Key details

• SOCIAL WORK QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
• Fixed term, two year position.
• Part time - 15 hours per week – flexible regarding days/times.
• $49.65 per hour (NHACE Agreement; Social & Community Services Employees Schedule 3B Level 5.1)
• Superannuation paid at Superannuation Guarantee rate (currently 11%).
• Access to annual leave and personal leave.

Why we need a Community Support Worker

In the wake of the Covid pandemic we have experienced an enormous increase in the number of community members requiring practical support and case work. This support includes, but is not limited to:

• Assistance with housing applications (and transfers and priority housing requests);
• Assistance with citizenship applications and other immigration related matters;
• Support to access online job portals; school portals; MyGov and more;
• Help to navigate health services and the NDIS

This increased demand for practical support stems from:

• The multiple societal “crisis” currently underway – insufficient public housing, an unaffordable rental market; stagnant wage growth and rapidly rising costs of living;
• A reduction in the number of government agencies providing face-to-face support.
• A rapidly increasing “digital divide”, where a significant number of people either do not have access to devices/internet or they have devices but insufficient digital literacy to make use of them.

Neighbourhood Houses and public libraries have become almost the only places where people can ask for help.

At KNH we have a team of volunteers offering one-to-one assistance, however volunteers can only do so much. We require a suitably qualified Community Support Worker to take on individual case work and help build the capacity of our volunteers.

Community Support Worker - Position Focus

Case Work

• Undertake individual case work with participants and introduce them to volunteers for assistance with specific tasks as needed.
• Develop a process to provide ongoing support for participants with complex situations, including mapping of learning/housing/health needs, pathway planning and referral to appropriate supports (both at KNH and externally).
• Collect data and maintain records.

Capacity Building

• Coordinate and manage the existing team of 7 Form Help volunteers and recruit an additional 3 – 4 volunteers to enable individual assistance every day of the week;
• Develop partnerships with support agencies to provide training for volunteers and build referral pathways. Support agencies are likely to include:
  • The Inner Melbourne Community Legal Service
  • City of Melbourne Family Services
  • Unison Emergency Housing Team
  • Centrelink Community Education Team
• Facilitate a minimum of 6 training workshops for volunteers, building their capacity to assist with specific needs/tasks. Training will be provided by various agencies and may include: Cultural Awareness; Citizenship Applications; Centrelink requirements; Priority housing

Please refer to the attached POSITION DESCRIPTION for full details about this role.

For further information please email (as above) or call 9376 6366 and we’ll strive to answer your questions as soon as possible.