Detention Rights Triage Manager - [Archived Advertisement]

Location: Based at 214-218 Nicholson St Footscray

Organisational Context
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) is the largest aid, employment, health and advocacy organisation for people seeking asylum in Australia. The ASRC provides a range of direct services as well as participating in law reform, campaigning and lobbying. 
 
Humanitarian Services Stream
The Humanitarian Services Stream exists to improve mental, physical, and social well-being of members of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. We safeguard basic human rights for people seeking asylum such as food, security, medical care and adequate standard of living, whilst promoting dignity, empowerment and community.
The following programs make up the Humanitarian Services Stream:

• General Access Program
• Community Food Programs
• Client Services Program
• Health Program
• Detention Rights Advocacy Program

ASRC Detention Rights Advocacy Program (DRAP)
The Detention Rights Advocacy Program focuses on individual and systemic advocacy for people in detention and on Nauru and Manus Island (Papua New Guinea, PNG). This includes individual intervention, referral and support, private and public advocacy strategies for groups and individuals, dealing with media requests, highlighting conditions of detention (onshore and offshore, including Nauru and PNG) assistance with complaints to human rights and other complaints bodies and support for strategic litigation.

Detention Rights Triage Manager
The Detention Rights Triage Manager is responsible for managing the medical triage aspect of the DRAP program, to ensure that people in offshore detention (PNG and Nauru) are appropriately triaged for allocation to the Detention Rights Advocacy Program based on medical need. The Manager is responsible for managing all elements of the triage program, including staff management, oversight of contributing medical practitioners, waitlist risk management and oversight of budget.
 
Two paid staff report directly to the Detention Rights Triage Manager.
 
Specific Duties
The role will be responsible for undertaking the following duties:

Program management

• Ensure that all referrals, self-referrals and communications to the Medevac group are responded to in a timely manner.
• Implement a rigorous medical triage system to ensure casework and legal services are offered to those with the most urgent medical need in the offshore processing system
• Collect and collate medical information for people in offshore detention seeking medical care evacuation to inform medical triage
• Liaise with and provide support to external medical professionals conducting medical triage assessments
• Oversee suicide intervention, notifications and correspondence to on-island services to ensure mental and physical health risks are managed prior to service provision
• Ensure that triage documentation and correspondence is maintained to a high level to provide for systemic advocacy and strategic litigation
• Work with staff to implement strategic plan actions through development of work plans, monitoring and reporting
• Evaluate triage operations regularly to ensure the best possible outcomes for clients and to ensure program sustainability
• Manage budgets
• Be involved in internal policy and program development
• Develop and maintain excellent working relationships with key stakeholders and partners
• Contribute to organizational reports and research
• Provide ongoing consultation and advice to staff on complex client issues

Staff management

• Be active in the leadership, development and maintenance of an effective team
• Provide regular supervision and debriefing to staff
• Oversee the provision of annual reviews with staff, in collaboration with HR and Director – Humanitarian Services
• Be involved in staff recruitment for direct report staff
• Engage in relevant professional development and supervision

Selection Criteria

1. Tertiary qualifications in social work, healthcare, public health or other relevant area;
2. Extensive knowledge of and demonstrated experience in managing triage and assessment within a health context;
3. Demonstrated extensive experience in managing health or related programs / projects;
4. Experience in management and leadership of staff including supervising staff and building and working within effective teams;
5. Experience in supervising crisis response and risk assessments within a social services or health context;
6. Knowledge of the policy context of practice with asylum seekers, and the potential effects on people seeking asylum;

 
Desirable:

1. Volunteer management experience, including training, supervision and ongoing support experience with working collaboratively with other services, developing partnerships etc.
2. Experience and skills in setting up and running monitoring and evaluation processes for ongoing programs;
3. Experience working with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds;
4. Experience working with survivors of torture and trauma;
5. Experience working with people in regional processing centres on Manus Island and/or Nauru.

 
Conditions of Employment
Terms and conditions of employment will be based on the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 or its successor agreements.