About the Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic)

Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic) is the peak body and leading policy advocate on young people's issues in Victoria. Our vision is that the rights of young people in Victoria are respected, and they are active, visible and valued in their communities. For over 60 years, YACVic has advocated for the best interests of young people (aged 12-25 years) and the sector that works with them.

YACVic provides additional targeted advocacy and services through our key services, YACVic Rural and the Youth Disability Advocacy Service (YDAS).

About YACVic Rural

YACVic Rural is a core agency of Youth Affairs Council Victoria. YACVic Rural works in partnership with young people, youth practitioners, key stakeholder and partner agencies throughout rural and regional Victoria to provide targeted advocacy, strengthen youth participation, and support those who work with young people. YACVic recognises that young people and sector professionals in these areas face particular challenges and offer specific insights that differ to their metropolitan counterparts. YACVic’s presence across the Great South Coast and Southern Mallee regions are funded by the Victorian Government through the Rural Presence Program. YACVic Rural also coordinates and implements a range of discrete projects across regional and rural Victoria including in response to disasters.

About Victoria University

Victoria University (VU) is a world-class teaching and research institution committed to life-changing research that positively impacts the wellbeing of people, place, and planet. For VU, research with impact is more than knowledge but ethical knowledge, more than strengths but solutions, and see those values informing the creation of the proposed Centre of Excellence.

VU see the alignment of many of the issues young people have raised regarding their involvement in emergency management and community resilience with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which are a key focus of VU research. VU is well positioned as a dual-sector university across higher education and TAFE to consider all aspects of education, training and skills development for young people.

About the Centre of Excellence

Victoria University’s (VU) Youth and Community Research Group and Youth Affairs Council Victoria (YACVic) are partnering to establish the Centre of Excellence - Young People and Disasters (‘The Centre’). The Centre brings together expertise around young people (12-25 years), youth participation and disasters. The Centre takes a strengths-based approach, recognising the capabilities and contributions of young people as active citizens in disaster readiness, resilience, and risk reduction. We acknowledge that climate change is impacting disasters, causing them to be more frequent and more intense. Disasters are now experienced as multiple, compounding and cascading events. Young people’s futures are disproportionately affected.

The Centre acts as a clearing house for knowledge translation, commissioning, contributing to, and disseminating research with, and about young people’s engagement with disasters. We champion place-based approaches, prioritising local community responses enabling young people’s agency as active citizens. Our work aims to strengthen the capacity of relevant emergency and disaster organisations to engage and work with young people. We advocate with young people for young people’s rights and wellbeing. This work is guided by young people.

The Centre of Excellence: Young People and Disasters is the culmination of three and a half years of active and expert work in these areas and continues our strong partnership between YACVic and VU. This work includes the following projects:

• Future Proof: Young People, Disaster Recovery and (Re)building Communities (2022-24)
• Umbrella flood recovery (2022-23)
• The Activators program (2020-21)
• The Evidence from Experience report produced as part of the black summer bushfire consultations for the Inspector-General for Emergency Management (2020)
• A Seat at the Table and Speaking Up with the Victorian Department of Education and Emergency Management Victoria (then Bushfire Recovery Victoria) (2020-22)

About the role

The Centre of Excellence Field Officer works alongside the Centre of Excellence Project Coordinator and the team. This position will be responsible for working with their local communities to promote the work of the Centre, work with emergency management organisations and promote the inclusion of young people in disaster resilience.

The position works to elevate young people’s voices in relation to disaster recovery, resilience, preparation and readiness. The position will develop the capacity of the sector to include and work with young people. Travel is a major component of this role, both around the state and to the Melbourne office by negotiation on a regular basis. Travel, accommodation and expenses will be covered by YACVic.

This role will work both online and in-person. Working from home arrangements are supported and can be negotiated.

This role will also assist with other logistical areas in the project, such as the project evaluation in collaboration with the Project Coordinator and Victoria University.

Benefits of working at YACVic

• Generous terms and benefits
• Flexible, disability friendly, family friendly, rainbow friendly
• Fun work culture with a social purpose
• Diversity, working with a dynamic group of youth organisations that includes regional and rural young people, the Youth Disability Advocacy Service, multicultural, Koorie and rainbow young people.
• High degree of collegial support & sector-leading professional development

Employment conditions

YACVic promotes the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all children and young people, including those with a disability, those who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or those from refugee or migrant backgrounds. We take child protection very seriously.

All employees are subject to screening and assessment against child safety standards, including rigorous background, identity and reference checks. The successful applicant will require a current Working with Children Check and a satisfactory National Police Check (costs reimbursed) and must agree to comply with YACVic’s Code of Conduct, Child Safe policy and procedures.

To be eligible to apply for this position you must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, permanent resident or hold a valid work permit or visa.

YACVic is an Equal Opportunity Employer. People with disability, people from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are encouraged to apply for this position.

If you have any questions about the role, please contact Derm Ryan (he/him), Head of YACVic Rural [email protected] or Jess Standish (she/her), Centre of Excellence Project Coordinator [email protected] using the subject line: Field Officer - Centre of Excellence enquiry via EthicalJobs.

Interviews likely to be held 18 - 21 February 2025.

Please refer to the full position description attached.