Senior Social Worker/Lead

Sa-Health; Adelaide; On-site; AUD 112,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Salary packaging

Flexible working arrangements

Professional development

Job summary

SA Health in Adelaide is seeking a Senior Social Worker/Lead to provide professional leadership, governance and high-level social work across the ACRPC, including the NRICH service. The role balances 0.5FTE Social Work Lead and 0.5FTE Senior Social Worker, delivering social work assessment, discharge planning and collaborative care with multidisciplinary teams.

You will influence practice, support workforce development and drive service improvement within the Northern Adelaide Local Health

Qualifications

• An approved Social Work qualification and eligibility for full membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).
• Significant experience in acute, rehabilitation, aged care and/or hospital-based social work settings.
• Demonstrated leadership, supervision and workforce development experience.
• High level skills in complex case management, psychosocial assessment, risk management and discharge planning.
• Strong communication, stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and lead change in complex healthcare environments.

Responsibilities

• Provide professional leadership, governance and expert practice guidance for social work services across the Division.
• Support workforce development, recruitment, performance management, clinical supervision and credentialing processes.
• Lead and contribute to service development, quality improvement, audit and research activities.
• Act as a key professional resource for managers and clinicians on social work practice and service delivery matters.
• Represent social work in local, state-wide and national workforce and service improvement initiatives.
• Deliver high level social work assessment, intervention and discharge planning for NRICH participants.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Stakeholder engagement

Relationship building

Complex case management

Discharge planning

Education

Social Work qualification (AASW)

Job description

Job no: 950535
Work type: Full time
Location: Adelaide Metro Northern
Categories: Allied and Scientific Health

• Northern Adelaide Local Health Network – Modbury Hospital – MODBURY SA 5092
• Salary: $112,139 - $120,284 p.a. plus Superannuation and Salary Sacrifice benefits – AHP3
• Senior Social Worker/Lead
• Temporary Full-Time – up to 5 March 2027

About the Role:

An exciting opportunity exists for an experienced and motivated Senior Social Worker/Lead to provide professional leadership, clinical governance and high-level social work practice across the Aged Care, Rehabilitation and Palliative Care Division (ACRPC), including the Northern Reablement and Intermediate Care to Return Home (NRICH) Service.

This unique role comprises:

• 0.5FTE Social Work Lead, providing professional leadership, governance and oversight of social work services across the Division.
• 0.5FTE Senior Social Worker (NRICH), delivering high quality clinical social work services within the Northern Reablement and Intermediate Care program.

Working collaboratively with Allied Health and operational leaders, you will ensure high-quality, evidence-based social work practice while maintaining clinical expertise through direct patient care.

Key Responsibilities:

Social Work Lead (0.50FTE)

• Provide professional leadership, clinical governance and expert practice guidance for social work services across ACRPC.
• Support workforce development, recruitment, performance management, clinical supervision and credentialing processes.
• Lead and contribute to service development, quality improvement, audit and research activities.
• Act as a key professional resource for managers and clinicians on social work practice and service delivery matters.
• Represent social work in local, statewide and national workforce and service improvement initiatives

Senior Social Worker, NRICH (0.50FTE)

• Deliver high level social work assessment, intervention and discharge planning for older people participating in the NRICH program.
• Support patients and families through complex psychosocial, adjustment and care planning needs.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary, geriatric and community teams to optimise functional independence and support safe discharge home.
• Contribute to patient-centred care planning within an innovative rehabilitation and reablement model.

About NRICH:

NRICH is a short-term reablement and rehabilitation service delivered in partnership with ACH Group at Healthia Residential Aged Care Facility, Elizabeth Vale. The service supports older people to regain independence and safely return home through multidisciplinary rehabilitation, geriatric oversight and person-centred care.

About You:

You will possess:

• An approved Social Work qualification and eligibility for full membership of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).
• Significant experience in acute, rehabilitation, aged care and/or hospital-based social work settings.
• Demonstrated leadership, supervision and workforce development experience.
• High level skills in complex case management, psychosocial assessment, risk management and discharge planning.
• Strong communication, stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills.
• The ability to manage competing priorities, lead change and work effectively in complex healthcare environments.

In this role you will have strong interpersonal and communication skills which will enable you to successfully problem solve, resolve conflicts and negotiate, including the ability to engage in difficult conversations, whilst building and maintaining relationships. An ability to effectively manage multiple, diverse and competing priorities and demonstrated resilience within a stressful and complex environment is essential to this role.

This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to a passionate, highly driven, dedicated and progressive team.

Why join NALHN?

This is an outstanding opportunity to lead and influence social work practice within a progressive health service while remaining connected to clinical care. You will join a supportive team committed to service excellence, innovation and improving outcomes for older people and their families.

NALHNserves over400,000 peoplein northern Adelaide with a comprehensive range of high-quality healthcare services, including emergency, surgical, obstetric, neonatal,paediatric, oncology, geriatric, palliative care and rehabilitation, and mental health care, as well as primary health care services with a focus on community health promotion and chronic disease management.

With a commitment for ongoing upgrades to our facilities and the introduction of new services, our priority is delivering exceptional health and wellbeing services that enhance the quality of life for our community.

Our 300-plus Allied Health professionals play an integral role in multidisciplinary teams delivering outstanding care to patients across our acute, subacute and hospital avoidance services.

At NALHN Everyone Has a Story, Everyone Matters, Everyone Contributes and Everyone Grows.

At NALHN, we have a strong commitment to providing a clinically interesting professional experience, with structured and supportive education and professional development, and career progression pathways.

Some feedback from current employees about working as Allied Health Professionals in NALHN includes:

“My favourite part about working in NALHN is the close working relationships we have across Allied Health to optimise patient care.”

“I feel like I’m part of a growing and developing service.”

“I love the great team dynamic and the culture of learning and support.”

Our Local Health Network Sites and Services:

NALHN provides a range of hospital (inpatient), outpatient, community and home-based services across multiple sites in Adelaide’s north and north‑eastern suburbs, including Aboriginal health, mental health, and GP services.

Lyell McEwin Hospital – the major hospital in northern Adelaide for emergency care, complex and multi-day surgery, medicine, obstetric, paediatrics and outpatient services.

Modbury Hospital – a general hospital with emergency care, elective surgery, medicine, outpatient and sub-acute services, rehabilitation, geriatric and palliative care.

Mental Health Services – adult and older persons mental health services and statewide forensic mental health services, across hospital and community settings.

Watto Purrunna Aboriginal Primary Health Care Services – provides culturally responsive primary healthcare services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in‑hospital and across four community sites.

Primary Health Care Services – including GP Plus sites at Elizabeth, Modbury and Gilles Plains.

Benefits of working at NALHN:

From salary packaging to flexible working arrangements, a large range of opportunities for movement and career progression, you’ll find there are lots of benefits of working with Northern Adelaide Local Health Network.

Incremental wage increases in-line with the Allied Health Professionals, Assistants and Psychologists Enterprise Agreement 2025

Access to experienced clinicians across a broad range of expertise, who are supportive of collegial sharing of skills and knowledge in different therapies and client presentations.

Salary packaging is an option for saving money by paying for some of your everyday expenses from your salary before it is taxed.

Relocation assistance may be available for successful applicants from interstate or overseas.

NALHN supports and fosters a culture in which employees feel they belong and feel safe at work. The culture aims to encourage all people to use their talents and to be valued and rewarded for their contributions.

In addition to this, other benefits of working as a Senior Social Worker / Lead in NALHN include:

• professional development opportunities. We have a well-established Allied Health Education unit which offers high-quality, targeted in-house training, and under the current enterprise agreement staff are also eligible for a Professional Development Allowance and entitled to claim reimbursement of eligible professional development expenses to allow you to continue to build upon your professional foundations
• opportunities to participate in research. NALHN have an Allied Health Research Chair, who is able to work with clinicians and teams to support clinical research
• regular clinical supervision, allowing you to receive individualised support, learning and development to help you achieve your career goals

SA Health is committed to providing an inclusive workplace that embraces diversity and inclusion for all employees. We strongly encourage applications from people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, culturally diverse backgrounds, members of the LGBTIQA+SB community and people who live with disability and/or neurodivergence.

We are committed to making workplace adjustments to provide a positive and supportive work environment. You are encouraged to let us know if have any support or access requirements during the recruitment process and beyond to ensure you can perform at your best.

The South Australian public sector promotes diversity and flexible ways of working including part-time. Applicants are encouraged to discuss the flexible working arrangements for this role.

Appointment will be subject to a satisfactory Criminal History Check.

Check(s):

• DHS Working With Children Check (WWCC)
• National Police Check (National Police Certificate)for aged care sector screening – apply to any of the accredited bodies approved to offer a service direct to the public. Accreditation is provided by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission . See our National Police Certificate accredited bodies page for links to lodge screening requests.

Immunisation Risk for this position is – Category A (direct contact with blood or body substances)

SA Health Services are required to implement the Addressing vaccine preventable disease: Occupational assessment, screening and vaccination policy in the workplace.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are encouraged to apply. Job Ref: 950535

Enquiries:

NALHN ACRPC

Phone: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

Application Closing Date:

2 October 2026 – 11.55PM

Role Description and Further Information:

950535 - Senior Social Worker Lead - ACRPC - AHP3 - Role Description.pdf