Community Outreach and Engagement Worker

4 newly created Outreach and Engagement Worker positions, Hawthorn
- Part time, with salary packaging benefits & work life balance
- Collaborative and highly supported team environment

**About Access Health and Community**

With a history of 150 years and caring at our centre, our mission and commitment is to build healthier lives within our communities and to deliver excellent health and community services for all. We have a dedicated and experienced team of over 300 employees and 200 volunteers operating across 18 locations. Our people are the centre of everything we do, contributing to the wellbeing of the community every day through our work, making a difference every day to those that need it most.

**About the role**

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a new Community Outreach Program and to work within a truly supportive and values-based culture. We are seeking to build a diverse and collaborative team of community outreach and engagement workers to support and connect vulnerable community members. This will be done through meeting people in community, facilitating referral pathways, and to develop and deliver health promotion strategies and community events targeted to the most isolated and vulnerable within hard-to-reach local communities.

As a Community Engagement Outreach Worker, you will facilitate supportive connections to residents that are experiencing isolation or loneliness within the settings of public, residential, rooming housing and other gathering places, by assisting them to connect to health and community support services and with direct connection to the Access to Community social prescription program within local government areas of Boroondara and Manningham.

**What you will be doing**
- Engage with Community members living in high-risk housing or otherwise hardly reached by connecting them with community, social and health services
- Negotiate referral pathways internally and externally to ensure people who meet eligibility criteria are identified and supported to access programs
- Link socially isolated people to the Access to Community social prescription program
- Collaborate with team members in the development of service linkages and community events

**What you will bring** - **_Key Selection Criteria_**

**_ In addition to your passion and purpose to support vulnerable people within our community you will have_**_; _
- Certificate IV (Mental Health peer work or equivalent), and/or demonstrated experience working with clients who experience mental health challenges in a community setting
- Experience within community outreach programs particularly within marginalized and hard to reach community members or diverse and disadvantaged communities
- Have a lived experience of mental ill health or pharmaceutical/medication misuse, and demonstrate current stability in your recovery or identify as a family member/ or carer of someone who has lived experience (desirable)
- Demonstrated experience engaging with a range of stakeholders including GP and health services, AOD services, consumers and community groups
- Sound assessment and reporting skills and proficiency in Microsoft Office suite

***Attributes**
- An ability to work sensitively with people of diverse cultures, abilities, ages, sexualities and gender identities
- Team player
- Commitment to continuous quality improvement and health promotion principles
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Proficiency in spoken languages other than English especially Arabic, Farsi, Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese (desirable)
- Effective time management and prioritisation skills
- Demonstrated behaviours consistent with Access Health and Community values

**Access Health and Community Culture & Benefits**

**The reasons why people love working at Access Health and Community**:
Not only will you benefit from a rewarding and challenging career; you will thrive in our collaborative and supportive culture where you will make a positive difference each day giving back to those that need it most.

**Enjoy the extensive Access Health and Community range of benefits that are on offer;**
- A truly supportive and values-based culture and engaged workforce
- A culture of trust and empowerment for people to grow and thrive
- Commitment to a work-life balance with flexible working conditions
- Generous salary packaging opportunities (up to $15,990 per annum + meals/entertainment expenses)
- An authentic focus on staff wellbeing and health
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- A commitment to ongoing professional Development and career growth
- Paid parental leave and opportunity to purchase additional leave
- Annual leave Loading

**Access Health and Community have an authentic commitment to the health and wellbeing of our staff**:
**_Wellbeing Connector Program _**

A network of 20 peer supporters called Wellbeing Connectors that are there to talk with their colleagues about mental health

**_Personal Resilience Plans_**