• Honesty Trust Respect Concern Love
• Full-time, Permanent.
• Based at Melbourne Drug Court (Magistrates)
• $96,031.78 per annum, plus super
• 17.5% annual leave loading and generous salary packaging options
• Progressive Workplace Flexibility options that enable genuine work life balance

About Odyssey House Victoria:

Odyssey House Victoria (OHV) is a place of hope and positive change for individuals working towards breaking their pattern of addiction. At Odyssey House we believe that every person should have the opportunity to change and grow. Our diverse teams work with individuals, families, and communities to reduce alcohol and other drug (AOD) use, improve mental health, and reconnect people to their family and the community. OHV is a dynamic and fast-growing organisation committed to excellence in service provision and innovation in responding to alcohol and other drugs use problems.

About The Melbourne Drug Court:

The Melbourne Drug Court (MDC) is a collaboration between Department of Health and the Department of Justice to deliver therapeutic jurisprudence to participants with an active alcohol and/or drug issue which is implicated in their offending. It offers an intensive process whereby the magistrate, lawyers, corrections officers, police, housing workers, AOD counsellors, peer mentors and clinical advisors work together with the magistrate to support the ‘participant’ to address offending behaviour and substance use.

OHV has partnered with Uniting AOD to deliver counselling services to the MDC (Magistrates). The position works closely with clinical advisors and corrections case managers and efficiently interfaces with the broad range of other court services.

About this opportunity:

Are you up for a challenge? This is a rare opportunity to work therapeutically with forensic participants and their families for up to two years. You will be part of a small counselling team of established clinicians, providing intensive counselling, group interventions, and secondary consultation to the wider court team. You will work closely with court staff and other in-house health and welfare providers. A significant component of the role is providing clinical recommendations directly to the Magistrate as part of a regular case review process and attending court.

This opportunity will suit an experienced counsellor who is looking to stretch themselves and further enhance their client engagement skills. Candidates with lived experience are encouraged to apply!

Key areas of focus:

• Counselling and provision of specialist knowledge to others.
• Supervision and professional development.
• Administration and management.

Duties include but are not limited to…

• Provide high quality engagement, assessment, and counselling to program participants and their families, through evidence-based counselling interventions.
• Provide information, individual support, education, and practical assistance to participants to help them reduce the harms of their substance use.
• Regularly assess each participant’s level of risk and document and communicate risk issues to the wider court team.
• Consider the needs of and identify any risks to partners and vulnerable children, work with families to develop safety plans, and facilitate referrals to Child First and Family Service agents when indicated.
• Participate in the development of pre-release, exit and post-treatment support plans including handover and referral to maintain treatment gains.
• Maintain a high standard of documentation (including client files and records) in accordance with professional, legislative, contractual service obligations and organisational standards.
• Provide expert advice to and reports for the Magistrate.

A week in the role:

If you were here last week, you would have:

• Delivered and documented between 15-22 individual counselling sessions to participants.
• Facilitated a group session for participants e.g., Smart Recovery or Emotion Regulation.
• Attended case reviews with Magistrate, Clinical Advisor and Community Corrections Case Manager, Victoria Police and Victorian legal aid to provide therapeutic perspective on participant progress while on Drug Treatment Order.
• Attended court to provide information to Magistrate and support allocated participants.
• Attended Counsellor’s group supervision with an external supervisor or engaged in an online/in-person professional development.

Key Selection Criteria:

We are looking for an experienced and passionate professional with the drive to make a genuine difference, providing treatment and collaborative care to people (and their families) with entrenched histories of substance misuse and offending, who would otherwise find it difficult to change their lives.

To be successful in this role, you must…

• Hold a Tertiary qualification in Social Work, Youth Work, or an Associate Diploma with substantial experience or an AOD or equivalent.
• Hold a Certificate IV in AOD (or commitment to obtain one of these within 12 months of employment). *(Refer Appendix A)
• Hold a minimum of four years’ experience as an AOD counsellor, preferably with dual diagnosis clients.
• Hold a minimum of 2 years forensic experience.
• Have experience in group work and/or SMART recovery.
• Fulfil requirements for DHHS Accredited Forensic Clinical Drug Assessor.
• Proven ability to work effectively with people and families experiencing problematic alcohol and other drugs use in a respectful, compassionate, and positive manner.
• Demonstrate knowledge and application of a range of therapeutic approaches for individuals, couples, families, and specifically young people impacted by AOD use and those with multiple and complex needs such as mental health, family violence and substance abuse issues.

*Appendix A (AOD Competencies)

OHV requires staff in clinical positions to have the following competencies (or their equivalent). Where people do not already have these competencies, OHV will invest in the staff’s professional development by providing them through our registered training organisation (RTO).
The competencies required in the first 12 months of employment are:

• CHCAOD001 – Work in an alcohol and other drugs context
• CHCAOD004 – Assess needs of clients with alcohol and other drugs issues
• CHCAOD006 – Provide interventions for people with alcohol and other drugs issues
• CHCAOD009 – Develop and review individual alcohol and other drugs treatment plans

What we can give YOU!

In return we are committed to offering you an inclusive and transparent workplace culture where our people can develop to be their very best by:

• Ongoing learning and development opportunities and access to an extensive training calendar.
• Providing work that is meaningful and challenging, with career development opportunities through project and secondment opportunities and succession planning.
• Providing career pathways across diverse OHV programs.
• Access to 24/7 counselling through our Employee Assistance Provider (EAP).
• Generous leave options such as 48/52 Purchased Leave, Study Leave and Long Service Leave.
• Receiving tri-annual drug court training.
• Access to monthly reflective practice.

In addition, staff will also be provided monthly Clinical Supervision sessions for professional development and personal wellbeing.

Application information

Please click 'Apply Now' to submit your application via our ELMO careers website.

Applications should be addressed to Caroline Long and include your CV and a cover letter addressing the key selection criteria.

If you have any questions relating to the position, please contact Sheridan Manley, Team Leader and Senior Clinician, Melbourne Drug Court on 0481 914 845or [email protected] using the subject line: Senior AOD Counsellor - Melbourne Drug Court enquiry via EthicalJobs.

We will be assessing applications on a rolling basis and suitable candidates will be shortlisted immediately. This role will close once a suitable candidate has been selected which may be prior to the application deadline, so please don’t wait to apply.

Our commitment to diversity

At OHV we value diversity and believe that a range of backgrounds brings a variety of ideas, perspectives and experiences that will enhance our effectiveness. We promote a workplace that actively seeks to include, welcome and value unique contributions by encouraging people with disability, Aboriginal Australians, LGBTQIA, young people and people from culturally diverse backgrounds to apply for this position.

Safety screening

OHV is committed to child safety and is a child safe organisation. All OHV employees must undergo Police Records and Working with Children Checks. Any person issued with a negative notice on their Working with Children Check will not be eligible for employment with us.

Mandatory COVID vaccinations

In line with OHV's Mandatory Vaccination Policy, all Odyssey House Victoria staff are required to hold Fully Vaccinated (Boosted) status, having also received the Booster Vaccination. Evidence of this minimum of three (3) COVID-19 vaccinations will be requested during the onboarding process and offers will be rescinded where such evidence cannot be provided.

All Odyssey House Victoria sites are smoke free for all employees.

A copy of the position description which outlines the full list of responsibilities is attached.