in a two-way mentoring model with the Kowanyama cultural context.
• A demonstrated ability to put child rearing theories into practice.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality about our work with children and families.
• A good understanding of Indigenous engagement and protocols within the community.
• Ability to learn about the child protection system and apply learnings in the workplace.

With over 30% of our employees identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, we encourage and welcome applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

About the pay...

• Position is classified Level 3.1 – 3.4 under the SCHCADS award;
• Salary range is $64,308 - $68,963 plus 10% superannuation (pro-rata for part-time);
• In addition, as a registered Not for Profit/Charity, we offer excellent salary packaging options through RemServ which can significantly increase your take home pay.

About the benefits...

• Overall winner of HRD Employer of Choice 2019 (100-499 employees)
• Winner of HRD Employer of Choice 2019 in (1) Health & Wellbeing (2) Leadership (3) Work-Life Balance
• Strong values based organisation
• Excellent professional development options (including annual professional development fund opportunities)
• Paid parental leave
• Paid study assistance
• Employee Assistance Program including Health & Well-being Portal
• A friendly and flexible work environment to support work/life balance

About applying...

Click on ‘Apply for this job’ to submit an application or for more information about the role, contact Rebecca Daley on 0408 511 154 or [email protected], using the subject line: SafeKIDS House Parent - Kowanyama enquiry via EthicalJobs.

Click here to see a full copy of the position description.