The Australian Childhood Foundation is a highly regarded reputable national children’s charity aiming to prevent child abuse and reduce the harm it causes to children, families and the community. It provides specialist trauma counselling and therapeutic care programs to children and young people affected by abuse, as well as running research, education and community awareness programs, including Safeguarding Children Services.

Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse called the persistent and preventable problem of child abuse in institutional settings a “national tragedy”. The purpose of Safeguarding Children Services is to tackle this tragedy – to solve the problem that children and young people are not always safe but should be.

An industry leader in child safe organisations, Safeguarding Children Services provides consultancy and advisory services, reviews and evaluations, auditing, training and an accreditation program which helps organisations to strengthen their capacity to protect children and young people in their care. Since its inception in 2009, Safeguarding Children Services has helped over 300 organisations to implement best practice policies and standards to protect children and young people. This International program assists organisations to:

• adopt a best-practice approach to protecting children and young people.
• meet legislative obligations in each State and Territory.
• promote a child-safe and child-friendly culture.
• increase understanding and mitigation of the risks to children and young people when in the care of organisations.
• provide parents/communities with assurance that the organisation values and safeguards children and young people.

We have a unique opportunity for a Senior Safeguarding Consultant to play a key role in implementing the Service’s new strategic plan that will guide the growth and expansion of the Service. As a highly skilled leader, you will be responsible for sharing the evidence, stories and successes of our work to support others in protecting children and young people from abuse, developing and supporting key stakeholder relationships across a range of sectors, developing knowledge, materials and resources that support best practice in protecting children and young people from abuse, and managing and delivering on client expectations that support and enable organisational compliance and cultural transformation to keep children and young people safe from abuse.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic development through implementation and review of the Service’s strategic plan.
• Establish and maintain positive relationships at a senior level with key stakeholders relevant to Safeguarding Children Services.
• Development of systems, resources and tools including policies, practice guides, blogs and webinars.
• Support development of new joint initiatives with government and non-government partners which strengthen community and organisational commitment to protecting children from abuse and harm.
• Provide high quality advice and support to organisations about managing and responding to risk, management of critical incidents and opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Plan and undertake audits with organisations seeking accreditation, providing high quality assessments and written audit reports.

Key Selection Criteria:

We are looking for:

• Tertiary qualifications in a related discipline.
• Minimum 5-7 years’ experience in senior level positions in organisation(s) associated with the care, welfare or health of vulnerable people, including children and young people.
• Extensive experience in program development, monitoring and evaluation.
• Capacity to manage and initiate organisational change.
• Demonstrated capacity to establish and maintain effective relationships/partnerships.
• Demonstrated ability to provide advice and advocacy as well as develop written policies and practice frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience in the development and delivery of educational workshops, webinars and training programs.
• Demonstrated understanding of compliance and audit frameworks.
• Knowledge of vulnerable people, child/welfare policy/legislation.
• Ability to undertake intra/interstate travel.
• A current drivers licence and Working with Children Check or equivalent.

Remuneration & Benefits:

Competitive salary + superannuation + salary packaging + Surface Pro + mobile phone + generous professional development allowance + higher qualifications allowances. The salary is determined on the basis of the employee’s experience and qualifications.

This is a truly unique role to which you can personally make a difference in your career. Joining a successful, supporting, highly experienced team, we are offering an outstanding career opportunity and excellent working conditions on a full-time basis with a culture who understands the need for flexibility. The role is a full time position. Intra/interstate travel will be required from time-to-time.

For further information on the role, including a copy of the Position Description, please email [email protected], using the subject line: Senior Safeguarding Consultant - Safeguarding Children enquiry via EthicalJobs.

Interested applicants are asked to act quickly. No closing date has been nominated and we will be assessing candidates as and when they come in.

Australian Childhood Foundation (ACF) is committed to protecting children and young people from harm. We require all applicants to undergo an extensive screening process prior to appointment.

ACF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and people with a disability are strongly encouraged to apply.