• Position: Aboriginal Family Support Practitioner (35 hours per week)
• Program: Yawarj Mara Empowering Families
• Salary: SCHADS Level 5 + plus 11.5% Superannuation (negotiable, dependent on experience and qualifications)
• Reports to: Team Leader, Empowering Families
• Excellent salary packaging
• Ex Gratia Days available at Easter and Christmas + Public Holidays Including NAIDOC Day
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are strongly encouraged to apply

Yerrabi Yurwang Child & Family Aboriginal Corporation (Yerrabi Yurwang) is recruiting an Aboriginal Family Support Practitioner to join its Yawarj Mara Empowering Families team. This role offers the opportunity to drive meaningful, innovative, and culturally responsive service delivery that sets new standards in the sector, ensuring Aboriginal children and young people grow up safe, healthy, and deeply connected to their family, culture, and community while empowering Aboriginal families to thrive.

THE ORGANISATION

Yerrabi Yurwangwas established in 2019, due to the high unmet health and wellbeing needs of the local Aboriginal Community residing in Canberra’s North- western Ngunnawal region. Yerrabi Yurwang means to ‘walk strong’ and was bestowed upon the organisation by our esteemed and respected Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Agnes Shea OAM, who was also a Founding Board Member of Yerrabi Yurwang and our Inaugural Patron. Yerrabi Yurwang operates in the Northwest of the Australian Capital Territory, part of the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal People. Yerrabi Yurwang is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation, which means it is owned and operated by Aboriginal People, for Aboriginal People, and is committed to the principle of self-determination, whereby we seek to engage and empower Aboriginal People and their Families who utilise Yerrabi Yurwang’s services.

THE PROGRAM

The Yarwaj Mara Empowering Families Program supports Aboriginal children, young people, and their families to thrive by reducing involvement with statutory systems through early intervention, family preservation, and restoration support. We work alongside Aboriginal families, building on their inherent strengths, to address their immediate needs, helping stabilise their situations and prevent involvement with the ACT Child Protection and Youth Justice systems. By connecting Aboriginal families with access to practical and wraparound supports, we work to promote long-term connection, safety and stability. Our approach safeguards Aboriginal children, enabling them to remain at home, while empowering their parents to create nurturing environments where their families thrive. When children cannot safely remain at home, the Yarwaj Mara Empowering Families Team coordinate and manage care for Aboriginal children and young people in foster and kinship care, partnering with families, government and non-government agencies to ensure they remain connected to their culture, family, and community. We support foster and kinship carers to provide culturally responsive care to Aboriginal children and young people, while working to minimise the time Aboriginal children and young people spend away from their families. Additionally, we support parents in making the necessary changes for their children's safe return home, guiding Aboriginal families throughout the restoration process, and ensuring their involvement in key decisions. Through these efforts, we empower Aboriginal families to create lasting, positive change, ensuring their children grow up safe, healthy, and connected to their family, culture, and community.

THE ROLE

As an Aboriginal Family Support Practitioner, you will play a crucial role in the Empowering Families team, working closely with Aboriginal families, children, young people, foster carers, kinship carers, and multi-disciplinary teams. Your primary responsibility will be to deliver wholistic, culturally safe, trauma-informed, and strengths-based support to achieve positive outcomes for Aboriginal children, young people and families.

Working closely with the Team Leaders, Empowering Families and multi-disciplinary partners, you will work across two areas of service delivery:

Family Preservation and Restoration: In this area, you will:

• Work to keep Aboriginal families together and reunite those who have been separated
• Develop, implement and promote Aboriginal family-led action plans, focusing on quality early intervention and support to strengthen Aboriginal families
• Collaborate with families and sector professionals to prevent child protection system involvement and/or support family restoration efforts
• Promote sustained connection of Aboriginal children to their family and community.

Foster and Kinship Care: When Aboriginal children are in Out-of-Home Care, you will:

• Collaborate with care teams to develop and implement care plans, cultural plans, therapeutic support plans.
• Ensure culturally responsive, appropriate care and support is provided
• Safeguard and promote strong connections to their culture, family, and community
• Manage care coordination in accordance with daily case management responsibilities, as delegated by the Director-General

In both areas, you will:

• Collaborate with Aboriginal families, community members, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, community sector organisations and government
• Improve local, cultural, community-led responses to enhance service coordination and outcomes
• Ensure active implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP)
• Champion the delivery of the Closing the Gap priority reforms, particularly targets 11, 12, and 13, for the local Aboriginal community.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and implement comprehensive, culturally appropriate and responsive care plans, Aboriginal Family-Led Action Plans, cultural plans, case plans and therapeutic plans
• Manage care-coordination for Aboriginal children in foster and kinship arrangements, ensuring legislative and policy compliance
• Conduct home visits, attend court proceedings, and support clients through legal processes
• Perform risk assessments and develop care plans safety
• Work in partnership with all stakeholders in a child or young person's network, including families, ACCOs, Elders, and government and non-government agencies.
• Champion Aboriginal family-led decision-making, empowering families and children to actively participate in care and protection matters.
• Ensure compliance with ATSICPP, keeping Aboriginal children central in all decision-making
• Maintain accurate, timely, and high-quality case records in line with the Territory Records Act 2002
• Engage in reflective practice, supervision, and ongoing professional development, contributing to a collaborative learning culture

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

• Demonstrated experience and expertise in delivering culturally responsive, strengths based, and trauma informed therapeutic interventions to Aboriginal children, young people and their families
• Demonstrated ability to work within a multi-disciplinary team and work independently when required
• Demonstrated knowledge of early intervention and prevention practice and principles including a broad understanding of inter-generational trauma and ongoing impacts of colonisation
• Sound understanding of theoretical knowledge when working with Aboriginal children and families including social and emotional wellbeing being
• Sound understanding of child and adolescent development including the impacts of child abuse and neglect and supporting children & families with complex needs
• Demonstrated understanding of the ATSICPP and ability to apply this practice
• Experience and interest in working to make sustainable system change Aboriginal families
• Strong organisational skills and ability to multi-task with demonstrated experience in working as a valuable part of a team
• Well-developed verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to develop strong relationships and work effectively with a wide range of stakeholders including community, Government and Non-Government Organisations
• Working With Vulnerable Persons (WWVP) card, National Police Check (NPC) and C-class driver’s license, or capacity and willingness to obtain at your own expense

DESIRABLE CRITERIA

• Minimum 2 years’ experience working with Aboriginal children, young people and families in community-based and/or child welfare settings.
• Qualifications in social work, community services, mental health, allied health, youth work or related discipline.
• Experiencing in delivering group programs (e.g. Circles of Security, Tuning into Kids, Functional Family Therapy, Family Group Conferencing etc.)
• Demonstrated ability to use a range of active engagement strategies with vulnerable and at-risk children, young people and their families, and be flexible and creative in meeting their needs.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

• Be part of a hardworking, good humoured and supportive team.
• Work in an organisation that values its people promotes a strong sense of belonging and community.
• Hybrid and flexible working conditions + excellent salary packaging.

Please note, prior to commencement successful candidates will be required to provide a:

• National Police Check.
• Working with Vulnerable People Act 2011 (background check).

Successful candidates, please be aware a six-month probationary period applies to this position.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact Hayley Whatman on 0428 088 807 or [email protected] using the subject line: Aboriginal Family Support Practitioner enquiry via EthicalJobs.