• Status: Ongoing (subject to resources)
• Classification: Social, Community, Homecare and Disability Services (SCHADS) Award
• Date of Review: October 2025
• Location: Brisbane with possible intra-state travel

Primary Purpose of Position

The Anti-Violence Worker primarily provides counselling and support for women, trans women and gender diverse prisoners who have experienced domestic, family and/or sexual violence, including those in men’s prisons throughout Queensland. Most of the work is individual counselling, including working with many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners. Support for participants outside Brisbane will largely be delivered by phone.

In all their duties, the Anti-Violence Worker is expected to work in accordance with the Mission; Values & Vision; model of service; and policies and procedures of SIS.

Key Responsibilities of Position

• Provide one-on-one crisis and longer-term counselling and support to women in particular trans women and gender diverse prisoners who have experienced domestic and family violence and/or sexual assault in prison and in the community.
• Support participants in female and male prisons to develop strategies to optimise their safety and wellbeing in prison as required.
• Use a customised, culturally-informed, empowering approach with each participant according to their perception of the nature and complexity of their needs.
• Support participants to address related issues arising from their imprisonment, including developing strategies to optimise their safety and wellbeing post-release.
• Liaise with appropriate service providers (e.g. prison staff, SIS workers, other organisations) on behalf of individual participants.
• Work with Sisters Inside’s pilot Transgender Support Program as required.
• Participate in the planning and evaluation of the SIS Anti-Violence Program, to optimise service accessibility and responsiveness to the needs of criminalised trans and gender diverse participants.
• Attend relevant community network meetings, professional supervision, team meetings, SIS Staff Meetings, SIS Inclusive Support Meetings and SIS Management Committee meetings as required.
• Record the data required by SIS in an accurate and timely manner and provide written reports to the Program Manager as required.
• Other duties as directed.

Organisational Environment

Sisters Inside is an organisation developed and driven by formerly incarcerated women. It exists to advocate for the human rights of criminalised and imprisoned women and girls, and their children, and provides services in response to their unmet needs.

As at June 2024 in addition to the CEO, SIS had 36 positions based in our Brisbane office and 16 positions based in Townsville.

Our services are funded through various State, Commonwealth and Philanthropic funding programs.

Sisters Inside is a versatile, powerful organisation. We both strategically advocate for the collective interests of women and girls in the legal system and provide services to address their more immediate needs. These roles function in a complementary manner - our service provision informs our social change work. The CEO, guided by the SIS Management Committee, is responsible for the systemic advocacy work of the organisation at a local, state, national and international level.

Reporting Relationships

• Position title of direct supervisor
  • The position reports directly to a Program Manager. The Worker is also required to take the advice of the Senior First Nations Practitioner on matters relating to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children.

• Titles of position that report to this position
  • None

• Other significant internal relationships
  • This position works closely with and maintains working relationships with SIS workers, student internees, volunteers and administrative staff, particularly other anti-violence workers in women’s prisons and workers providing post-release support (health support; youth; employment and training; and legal support).

Key Selection Criteria

1. Understanding of SIS’s Values and a commitment to working within the organisation’s Values, Vision, model of service, policies and procedures
2. Understanding of violence against gender diverse people, trans women and women more widely, and experience addressing sexual abuse and/or domestic and family violence
3. Understanding of the nexus between violence and imprisonment, including the impact of imprisonment on survivors of violence and the constraints on service delivery in a prison setting
4. Substantial experience working alongside trans and gender diverse people, and an understanding of their issues and needs whilst in prison and post-release
5. Substantial experience working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and an understanding of the issues and needs of First Nations prisoners
6. Experience in one-on-one counselling based on a sound knowledge of at least one trauma-informed therapeutic framework consistent with the SIS model of service
7. Ability to communicate effectively with a range of people (including prisoners, their dependents/families, prison authorities, non-government service providers and government officials)

Essential Attributes

• Ability to work within a prison culture and environment, whilst remaining participant-centred
• Sound problem solving skills, including knowing when to seek direction and the ability to critically reflect on practice
• Ability to work equally effectively as a cooperative team member and independently (with minimal supervision)
• Enthusiastic and receptive in interaction with women, girls, their children and others in the SIS environment
• Good time management skills, including the ability to prioritise, plan, organise and manage competing demands
• Functional word processing, email and data entry skills

Essential Requirements

• Significant lived experience relevant to working with criminalised trans and/or gender diverse people; experience working with criminalised people or other highly disadvantaged and marginalised women/girls; and/or tertiary qualifications in the social or behavioural sciences.
• Holder of a current Queensland A Class Driver’s License

• Suitability Card from the Commission for Children and Young People (Queensland Blue Card)

Additional Information

The position is subject to a 6-month probationary period for new SIS staff and approval from Queensland Corrective Services to enter men’s and women’s prisons (Yellow Card).

A position description is attached.