• Position: Team Leader (35 hours per week)
• Program: Yawarj Mara Empowering Families
• Salary: SCHADS Level 6 + plus 11.5% Superannuation (negotiable, dependent on experience and qualifications)
• Reports to: Manager, 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 a Team Leader to join its Yawarj Mara Empowering Familiesteam. 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 one of two Team Leaders in the Empowering Families team, you will play a pivotal role in providing leadership that supports Aboriginal families, children, young people and community. This leadership role requires someone who can:

• Lead a dedicated team of Aboriginal Family Support Practitioners
• Collaborate effectively with fellow Team Leader, Manager, and multidisciplinary professionals
• Champion culturally responsive and Aboriginal community-led practice transformation across multiple practice areas: Family Preservation, Restoration, Foster Care and Kinship Care.
• Mentor team members in delivering holistic, strengths-based, trauma-informed support
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and cultural safety
• Cultivate strong partnerships with government and non-government agencies
• Oversee case management and wholistic care coordination within the statutory framework
• Develop, implement and oversee culturally responsive practice to safeguard families, facilitate restoration, and ensure children in care maintain strong connections to their culture, family and community.

In partnership with your fellow Team Leader, Empowering Families, together you will guide your team of Aboriginal Family Support Practitioners across two areas of service delivery:

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

• Lead strategies to keep Aboriginal families together and reunite those separated
• Oversee the development and implementation of Aboriginal family-led action plans
• Focus 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: For Aboriginal children in Out-of-Home Care, you will ensure:

• Culturally responsive and appropriate care for Aboriginal children and young people, working collaboratively with their families, carers and care teams
• The development and implementation of comprehensive care plans, including cultural and therapeutic support plans
• Strong connections are maintained between Aboriginal children and their culture, family, and community
• Quality delivery of care coordination, carer support and family support

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 - Under limited direction, you will:

• Lead preventative strategies to keep Aboriginal families out of the child protection system, maintaining children's connections to family, community, and culture.
• Oversee, monitor and support the development of assessments, risk evaluations, safety planning, care coordination and case conference meetings.
• Drive sector-wide practice change to ensure culturally safe and responsive engagement with Aboriginal children, young people, and families navigating the care and protection system.
• Provide leadership, supervision, and support to staff in line with Yerrabi's Supervision Framework, promoting career development and pathways.
• Engage with a diverse range of stakeholders, including ACCOs, community agencies, government services, legal representatives, courts, and tribunals.
• Guide Aboriginal Family Practitioners in conducting culturally responsive assessments, facilitating groups, and connecting clients with appropriate services.
• Oversee care-coordination responsibilities for Aboriginal children in foster and kinship arrangements, ensuring compliance with legislation, policies, and procedures.
• 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.
• Champion interagency collaboration through leading partnerships, referrals, and multidisciplinary care teams.
• Ensure compliance with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principles (ATSICPP), keeping Aboriginal children at the centre of all decision-making.
• Maintain high-quality case notes and records in relevant systems, adhering to the Territory Records Act 2002 and ensuring accuracy and timeliness.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

• Proven leadership experience in Family Support and/or Out of Home Care, demonstrating success in improving outcomes for Aboriginal children, young people, families, and communities.
• Minimum 3 years' experience delivering and overseeing culturally responsive, strengths-based, and trauma-informed interventions in community-based or child welfare settings.
• Demonstrated understanding of child and youth protection legislation, policies, and principles, with the ability to guide team compliance and best practices.
• Demonstrated capacity to lead multidisciplinary teams while working autonomously when required, fostering a collaborative and supportive work environment.
• Exceptional self-management and leadership skills, showcasing resilience, adaptability, and professionalism in high-pressure situations.
• Superior communication skills (written and oral), with proven ability to engage diverse stakeholders, facilitate complex discussions, and represent the organisation effectively.
• In-depth knowledge of early intervention and prevention strategies, coupled with a nuanced understanding of intergenerational trauma and the ongoing impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal communities.
• Extensive understanding of Aboriginal children and families' social and emotional wellbeing, child development theories, and the complex impacts of abuse and neglect.
• Demonstrated expertise in applying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP) in practice and ability to mentor others in its implementation.
• Exceptional organisational and multitasking abilities, with a proven track record of managing complex caseloads and driving team performance.
• Skilled in building and maintaining strategic relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, including community leaders, government agencies, and non-government organisations.
• Current Working with Vulnerable Persons (WWVP) card, National Police Check (NPC), and C-class driver's license, or willingness to obtain at own expense.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA

• Relevant tertiary qualifications in Social Work, Psychology or related discipline and/or equivalent work experience in child protection and/or youth justice.
• Experiencing in delivering group programs (e.g. Circles of Security, Tuning into Kids, Functional Family Therapy, Family Group Conferencing etc).

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: Team Leader, Yawarj Mara - Empowering Families enquiry via EthicalJobs.