Senior Peer Support Worker, Youth Prevention & Recovery Centre

Barwon Health; Geelong; On-site; AUD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Living expenses capped at $9,010

Meals and entertainment capped at $2,–

Job summary

Barwon Health in Geelong is seeking an experienced Senior Peer Worker to join the Youth Prevention and Recovery Care (YPARC) team. You will draw on your lived experience to inspire hope, promote recovery, and support young people to achieve personal goals within a multidisciplinary team.

You will lead Peer Workers, contribute to service development, and champion recovery principles across mental health and drug and alcohol services, fostering trauma-informed, person-centred practice and strong

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience using lived experience intentionally and professionally to support recovery and wellbeing.
• Strong communication, facilitation and mentoring skills, with the ability to build trusting relationships with consumers, families and colleagues.
• Commitment to recovery-oriented, trauma-informed and person-centred practice, with an understanding of the value of lived experience leadership.

Responsibilities

• Provide individual peer support and facilitate recovery-focused group programs that promote hope, empowerment and personal recovery for young people accessing YPARC.
• Mentor, guide and support Peer Workers while contributing lived experience expertise to multidisciplinary care planning, service development and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Advocate for and embed lived experience perspectives across programs, education, policy and service delivery to strengthen recovery-oriented practice.

Skills

Lived experience leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Facilitation

Job description

• Join a new team and help create an exceptional YPARC service
• Facilitate peer groups that build hope, wellbeing and independence

About the role

We are seeking an experienced and passionate Senior Peer Worker to join our Youth Prevention and Recovery Care (YPARC) team. Drawing on your own lived experience of accessing tertiary mental health and/or alcohol and other drug services, you will use your professional lived expertise to inspire hope, promote recovery and support young people to achieve their personal goals. Working alongside a multidisciplinary team and under the guidance of the Nurse Unit Manager and Lived Experience Director, you will provide individual peer support, facilitate and co-facilitate therapeutic and peer groups, and champion recovery principles including hope, choice, self-determination and connectedness.

YPARC delivers recovery-oriented, trauma-informed youth mental health care within a 24/7 supported, home-like environment focused on functional recovery, independence, wellbeing and meaningful community connection. Bringing together clinical, psychosocial rehabilitation and lived experience approaches, the service supports young people to build confidence, strengthen everyday living skills and develop the capabilities needed to live meaningful lives within their communities. As a Senior Peer Worker, you will also provide leadership to Peer Workers, contribute to service innovation, and promote the value of lived experience across Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Services (MHDAS).

Key Responsibilities

• Provide individual peer support and facilitate recovery-focused group programs that promote hope, empowerment and personal recovery for young people accessing YPARC
• Mentor, guide and support Peer Workers while contributing lived experience expertise to multidisciplinary care planning, service development and continuous improvement initiatives
• Advocate for and embed lived experience perspectives across programs, education, policy and service delivery to strengthen recovery-oriented practice

What We Are Looking For

You are an experienced Peer Worker with recognised lived experience and a genuine commitment to supporting young people in their recovery journey. You thrive working independently while building strong collaborative relationships across multidisciplinary teams and are passionate about strengthening the role of lived experience within mental health services.

You will also bring:

• Demonstrated experience using lived experience intentionally and professionally to support recovery and wellbeing
• Strong communication, facilitation and mentoring skills, with the ability to build trusting relationships with consumers, families and colleagues
• A commitment to recovery-oriented, trauma-informed and person-centred practice, with an understanding of the value of lived experience leadership

Position Description

Please note Barwon Health will only contact you via our official email and never use unconventional means, such as text messaging or other services.

• Excellent working conditions and a strong sense of job satisfaction
• A vibrant staff wellbeing program and access to our 24/7 Employee Assistance Program
• Attractive salary packaging benefits
  • Living expenses capped at $9,010
  • Meals and entertainment capped at $2,650

For more information about working at Barwon Health,

Diversity and Inclusion

Barwon Health is an inclusive and welcoming employer, committed to reflecting the diverse communities we serve. We value and celebrate people of all genders, sexual orientations, cultural backgrounds, faiths, abilities, family structures, and identities, and encourage applications from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and members of the LGBTIQA+ community.

Child Safety

We are strongly committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. for further information on the Victorian Government's Child Safe Standards: About Child Safe Standards | Victorian Government (www.vic.gov.au)

Additional information

If you need adjustments to participate in the recruitment process, please contact us at ************@barwonhealth.org.au

All appointments are subject to:

• Satisfactory Police Record Check
• Immunisation Status Clearance
• Working with Children Check (if applicable)