Are you passionate about using your own lived experience of mental illness to offer hope, connectedness & empowerment to others? Join our PARC program in Bondi, assisting people experiencing trauma & mental health concerns to develop the confidence and capacity to manage their own wellbeing.

This could be your opportunity to:

• Learn how to use your lived experience to support others to change their lives in positive ways.
• Enjoy a friendly, genuine team environment with a collaborative culture and lived experience supervision
• Join an award-winning program in an organisation with a strong record of lived experience integration in the mental health space

ABOUT US

Independent Community Living Australia (ICLA) is a not-for-profit community organisation delivering mental health recovery services and personalised support to individuals with psychosocial, intellectual, and other disabilities as well as those seeking support at difficult times in their life. ICLA offers a wide range of services across the greater Sydney region, from supported residential services to supported mental health services, empowering individuals with independence and inclusion in the community.

ICLA’s mission to deliver personalised support, enabling individual choice to improve people’s lives is achieved by living our values:

Respect for all; Integrity in what we do; Accountable for all we do; and Results for those we serve.

Our Peer Support Framework is grounded in Intentional Peer Support, taking a non-clinical approach to mental health and wellbeing, and valuing the powerful part peer support plays in the mental health recovery journey.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As the Peer Support Worker, you will deliver peer support to participants, applying lived experience of mental illness and recovery in a reciprocal and safe way to increase participants feelings of connection, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment (CHIME).

The current opportunity is a part time role of 16 hours per week, with two 8 hour shifts from 3:00-11:00pm on Fridays & Saturdays, with the ability to pick up additional shifts ad hoc. This Bondi-based role is for a max term to 30 June 2026, remunerated from $33.41 per hour + shift & leave loading, + super (Level 2, SCHADS Award 2010).

Responsibilities:

• Establishing rapport and building trusting, professional collaborative relationships with participants through active listening, normalising and validation, while maintaining strong professional boundaries.
• Working with participants to identify and work towards their individual, recovery-oriented needs and goals, while ensuring they are drivers of their own recovery
• Delivering person centred, strengths-based, non-judgmental and trauma informed support to participants experiencing mental health challenges, across a range of settings & modes (i.e. one-to-one discussions, group activities, community-based, site based, and/or virtual support)
• Modelling positive recovery behaviours for participants, as well as safely and sustainably sharing your own lived experience of mental illness and recovery as it is relevant to the participant’s goals
• Proactively monitor and attend to own wellbeing and self-care to support safe service delivery for self and participants
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders (such as allied health practitioners, families and carers) to support positive outcomes for participants
• Working as an active member of the team to ensure the achievement of program goals, effective documentation, day to day operations and the application of best practice frameworks

ABOUT YOU

Essential Criteria:

1. Experience utilising your personal lived experience of mental health concerns & recovery to support others
2. Ability to relate to and/or engage with people who are seeking support for a range of mental health issues and their support networks.
3. Caring nature balanced with a robust understanding of, and commitment to, professional boundaries
4. Advanced listening skills, excellent interpersonal communication skills, and experience building trust and rapport
5. Team player committed to working collaboratively to optimise support
6. Awareness of person-centred, trauma informed, recovery-oriented care models
7. Growth mindset with a commitment to learning & continuous improvement
8. Current NDIS worker check (or willingness to obtain)
9. Unrestricted right to work in Australia

Desirable Criteria:

• Certificate IV in Peer Work
• Experience working in mental health settings
• Training in: Mental Health First Aid; Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST); Intentional Peer Support; Trauma Informed Care; and/ or Safe Storytelling

BENEFITS

ICLA offers:

• Joining an award-wining program at an exciting juncture of new partnership & program expansion
• Contribute to filling a gap in the mental health service landscape with this non-crisis mental health service
• Charity salary packaging to pay benefits and living expenses from pre-income tax
• Inclusive and committed culture where everyone's contribution is valued
• Ongoing learning and developing opportunities
• Involvement in innovative and dynamic programs
• Flexible work practices

HOW TO APPLY

If this sounds like a great opportunity for you, please select “Apply Now” to submit your application, including a Cover Letter addressing the essential criteria 1-7 and any applicable desirable criteria.

Applications will be reviewed as received. Enquiries can be directed to [email protected], using the subject line: Peer Support Worker enquiry via EthicalJobs. 

At ICLA we believe that a diversity of people and experiences is critical to our work and our success. We strive for a team culture that is welcoming, inclusive, supportive, and committed. ICLA is an Equal Opportunity employer. We encourage applications and expressions of interest from all backgrounds, abilities, and identities. We also acknowledge the lived expertise of those who have provided care and support for others in a non-paid role. ICLA acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Custodians of the country in which we work and thrive, empowering people to have agency and autonomy.