Koorie Engagement Support Officer

Location: Melbourne

Job type: Full time / From 28/01/2025

Organisation: Schools (Government)

**Salary**: Salary not specified

Occupation: Education and Training

Reference: 1456028

**Location Profile**:
The KESO role supports the Department of Education and Training (DET) priorities in Early Years, schools and the strategic priorities set by the Council of Australia Governments (COAG), the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework (VAAF) and _Closing the Gap_ initiatives.

The Victorian Government is establishing Victoria as the Education State. The vision for the Education State is about educational excellence, equity and the opportunity to engage in lifelong learning.

The Education State: Schools agenda sets out the government's plans to reach a set of ambitious but achievable system-wide targets
- Learning for life; Happy, healthy and resilient kids; Breaking the link; Pride and confidence in our schools.

The Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO) has been developed to assist schools to focus on key strategies that are known to have the greatest impact on school improvement and support the achievement of the targets. These include: Positive climate for learning; Excellence in teaching and learning; Professional leadership; Community engagement in learning.

**Selection Criteria**:
**Criteria 1: 'Specialist Expertise - Koorie Engagement & Culture'**
- Identifies relevant referral agencies and support services to support educational success of Koorie children and young people.
- Engages with key stakeholders in government and community for a common educational purpose.
- Works with community and key stakeholders, including Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Groups (LAECGs), to share educational values and responsibility for achievement, engagement, education related wellbeing programs, and activities for Koorie children, young people and their families engaged in education.
- Promotes community awareness of educational issues and services through a range of formal and informal settings, as appropriate in local communities.
- Uses diverse approaches, activities, and partnerships to link services and stakeholders, to increase involvement of Koorie families and community with service providers and their staff.
- Can identify and communicate local Koorie community priorities and issues to education service providers.
- Has a comprehensive understanding and awareness of local Koorie history and cultural protocols.
- Can appropriately promote and facilitate the understanding and observance of local Koorie culture and protocols.

**Criteria 2: 'Project Management'**
- Develops project plans that clearly describe program/service objectives, actions required, and progress made.
- Organises and coordinates regular meetings that support other members of the regional Koorie Education Workforce team.
- Anticipates potential issues and facilitates solutions to ensure program objectives are met.
- Implements projects in a planned way identifying risks and planning to minimise their impact on project.
- Monitors the progress of projects, adapts and updates plans and tasks to keep project results successful and achieve objectives.

**Criteria 3: 'Relationship Building'**
- Establishes and maintains effective relationships with people at all Departmental levels, stakeholder groups, organisations and communities.
- Builds trust through consistent action, communication and implementation.
- Promotes harmony and consensus through diplomatic handling of disagreements.
- Communicates and relates well to people from a diverse range of cultures and backgrounds and sees issues from other perspectives.
- Provides professional support to colleagues within the workplace.

**Criteria 4: 'Initiative & Accountability'**
- Is proactive, initiates action and follows DET's referral and reporting processes.
- Identifies opportunities and acts on them.
- Takes responsibility for own actions and behaviours.
- Works to an action plan and can flexibility adapt and change when appropriate.

**Criteria 5: 'Communication'**
- Written communication: ensures any written communication contains necessary information to achieve its purpose and intent.
- Verbal communication: effectively conveys information in a clear and engaging way recognising the diversity of audiences, and also uses active listening skills

**Criteria 6: 'Resilience'**
- Remains calm and copes effectively in times of conflict or difficulty.
- Accepts and responds appropriately to constructive feedback.
- Sets and maintains appropriate boundaries between personal and professional relationships and responsibilities.
- Maintains a professional demeanour and represents employer and education system positively.

**Criteria 7: 'Problem Solving'**
- Bases solutions to problems on facts and evidence.
- Listens to and acknowledges others¿ viewpoints.
- Reasons and clarifies issues when dealing with problems, then identifies workable solutions and agreed actions.
- Responds