Peer Support Worker

Permanent Part-Time 0.8EFT, South Melbourne, headspace
- Collaborative and supportive team environment
- Thriving not for profit organisation, ADO, and salary packaging

**About Us**

Access Health and Community, with a 150-year legacy of compassionate care, is on a mission to build healthier lives together. Our team of over 400 dedicated employees and 200 volunteers, serve across 18 locations. We are thrilled to announce our upcoming merger with Inspiro, a trusted partner in community health. Inspiro, with a skilled team of 100, is dedicated to providing accessible, inclusive, and high-quality care in the Yarra Ranges. This merger strengthens our commitment to delivering exceptional care and opens up new opportunities for our team and the communities we serve.

**The opportunity**

Join a supportive and values-based culture with an engaged workforce at headspace South Melbourne, a part of Access Health and Community (AccessHC). We are dedicated to providing mental health, alcohol and other drugs (AOD), and wellbeing services to young people aged 12-25. Our mission is to create an empowering environment where young people feel encouraged to seek help and thrive.

**About the role**

For young people seeking help, their first interaction with services is a pivotal moment in their journey the Peer Support Worker at headspace South Melbourne will be the initial point of contact, engaging with young people, their carers, family, and friends before they attend a 'treat first' appointment in a genuine and empathetic manner, ensuring that their first experience with headspace South Melbourne is positive and fosters feelings of welcome, hope, and understanding.

As part of the multidisciplinary headspace team, you will provide one-on-one and group-based support to young people aged 12-25 years, collaborating closely with clinical and other staff to offer support that is welcoming, responsive, and adaptable. Drawing on your own lived experience with mental ill-health and recovery, you will support young people and their families or friends, utilising the Intentional Peer Support Framework.

Reporting to the Manager of South Melbourne, support may be delivered in person or through telehealth and some off-site and after-hours work may be required.

**What you will** be doing**

***_Key Responsibilities_
- Provide one-on-one and group based support to young people aged 12-25 years, their family/carers
- Provide consumer-perspective practice supervision and support to peer workers across the Mental Health and AOD teams at AccessHC
- Develop and co-facilitate group support programs across headspace, AOD and Mental Health teams

**What you will bring**
- _**Key Selection Criteria**
- Identify as having a lived experience of mental ill health and demonstrate current stability in recovery and be willing to effectively, respectfully and appropriately use your lived experience of mental health issues in your role
- Completion of, or enrolment in relevant Peer Helper/ Peer Facilitation training, such as, Cert IV in Peer Support, an accredited Intentional Peer Support Program or similar
- At least two years’ experience delivering peer support services in a paid or volunteer capacity (experience working with young people is preferred)
- Experience and confidence to co-facilitate a peer support group, identify any risk issues and seek support from clinical staff where required
- Experience and confidence to work one-on-one with young people to provide support, information and assistance in relation to their recovery goals

**Attributes**
- Experience in speaking at or delivering community education or community engagement events
- Understanding of the Intentional Peer Support model and its use in mental health services
- An approach that aligns with trauma-informed care principles of welcome, hope and empathy when working with young people and their family/friends
- Genuine interest and passion working with young people
- Ability to work with young people across the 12-25 year age group
- Understanding awareness of risk and safety concerns and demonstrate an understanding of when risk needs to be escalated
- Understand confidentiality, and rights and responsibilities of consumers within a community health and youth services context
- Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills
- Demonstrated ability to work creatively and respectfully with young people from a diverse range of social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, including LGBTIQA+, culturally and linguistically diverse, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and in a team environment
- Sound computer skills, proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office and other software programs
- The ability to manage wellbeing including the identification of strategies for managing wellbeing whilst working.
- Demonstrated behaviours consistent with AccessHC values

**Access Health and Community Culture and Benefits**

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