St Pauls

Extensive investment in facilities and people supporting our significant service expansion
- A culture where people care

Job location
Forensicare provides specialist forensic mental health services across 12 of Victoria’s 14 prisons with expansion underway to include Western Plains in the Barwon region. Located at Port Phillip Prison in Truganina, VIC. St Paul’s Unit is a 30-bed psychosocial rehabilitation service that provides specialist, voluntary mental health care, treatment and therapeutic programs to prisoners with a mental health diagnosis. Participants selected for the program require psychosocial rehabilitation to minimise risk of relapse and enhance their social functioning in preparation for returning to general prison environment or release to community.
**About the Role**:
The Senior Social Worker provides professional leadership within the social work service, their local team and directorate, and the broader organisation, contributing to service development and research projects, committees and working parties, and the development and review of policy and procedures. The role provides direct social work practice, consultation and advice, and clinical supervision and support to early career and more established social workers.
**Duties**:

- Ensure the maintenance of accepted professional standards through formal professional supervision, mentoring, and performance appraisal of relevant social work staff and students.
- Contibute to research projects and articles for presentation and publication both in and outside the service, which enhance the role and function of services to forensic mental health consumers and the role and function of the service as a whole.
- Initiate and implement discipline-specific quality improvement activities and contribute to generic quality improvement activities, protocol development and achieving ethical standards within the service.
- Deliver high quality social work services to consumers consistent with the Forensicare Model of Care.
- Provide consultation and advice to members of the multi-disciplinary team on social work and related issues.

**About You**:

- A sound knowledge of legislation relevant to the target population.
- Demonstrated ability to provide high-level leadership, management and supervision of staff and students.
- Ability to deliver specialist social work services including clinical, individual and group based, primary, secondary and tertiary consultation within a complex and dynamic environment.
- Proven skills and experience in developing and implementing complex case plans involving direct and indirect social work practice.
- Ability to coordinate and evaluate social work practice and service development activities within a forensic mental health setting.

**What you need**:

- Approved degree in Social Work and evidence of eligibility of membership for AASW (Australian Association of Social Workers).
- Extensive experience in a relevant social work setting.
- Please Note - Applications will be reviewed and interviewed as they are received.

A culture where people matter.
- Excellent supervision and investment in the skill development of all our team members.
- Well defined career pathways existing across our Directorates with multi-disciplined Teams.
- Salary Packaging Options available - Mortgage, Rent, Car, Expenses
- A leading, multi-faceted approach to safety, with unparalleled strategic, practical, individualised and team-based supports to minimise risks and fear and maximise safety and security, underpinned by our workplace health and safety strategy.
- Celebration and reward for good performance, through employee recognition.
- Access to an employee assistance program - an external, confidential, self-referral employee wellbeing program, for personal or work-related matters.
- A mental health and wellbeing program providing psychological, peer support and critical incidence response programs.

To access a detailed position description, please click Social Worker Grade 3.
Eligibility
- Influenza and Immunisation Evidence