Access & Pathways Team Leader - Thriving Kids

Department of Education & Training, Victoria; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The Department of Education Victoria is seeking an experienced Thriving Kids Access and Pathways Team Leader to guide intake, triage, and pathway determination for children aged 8 and under with developmental delay or autism. You will lead a multidisciplinary allied health team and ensure families receive a welcoming, responsive first point of contact.

You will provide clinical and professional leadership, promote family-centred practice, build workforce capability through supervision and

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge and experience in child development, early intervention and child- and family-centred practice.
• Demonstrated experience leading allied health teams, including building workforce capability through supervision, coaching and professional development.
• The ability to provide sound clinical reasoning and authoritative professional advice in complex situations.
• Experience leading service implementation and delivery in a complex environment.
• Highly developed communication, relationship-building and influencing skills.
• Commitment to culturally safe, inclusive and strengths-based practice.

Responsibilities

• Lead a collaborative, multidisciplinary allied health team delivering intake, triage, pathway determination and service navigation.
• Provide clinical and professional leadership that promotes high-quality, evidence-informed and family-centred practice.
• Build workforce capability and promote consistent decision-making through supervision, coaching and professional development.
• Oversee intake and triage processes to ensure children and families are connected to appropriate supports.
• Monitor demand, waitlist, service quality and workforce capacity to support timely and equitable access and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Build strong partnerships across early childhood services, education, health, disability and community services to facilitate referrals, connections and coordinated responses.

Skills

Allied health leadership

People leadership

Clinical judgement

Communication

Job description

About the Program

Help shape a new way of supporting children and families Thriving Kids is a new system of disability supports that is changing how children and families access support across Victoria. We're looking for an experienced Access and Pathways Team Leader to join us at this exciting stage of implementation and lead a multidisciplinary team supporting children aged 8 and under experiencing developmental delay or autism and low to moderate support needs to access the most appropriate supports. The reform will establish a coordinated and accessible model of support, with a strong focus on prevention, early intervention and responding to needs as they emerge. Thriving Kids will bring together education, health and community services to provide families with accessible and developmentally appropriate support, including information and advice, developmental assessment, support to build parents' and carers' skills and confidence, and targeted, time-limited allied health supports. This is an opportunity to help shape a new service model and make a meaningful difference to children, families and the professionals who support them.

About the Role

As the Thriving Kids Access and Pathways Team Leader, you will provide operational, professional and people leadership to a team responsible for intake, family engagement, triage, pathway determination and service navigation. You will lead the consistent and effective operation of these functions, ensuring families receive a welcoming and responsive first point of contact and are supported to access the most appropriate services.

• Lead a collaborative, multidisciplinary allied health team delivering intake, triage, pathway determination and service navigation.
• Provide clinical and professional leadership that promotes high-quality, evidence-informed and family-centred practice.
• Build workforce capability and promote consistent decision-making through supervision, coaching and professional development.
• Oversee intake and triage processes to ensure children and families are connected to appropriate supports.
• Monitor demand, waitlist, service quality and workforce capacity to support timely and equitable access and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Build strong partnerships across early childhood services, education, health, disability and community services to facilitate referrals, connections and coordinated responses.

About You

You are an experienced allied health professional and people leader who brings strong clinical judgement, a collaborative approach and the ability to lead effectively through change. You understand the importance of accessible, family-centred services and can support a team to make consistent, appropriate decisions in a complex service environment.

You will have:

• Strong knowledge and experience in child development, early intervention and child- and family-centred practice.
• Demonstrated experience leading allied health teams, including building workforce capability through supervision, coaching and professional development.
• The ability to provide sound clinical reasoning and authoritative professional advice in complex situations.
• Experience leading service implementation and delivery in a complex environment.
• Highly developed communication, relationship-building and influencing skills.
• A commitment to culturally safe, inclusive and strengths-based practice.

About the Team

The Thriving Kids workforce will bring together a range of professional disciplines, including allied health, intake, community development and administration, working collaboratively across education, health and community settings. The Access and Pathways team is central to helping families navigate this new system of support. Working closely with allied health practitioners and other professionals, the team helps families understand their options, identifies appropriate service pathways and facilitates connections to the supports they need. As Team Leader, you will play a key role in building the foundations of this new workforce — creating a strong team culture, setting clear expectations, developing capability and supporting professionals to work collaboratively across disciplines. You'll have the opportunity to shape how the team works, embed the Thriving Kids approach and create an environment where people can learn, innovate and deliver high-quality support to children and families.

Why join Thriving Kids?

This is more than a team leadership role — it's an opportunity to help build something new. You'll have the opportunity to shape a new service, grow a high-performing team and influence how integrated allied health support is delivered across Victoria. If you're ready to lead, build and make a difference where it matters, we'd love to hear from you.

About the Department

The Department of Education provides a wide range of learning and development support and services. The department provides policy leadership, plans for the future of education in Victoria and leads key cross-sector collaboration. The department plays an important system steward role by providing support, guidance, oversight and assurance across early childhood and school education systems, as well as directly providing school education and 50 new early learning centres.

Important Information

For more details about this role, please refer to the attached position description. If you have further questions, please contact Brooke Streatfeild at [e-mail]. The Department values diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. For more information about our work, working for the Department, diversity and inclusion, and our employment conditions, visit our website. Preferred applicants may be required to complete a police check and may be subject to other pre-employment checks. Information provided to the Department of Education will be treated in the strictest confidence. If you require any adjustments to ensure your full participation in the recruitment process or if you need the advertisement or any attachments in an accessible format (e.g. large print) due to any viewing difficulties or other accessibility requirements, please get in touch with the contact person listed on this advertisement.

Applications close 11:59 pm Australian Eastern Standard/Daylight Saving Time on 4th November 2026.