Suicide Prevention Peer Workers

**Position Title: 2X Suicide Prevention Peer Workers (2 X positions available)**
**Employment Type: Permanent Part time / Full Time**
**Hours per week: Up To 38 Hours**

**Position Grade: Health Education Officer (Non-Graduate) / Health Education Officer (Graduate)**
**Salary: $60,373 - $87,304 base salary per annum / $69,050- $110,326 base salary per annum ( pro-rata for Part-Time)**
**Enterprise Agreement: The Named NSW (Non-Declared) AHO Professional and Associated Staff Agreement 2022**
**Department Name: Towards Zero Suicides Team, Darlinghurst Campus**

**About us**:
St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney is a leading not-for-profit organisation providing health services to our community. Guided by our values of compassion, excellence, integrity and justice, we promote a culture of diversity and inclusion and empower our people to learn, grow and innovate.

**Benefits of working at St Vincent’s include**:
Generous salary packaging and Fitness Passport for eligible staffOpportunity to access a large range of clinical and non-clinical education programsSupported post graduate opportunities within applicable fieldsCareer development opportunities across the St Vincent’s Health Australia NetworkEmployee Assistance ProgramWork/Life balance

**About the role**:
We have an exciting opportunity to work in a dynamic team leading our approach to the provision of quality care to clients of the Towards Zero Suicide Team.

You will provide support and connections for people who present to the service in distress or experiencing suicidal crisis. This service promotes a “no wrong door approach” and provides a non-clinical space and alternative to emergency department presentations.

For many people experiencing a suicidal crisis, emergency departments are the most immediately accessed or only form of support. However, busy emergency departments are not ideal locations for people who are in psychological distress.

The suicide prevention peer worker will provide people with appropriate and responsive care in a warm welcoming non clinical environment, nearby to emergency departments.

People can also be connected with a wide range of other community based services such as for example housing, relationship counselling, financial assistance, drug and alcohol, homelessness, CALD services and Aboriginal services to help address the causes of their distress.

The Suicide Prevention Peer Worker will provide holistic and culturally sensitive person centered, recovery-oriented and trauma-informed peer support as a team approach, to achieve better health outcomes and better access to services. Support may include:
Psychosocial support, safety planning, recovery/wellness planning, individual or group peer support, and advocacy.Collaborative approach to supporting people to identify and connect with the support they need and want.May also be required to work from or liaise with emergency departments to ensure people in distress are successfully linked to the service and that emergency department staff have a high awareness of the service.The Suicide Prevention Peer worker will deliver support that aligns with the principles of step up/step down care. This includes making connections to a range of community-based services for ongoing support if required (step down), or supporting people to determine if they require clinical intervention including emergency care and/or outreach teams for follow up (step up).

The service will operate outside of business working hours including weekends and public holidays.

**Our Culture**:
**Application Instructions**:
**Selection Criteria**:
1. Personal integrity and demonstrated commitment to the Philosophy, Mission and Values of Mary Aikenhead Ministries and St Vincent’s Health Australia**.**

2. Personal lived experience of a suicidal crisis and/or attempt, and ability to meaningfully and purposefully use lived experience of suicide to provide peer support to people at risk of suicide.

3. Intentional Peer Support (IPS), and Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work (Consumer), or successful completion of Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work (Consumer) or willing to attain within 18 months of commencing position

4. Capacity to use person centered recovery-oriented and trauma-informed principles in providing support to people at risk of suicide.

5. Understanding of the suicide prevention sector and ability to utilise appropriate suicide prevention support such as crisis response, safety planning and managing risk and an understanding of, and commitment to, recovery oriented services and lived experience involvement in service design, implementation and evaluation.

6. Capacity to work collaboratively with people using the service, families/carers, colleagues, other NSW Health personnel and other stakeholders.

8. Experience working in community based health or social support settings or NSW Health Services and awareness of NSW Health policies and procedures.

**Applications close on 2