Aboriginal Disability Practice Advisor

**Utilise your expertise in providing support and advice to Aboriginal young people with disability**:

- **Fixed Term full-time role until 30/06/2027**:

- **VPS Grade : 5 $109,730-132,764 plus superannuation.**

The Department of Justice and Community Safety (the department) is seeking an **Aboriginal Disability Practice Advisor** to fill a critical role within the Clinical Oversight and Rehabilitation business unit.

**About the Business Unit**

The Department of Justice and Community Safety is responsible for the supervision of children and young people in the criminal justice system, providing strategic advice, and delivering strategic outcomes to address youth crime and reduce offending behaviour. Children and young people with a cognitive disability are significantly over-represented within the justice system and understanding their unique and individual support needs is imperative to addressing their risk of recidivism. The Disability Advisory Team performs a clinical oversight function to support the business in delivering services informed by evidence-based research that are safe and inclusive for all children and young people with disability. The team works within the Youth Justice community and custodial settings to develop the capability of Youth Justice to proactively identify and respond to the needs of people with disability, by facilitating opportunities for upskilling and training. Further, the provision of expert disability advice to address responsivity factors and strengthen protective factors, identify and drive system improvement and delivery, promote a safe and inclusive environment for young people with disability and guide evidence-based practice in supporting children and young people involved in the justice system are central to the role. The team works to ensure that the young person's individual needs are understood, respected and supported, that their voice is heard, and that service delivery supports a continuity of care model, aiding their transition from justice services to community engagement.

**About the Role**

You will be responsible for supporting the needs of young Aboriginal people with disability as well as building wider workforce capability to ensure this occurs, while building collaborative and constructive relationships across government and community sectors. person with a

Specifically, some of your duties will include:

- Respond to referrals by providing secondary consultation on a specific situation for a young Aboriginal person with a disability.
- Provide expert advice to Youth Justice staff on how to support the well-being and developmental needs of children and young people with disability more broadly.
- Support Youth Justice staff to use effective and tailored approaches to address the responsivity needs of children and young people.
- Support staff to identify disability using appropriate culturally appropriate screening tools
- Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of forensic disability and its interface with NDIS, forensic disability services and the broader service system and utilise this knowledge in providing oversight to people with disability in contact with Youth Justice and to inform NDIS liaison committees.
- Provide secondary consultation to Youth Justice staff to support the transitional needs of Aboriginal young people with a disability.
- Provide expert advice to Youth Justice staff to support Aboriginal children to access the NDIS and be provided services funded through the NDIS.
- Facilitate disability-specific training to Youth Justice staff, contributing to Communities of Practice (CoPs) or events and identifying professional development opportunities in response to operational and the needs of young Aboriginal people.
- Utilise disability-specific knowledge to facilitate the brokerage assessments as required to support access to appropriate services and supports
- Collect and maintain data on children and young people with disabilities who are engaged with Youth Justice.
- Promote the establishment of collaborative relationships and partnerships between the Youth Justice community and disability services, including the NDIS, and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, in the support of children and young people who have a disability.
- Completion of other required tasks as directed by the Clinical Disability Manager.

To learn more about this role before applying, please read the attached position description.

**About you**

To be successful in this role, you will have:

- Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the Aboriginal community, both society and culture, and the issues impacting it.
- Demonstrated ability to communicate sensitively and work effectively with the Victorian Aboriginal community.
- Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of complex cognitive presentations among Aboriginal children and young people, including the impact of disability and current approaches to effectively support Aborigina