Lived Experience Worker - AOD Services

mercyagedcare; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercy Health in Melbourne invites applications for a Consumer Lived Experience Support Worker (AOD). This permanent, full-time role provides peer-led support for people with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues, drawing on your lived experience to foster recovery, resilience and hope within a compassionate team.

You will collaborate with clinicians, consumers and families, provide practical assistance to achieve recovery goals, and contribute to service development.

Qualifications

• Lived experience and peer-support approach essential.
• Understanding of mental health and substance use co-occurring conditions.
• Knowledge of trauma-informed care principles and peer support frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Provide peer-led support to people with co-occurring mental illness and substance use.
• Collaborate with the multidisciplinary team, consumers and families to support recovery goals.
• Offer consultation to clinicians on working with individuals with co-occurring mental health and AOD issues.
• Contribute to professional development and capacity building across Mercy Health.

Skills

Consumer lived experience

Peer work approach

Trauma-informed practice

Mental health & AOD knowledge

Education

Certificate IV in Mental Health (Peer Work) or equivalent training

Job description

Employment Details

Employment Type: Permanent

Hours: 38 hours a week, Monday to Friday 8:00-16:30hrs

Location: Across Mercy Sites including Werribee Mercy Hospital/Wyndham Clinic/Williams Landing

Upload with Application: Resume, cover letter, and all relevant qualifications

Contact: Jean-Paul Mills, Divisional Director - Community Mental Health Services, [e-mail]

About the opportunity

The Consumer Lived Experience Support Worker (AOD) position has been specifically developed for people who have been directly connected to mental health and/or alcohol and other drug service provision via their own experience as a care recipient. The position provides support for people with co-occurring mental illness and substance use.

The Consumer Lived Experience Support Worker (AOD) works collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team, consumers and their families/carers to facilitate support, learning and / or provide practical assistance for action towards identified recovery goals

Bring a lived experience perspective to the AOD specialist team at MMH&WS.

Provide consultation and advice to clinicians on how to work with people with co-occurring mental ill health and substance use.

Contribute to professional development and capacity building across the organization to build a service that delivers integrated treatment, care and support to people living with mental ill health and substance use or addiction.

What you'll bring

You're resilient, compassionate and have a whole lot of heart. Most importantly, you are committed to delivering exceptional patient-centred care.

To thrive in this role, you will have:

• Extensive experience of mental health and alcohol and other drug challenges and recovery
• The ability to share their consumer lived experience, where appropriate, to support consumers to build understanding, hope and resilience in line with peer support principles
• Attained or willing to work towards the Certificate IV in Mental Health (Peer Work) or Training and experience in the Intentional Peer Support framework.
• Good knowledge of the diverse issues and perspectives that matter to people who experience mental ill health.
• Trauma-informed understanding of alcohol and other drug use.

Desirable

• Extensive experience as a lived experience worker
• Extensive experience as a consumer of a mental health service and/or alcohol and other drug service
• Cert IV in Alcohol and Other Drugs or relevant certificate, diploma or degree qualifications in another field
• Full unrestricted Victorian Drivers License

Evidence Required

You will also be required to provide evidence of, or in the process of obtaining:

• A current Police Record Check and Working with Children Check.
• Current COVID-19 certificate, proof of current influenza vaccination and other vaccination status consistent with public health orders.

Prepare to shape the future of healthcare

Ready to help us shape the future of healthcare?

Join us and make a meaningful difference in people's lives - and your career.

Please contact us if you would like to find out more or communicate any requirements to ensure we provide you with a fair and equitable interview and selection process.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung peoples, traditional Custodians of the Land in which our Head Office is based, on traditional lands of the Kulin Nation and recognise their deep connections to the land, sea, and culture.

We extend this acknowledgment to the many Traditional Lands that we operate across Australia and pay our respects to Elders past and present.

The team at Mercy Health is as wonderfully diverse as the patients, residents, clients and communities we support. We're proud to be recognised as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). Mercy Health strongly encourages applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people of all ages, sexualities, genders, abilities and cultural backgrounds.