About BDAC

The Bendigo & District Aboriginal Cooperative (BDAC) is an ACCO (Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation) registered as a member under the umbrella of VACCHO (Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation) and represented nationally through NACCHO (National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation).

BDAC was founded to represent and provide services to the Dja Dja Wurrung Community (Jaara people) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents living on Dja Dja Wurrung Country.

BDAC has a responsibility to ensure growth of services, development of our Aboriginal community, better and improved health outcomes for our people, improved quality of life and be a lead agency in providing employment and career pathways for Aboriginal people.

The Position

The Aboriginal Child Specialist Advice and Support Service Case Worker (ACSASS) is responsible for working as a part of a team to assist, support and strengthen Aboriginal families who are in contact with Child Protection. This role is responsible for providing Child Protection Practitioners advice and support about culturally appropriate intervention and service delivery, ACSASS will also provide information to the family regarding what their rights and responsibilities are and what services are available to them.

The ACSASS role is to ensure that Child Protection’s decisions are made in the best interest of the child/children and/or young person and assuring that connection to culture is always upheld. When a child/children and/or young person is at risk of or experiencing emotional/physical abuse, neglect, family violence, intellectual underdevelopment and /or sexual abuse Child Protection may become involved. At this stage ACSASS will become involved also and will remain involved until all goals/tasks have been met.

The ACSASS case worker will be required to build, maintain and foster strong relationships with Child Protection and other agencies. This role is also a 24/7 service and therefore ACSASS workers are required to provide an after-hours service based on a rotating roster.

What we are offering

• Competitive salary (commensurate with skills and qualifications)
• Full Time, 38hrs p/w
• 1 year contract (possibility to extend)
• Access to Salary Packaging
• 10% superannuation + further benefits
• Ongoing training and support opportunities
• Supportive workplace

Some Key Responsibilities

Advisory Support

• Provide a consultation service to the Department of Human Services Child Protection unit to ensure all cultural needs are and issues are considered in reaching a decision in regard to Aboriginal children.
• Provide specialist information to Aboriginal families regarding child protection services, their rights and obligations.
• Facilitate communication and negotiate between Child Protection services and families.
• Record and maintain accurate case notes for all clients contact including: face to face, phone and email

Reporting and compliance

• Contribute to implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the ACSASS program.
• Actively participate in the review and documentation of policies, procedures, standards and practice model/frameworks.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of strategies that address the issues associated with the implementation of new legislations.
• Contribute to the development of internal processes to ensure cross program co-ordination
• Complete monthly progress reports and provide to the team leader demonstrating progress towards set KPI’s

Your skills and experience

• Sound Knowledge of local issues and needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and the issues that Aboriginal families are facing today
• Ability in convening and mediating outcomes with groups
• A sound understanding of child and adolescent development, intervention techniques and strategies related to the protection of children and young people from abuse and neglect
• Capacity to engage Aboriginal Children and their families in collaborative planning processes
• Demonstrated knowledge of requirements in relation to policies, legislation, program and practices in relation to child welfare
• Experience in preparing written reports including reports with statistical data collected from service delivery reporting and recording accurate case notes
• With strengths based approach, solve problems based on operational knowledge and experience, sourcing useful information, looking for underlying reasons and suggesting alternative actions for clients and staff

Mandatory Requirements

• Identify as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descendant,
• Hold a Tertiary Qualification in Social Work and/or Diploma of Community Services or equivalent.

*If you don’t meet these requirements but strongly believe and are able to demonstrate you have the knowledge and capacity to fulfil this role, please contact us

Mandatory Requirements

Should an applicant be the preferred candidate, background checks (Police check, reference check and Working with Children's Check) will be completed prior to the candidate’s employment being confirmed.

You must also be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to work at BDAC.

For more information about this position please see the Position Description or contact our human resources team on (03) 5442 4947 or send an email through to [email protected], using the subject line: Aboriginal Child Specialist Advice & Support Service Case Manager - Identified enquiry via EthicalJobs.

This is an Aboriginal Designated Position, classified under 'special measures' of section 12 of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010. Only Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people are eligible to apply