Senior Practitioner

Introduction:

The Opportunity

At CatholicCare, we're committed to creating safer, stronger futures for children, young people, families, and carers. We're seeking a passionate and experienced Senior Practitioner to play a vital role in guiding and strengthening casework practice across our Social Services programs, including Permanency Support, Carer Assessments and Placement, Foster and Kinship Care, Supported Independent Living, and the Specialist Care Leavers Program.

In this role, you'll be a trusted source of advice, mentoring, and support for practitioners working in child protection and out-of-home care contexts. You'll help shape the quality of practice by leading with evidence-based, trauma-informed, and child-focused approaches that uphold dignity and create positive outcomes. While you won't manage staff directly, you'll work alongside casework managers and the leadership team, contributing to audits, compliance reviews, training, and the ongoing development of practice standards.

We're looking for someone who brings both professional expertise and personal integrity. You'll be confident in navigating complex and sensitive cases, courageous in providing clear and transparent advice, and committed to ensuring our work meets the highest standards of care and accountability. You'll thrive on collaboration but also have the autonomy to work independently, and you'll bring a reflective, growth-focused mindset that inspires and develops others.

If you're driven by a deep commitment to child safety and wellbeing, and you're ready to use your skills to support and strengthen a dedicated team of practitioners, this is a rewarding opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH US

• Receive an attractive salary with salary packaging available
• Paid parental leave for eligible employees;
• Fantastic ongoing training & development, coaching & mentoring and career progression opportunities;
• A great friendly environment of dedicated and passionate co-workers;
• Discounted gym membership, Fitness Passport; and more.
• Onsite Parking

Description:

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Senior Practitioner provides timely practice advice, guidance and support to CatholicCare's Social Service Programs, Permanency Support Programs (PSP), including Carer Assessments and Placement Team, Foster and Kinship Care Team, Supported Independent Living (SIL) and Specialist Care Leavers Program.

The Senior Practitioner's (SP's) primary purpose is to foster the implementation of evidencebased, trauma-informed, child focused, family-seeing and dignity-giving casework. The SP supports practitioners by developing and delivering education, training and mentoring opportunities, promoting professional service provision in accordance with legislation, regulation, business rules and best practice standards.

The SP works closely with the Permanency Support Casework Managers and Executive Manager, conducting complex reviews, auditing and compliance tasks, to promote accountability, transparency and practice improvement.

The SP is not responsible for the management of staff, however they contribute to leadership, culture and professionalism of CatholicCare Social Services in the Hunter-Manning.

Skills and Experiences:

EXPERIENCE/CRITERIA

• A commitment to the Vision, Mission and Values of our organisation and active engagement in organisational events
• Extensive knowledge and experience of child protection and out-of-home-care programs, and their associated case management and casework requirements.
• Extensive knowledge and experience in supporting caseworkers in achieving best practice standards for documentation (including but not limited to court reports and affidavits)
• Extensive knowledge and experience in facilitating practice discussions, training and group supervision.
• Extensive knowledge and experience of relevant legislation and regulation, including the role and function of the Office of the Children's Guardian (Child Safe Scheme & Child Safe Standards), and the Department of Communities and Justice (policies, practices, and procedures).
• Foster accountable and collaborative casework that respects the culture and context of each child, young person, family and community and is based on timely sharing of accurate information to ensure that the support meets their identified needs.
• Provide specialist advice and guidance to practitioners across all levels, supporting considered decision-making impacting challenging, complex or sensitive engagements.
• Directly work with and mentor practitioners across the casework continuum, role modelling casework practice skills that are meaningful, purposeful and responsive to the changing needs of children, young people, their families, community and authorised carers.
• Undertake complex reviews, auditing and compliance checks of casework practice, reporting findings and recommendations to improve the quality of casework through professional development and quality assurance programs.
• Develop and maintain an understanding of research and research-to-practice initiatives, committing to ongoing personal professional development.
• Design and assist in the implementation of professional development programs within

service delivery areas.

• Support policy development based on best practice to improve service delivery across all program levels.
• Ability to work across several locations, time manage and prioritise work.
• Develop and maintain networks and relationships with key stakeholders, service partners and clinical experts to deliver appropriate services to children, young people, their families, community and authorised carers.
• Ability to demonstrate and work within the key accountabilities and inherent requirement of this position detailed in Section 12.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Tertiary qualifications in a Social Work, Psychology, Social Science, Welfare, or related

discipline with demonstrated commitment to ongoing professional development.

• Current NSW Driver Licence
• Current Working with Children Check clearance in accordance with the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012
• National Criminal History Record Check in accordance with the Disability Inclusion Act 2014
• This role is subject to a NSW Office of the Children's Guardian Residential Care Workers Register check

To Apply

Please provide a current copy of your Resume and a Cover Letter which addresses the two criterion points below:

• Describe your experience providing expert advice, mentoring, and support to caseworkers in complex child protection and out-of-home care matters, ensuring practice is evidence-based, trauma-informed, and compliant with legislation and standards.
• Provide an example of how you have influenced or improved practice quality through audits, compliance reviews, or training initiatives, while maintaining a balance between supporting practitioners and holding them accountable to best practice.

For further information regarding this position, please contact: Lauren Fisher, Acting Director -

Applications close: 11:59pm Wednesday 8th October 2025

Additional information

The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable persons and preventing those in our care from suffering abuse or neglect. It is committed to implementing and maintaining compliance with the NSW Child Safe Standards and the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards and takes a zero-tolerance approach to abuse of children or vulnerable persons.

All who work in the name of the Diocese must comply with the Diocesan Safeguarding Framework Policy and act in accordance with the Diocese's Code of Conduct which includes the Diocese's Safeguarding Commitment Statement. Employees are required to undergo a National Police Check and retain a valid NSW Working with Children Check where necessary, in accordance with legislation.