Aboriginal Community Engagement Lead

**This is an Aboriginal Designated Position, classified under 'special measures' of section 12 of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010. Only Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people are eligible to apply.**

**About the Department of Government Services**

The Department of Government Services (DGS) was established on 1 January 2023 to improve everyone's experience of doing business and interacting with the Victorian government.

We bring important day-to-day services together in one department to make things easy and seamless for Victorians and businesses. We are doing this by connecting and digitising our systems and platforms across state and local government as well as streamlining our corporate and procurement services.

**About Consumer Affairs Victoria**

Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) is Victoria's consumer marketplace regulator. Our vision is for a fair, safe and competitive marketplace in Victoria.

We administer over 30 legislative schemes in Victoria. We undertake our regulatory functions and provide services to support Victorians to exercise their consumer rights and ensure that businesses and rental providers do the right thing. We also fund assistance and advocacy services for consumers and renters experiencing vulnerability.

The Services and Engagement Branch of CAV is responsible for frontline service delivery programs, including digital information services, phone and online contact services, regional services and assistance and advocacy services provided via funded community programs, for leading CAV's stakeholder and priority communities engagement, and for providing important supports for regulatory operations including strategy, risk, governance, planning and reporting services.

In line with DGS' mission to improve Victorians' experience of interacting with government, the Branch is committed to supporting CAV to provide inclusive and accessible services for all Victorians and to better engage to understand and serve the Victorian communities.

**About the role**

Reporting to the General Manager, Community and Consumer Engagement, the role forms part of a small community engagement team. The Aboriginal Community Engagement Lead, plays a central role in understanding, developing, and maintaining effective relationships with First Nations communities and stakeholders within Victoria while responding to priority needs. The role also supports CAV staff to understand diverse needs and recognise and engage with First Nations communities, meeting their needs effectively.

**Key Accountabilities**
- Builds and maintains productive relationships with First Nations stakeholders to facilitate inclusive engagement and inform CAV's work in supporting the First Nations communities, including strengthening their knowledge of their rights as consumers..
- Designs, develops, implements, embeds and maintains an approach to drive human/client-centricity as the standard cultural setting across CAV as we build capability to understand First Nation community needs and equip staff with the ability to respond in a culturally safe manner.
- Identifies and recommends improvements relevant to CAV's engagement with First Nations communities.
- Reviews and implements culturally appropriate resources.
- Assist high priority, high risk stakeholders in line with the department's commitment to diversity recognising that priority communities can be impacted differently and should be considered and supported in all that CAV does in its work as a regulator.
- Is responsible for supporting First Nations engagement, liaising across government with an emphasis on cultural change in CAV to ensure culturally safe settings are embedded and self -determination is in focus.

To be considered for the role, you must be able to demonstrate:

- Experience in developing. implementing and managing community engagement initiatives.
- Proven ability to work in First Nations communities providing inclusive engagement across wide ranging views and interests in high risk, diverse vulnerable priority communities.
- Demonstrated ability to work closely with and appreciate intersectionality and actively seek to understand and effectively address issues and views of stakeholders holding competing priorities and views
- Demonstrated commitment to self-determination, and First Nations cultural awareness.
- Adapts systems and processes quickly to changed priorities and situations.
- Coaches others to improve level of self
- awareness. Leverages emotional intelligence to create a safe space for sensitive conversations which leads to increased level of people engagement.
- Establishes a workforce that is diverse and takes advantage of relevant knowledge and skills; creates opportunities to improve knowledge of teams in the area of diversity and inclusion.
- Builds and maintains partnerships to achieve objectives; coaches others on the co-creation process and builds team commitment to co-creation by demonstrating personal commitment; builds tru