Community Services Worker

About Wayside Chapel

Wayside Chapel has provided unconditional love, care and support to the most marginalised people on and around the streets of Sydney since 1964. Our mission is to create a community with no 'us and them', and address underlying issues of inequality, wellbeing, and loneliness. From our centres in Kings Cross and Bondi and through outreach teams, we offer a range of support services that place dignity, respect, and love at the heart of what we do.

Find out more about us and what we do by visiting our website:

About this Position

The Community Services Worker is the first point of contact for any visitor accessing Wayside Chapel (Wayside) services and therefore has a primary duty to maintain a safe, welcoming and inclusive space for our community. Once a visitor has accessed a Wayside site, the Community Services Worker is responsible for ascertaining and responding to their immediate needs such as practical assistance and crisis referrals.

This role is full-time Monday – Friday 1:30PM – 9:30PM.

Key Responsibilities

Working with visitors

• Greet visitors, build rapport, conduct basic assessment of need and direct visitor flow through the service;
• Assess visitors in line with Wayside criteria to ensure suitability to access services
• Provide visitors with information on Wayside services and other local services;
• Manage the provision of practical assistance including allocation of showers, toiletries, emergency clothes and emergency meals;
• Provide crisis support and respond to immediate visitor issues such as lack of housing, mental health crises and other health emergencies;
• Refer visitors to care coordination staff when appropriate;
• Develop and deliver various activities to assist with visitor engagement;
• Promote independence, self-determination and self-worth in visitors through one-to-one and community engagement.
• Supporting visitors with basic administration tasks such as printing or emailing

Service delivery

• Monitor and maintain adequate supplies to provide practical assistance for visitors such as toiletries, clothing and clean towels;
• Collaborate and work effectively with volunteers and with other programs within Wayside for the advancement of visitor care objectives;
• Participate in interagency meetings when required and ensure Wayside offers a consistent and professional presence. Explore opportunities to expand relationships and collaborative work with local service providers;
• Utilise a trauma informed care approach to all interactions with visitors;
• Operate within a harm minimisation framework when working with visitors engaged in high- risk behaviours.
• Support the triage of needs to ensure appropriate care is provided to visitors

Visitor Focus

• Maintain a safe environment through monitoring visitor behaviour and managing incidents as they arise, including dealing with aggression, challenging behavioural issues, substance use, overdose, suicidal ideation, complex and co-occurring mental health presentations
• Observe and maintain visibility of visitors in designated area at all times
• Supporting café staff with behaviour management and de-escalating behaviour of concern
• Liaise and maintain contact with the op shop team, managing any incidents or visitor behaviour on op shop premises
• Monitor Community Services Centre (CSC) bathroom and shower usage to ensure visitor safety and well-being
• General cleaning of bathrooms and showers, where appropriate

Administration and Reporting

• Record accurate and timely data and information and effectively use available systems. This includes internal systems to record program statistics, CIMS, visitor flags and other systems utilised in interagency meetings;
• Maintain supply of front desk templates including shower, phone charging and visitor lists

About you

• TAFE level qualifications in Community Services Work, Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs or other relevant area, and/or extensive experience in the areas of addressing the needs of disadvantaged populations;
• Experience working with at-risk populations and understanding of related issues, both practical and systematic (including but not limited to Juvenile Justice, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, CALD, trauma, homelessness, mental health, alcohol and other drugs);
• Knowledge of and ability to operate with regard to trauma informed principles;
• Initiative, flexibility and the ability to work in a demanding environment;
• Ability to work as part of a team with a commitment to sharing knowledge and expertise and supporting Wayside culture;
• Understanding of community-based model of care and commitment to the mission, vision and values of Wayside.

What's in it for you?

• Five weeks Annual Leave
• $15,900 of your annual salary tax-free through generous NFP salary packaging
• 3x Flex Leave days
• Paid Cultural and Ceremonial Leave
• Access to monthly External Clinical Supervision
• Access to our Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

To apply, please follow the link. Include your CV and a cover letter detailing your motivations and relevant experience.

If you have any questions, please reach out to using the subject line: Community Services Worker

Wayside is an Equal Opportunity Employer that provides an inclusive work environment and embraces the diverse talent of its people.

We value people of all cultures, languages, capacities, sexual orientations, gender identities and/or expressions. We are committed to achieving a diverse workforce and strongly encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Prior to an offer of employment, candidates will be required to complete the pre-employment checks, including a Police check, reference checks and Working With Children Check.