Domestic Violence Practitioner Relief (Casual) Ipswich & Toowoomba - [Archived Advertisement]

 Domestic Violence Practitioner Relief (Casual) Ipswich & Toowoomba

The DV Practitioner would be primarily based in both/either Ipswich & surrounds and/or Toowoomba & surrounds, and providing counselling and support to women who are experiencing or have experienced or used domestic and family violence. The DV Practitioner role will provide general services to women, service providers and the community, such as the provision of phone and face-to-face information and referral, crisis counselling, advocacy, risk assessment, safety planning and case management. The DV Practitioner will be assessing women’s eligibility for Safety Upgrades brokerage as a function of the overall assessment, and referring eligible clients for brokerage where appropriate. The DV Practitioner will also engage in some short-medium term individual counselling and/or group work with women where possible.

The DV Practitioner (Toowoomba) will participate in a satellite and mobile outreach roster with other DV Practitioners and Counselling Team workers. The key outreach points for satellite services will be in Warwick, Stanthorpe, Dalby, Chinchilla, Goondiwindi, Oakey and Pittsworth. Mobile outreach services will be offered to women and children in hotels or other temporary accommodation awaiting refuge in Toowoomba, and all direct service delivery workers will participate in an on-call roster for this outside of business hours. When DV Practitioners are delivering satellite services, they will be located off-site from the DVAC main office, but will be based in another community-based organisation, with access to the informal support that this offers. While DVACT will seek to stay connected with off-site workers, it will be important for any worker in this position to be able to work autonomously, ethically and with limited direction at times. Due to the nature of the work and location, liaison, networking and developing collaborative partnerships will be a function of the role.

The DV Practitioner may also attend Domestic Violence Call over at one of the 11 Magistrates Courts serviced by DVAC as required. This includes providing court support services, information and advocacy directly to aggrieveds and respondents who have experienced domestic or family violence, as well as liaising with key stakeholders within the court system alongside the team at DVACT.

The work performed by DVAC involves frontline crisis assistance work supporting individuals and families impacted by to domestic and family violence and/or sexual violence. All staff employed by DVAC will be privy to or take part in traumatic conversations on a regular basis. In addition to the training and support provided by the employer, the successful applicant will have to be mindful of their own personal wellbeing.

Preferred Qualifications and Experience

·         Possession of relevant tertiary qualifications in the psychology, social work or human services field;

·         Experience and skills in risk assessment, safety planning, crisis support, counselling, court support and advocacy;

·         Experience and skills in working in community based organisations utilising a feminist perspective;

·         Knowledge regarding feminist practice and its application in working against domestic and family violence;

·         Knowledge and skills to ensure the provision of culturally, gender and age appropriate services to clients;

·         Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills;

·         Current driver’s licence and Blue Card;

·         Working knowledge of the Domestic & Family Violence Protection Act 2012 and knowledge of court and legislative proceedings as they relate to the Act, and;

·         All DVAC staff are required to complete a National Police Check upon successful offer of position.

Selection Criteria

1.       What is your knowledge of the issues affecting women and children experiencing domestic and family violence, and your understanding of feminist perspectives on domestic and family violence, including the individual, familial, legal and social issues involved?

2.       Outline your extensive experience and skills in, and conceptual framework for, conducting risk assessments and delivering crisis support and advocacy work with women who have experienced trauma.

3.       Outline your extensive experience and skills in designing, developing and delivering counselling and case management with women and young people from a feminist perspective.

4.       What strategies and skills do you employ to work autonomously and to prioritise competing demands, and in what contexts have you had to apply these strategies?

5.       How have you contributed to, and what are your values in relation to, a supportive and collaborative staff team environment in a community based organisation?

6.       What is your knowledge of the administrative functions of a community based organisation (e.g. computer skills, data management, reporting, verbal and written skills) and how do you contribute to such functions?

Note: Only applications which address the key selection criteria will be considered.

The full position description can be found on our website www.dvac.org.au New and Evens - Positions Vacant

Applying for this position

Closing date is 9am Monday 19 November 2018. Please send a current CV along with a no more than 2 page document, addressing the selection criteria to:

The Selection Panel
PO BOX 964
Ipswich, QLD 4305

Or email ea@dvac.org.au using the subject line “RELIEF/CASUAL DV PRACTITIONER EOI”