Counsellor - Kids Helpline

Working at Kids Helpline is fast-paced, dynamic, and deeply meaningful. It requires adaptability, strong communication skills, and a commitment to supporting children and young people in a virtual support environment. While there are challenges, knowing you’ve made a difference in a young person’s life at a critical moment is truly rewarding.

Make a difference in an iconic national service that has been supporting Australia’s children and young people since 1991!

At Kids Helpline you will work with children and young people across Australia. It is a free service anyone can access which means you will have the opportunity to work with a diverse range of clients and presentations. It may be a one-off counselling call or crisis support; or ongoing counselling; or case management and complex mental health support. It’s a dynamic environment where every call and every shift is unique.

You will work in a supported environment with the opportunity to debrief immediately and supervisors can join you in the call for additional support when required. You will be provided with extensive training and be supported by team leaders, shift supervisors and practice supervisors for your ongoing professional development.

Powered by yourtown, Kids Helpline is Australia’s only free, confidential 24/7 support service that protects and safeguards the mental health of children and young people in Australia. We provide young people with a choice of counselling options and accessible self-help tools when and where they need them.

Since 1991, Australia’s kids and young people have been turning to our professional, specialised counsellors, no matter who they are, where they live or what they want to talk about. Over this time, we have responded to over 8.5 million contacts. For some young people, connecting with Kids Helpline has been a life-saving experience, while for others it’s about practical help and emotional support at the critical moment they need someone to listen.

key information about being a Counsellor:

• You will be passionate, driven, professional, and aligned with yourtown values & our mission!
• Your practice will be reflective and invite insights and continuous development through operational and practice supervision frameworks
• Our services are provided virtually so this is an important area for you to feel confident in learning new approaches and practices
• Being open, confident, and agile in learning new systems or responding to technological change is important
• yourtown delivers a 24 hour/ 7 day a week service; this allows for part time or full time opportunities. This model does require Counsellors to be flexible to a variety of shifts in a roster across the full operational scope, inclusive of weekends and overnights as required.
• Kids Helpline is a high availability service; this means that we want to be able to answer as many contacts from young people as possible. To make this a reality, our dynamic counsellors work to key performance standards, expectations and service indicators.

key dates:

Wednesday 28 October 2026 – first day

Initial training:

28 Oct – 6 Nov 2026 – 8 days paid training and induction onsite at Milton (9.00am – 5.06pm)

From 9 Nov 2026 - minimum 2 weeks embedding practice shifts onsite at Milton (11.30am – 8.00pm)

Ongoing training:

• Weekly or fortnightly training on Tuesdays for the duration of the onboarding program. Sessions will run 11.30am – 8.00pm. They will be a mix of in person and virtual sessions.

Rosters:

Kids Helpline is a 24/7 service, with most shifts spanning hours in our high demand periods, between 6.00pm – 3.00am. Shifts are a minimum 5 hour shifts up to a maximum of 9 hour shifts.

Shifts available for this intake of Counsellors are Monday to Saturday.

You will work an onboarding roster with a mix of shifts up to 12am for the first 3 months, you will then transition to a roster aligned to service demand with shifts up to 3am. All Kids Helpline rosters are reviewed periodically to ensure they are aligned to service demand.

Transition to hybrid work arrangements may be available after initial training and onboarding, assessed on an individual basis.

applying to join our team

We are interested in hearing from you! You may be an experienced counsellor, or you may currently work with young people but may not have delivered direct counselling services.

What is key to yourtown, is that you genuinely want to make a difference in the lives of children and young people, and can demonstrate the following key criteria:

• Relevant bachelor degree in Psychology, Social Work, Counselling, Human Services
• Minimum of 1 year counselling experience, or other related experience in working therapeutically with young people
• Ability to work a minimum of 48hrs per fortnight across a range of shifts in a 24/7 help line environment including, late evening, overnight and weekends, with flexibility and resilience to perform well within a shift work environment
• Demonstrated high level technological competence and ability to work in a virtual support environment across multiple digital systems to deliver counselling and crisis support interventions
• Demonstrated ability of, or capacity to acquire, telephone and online counselling skills as practiced by yourtown
• Demonstrated high level of commitment to the principles of client centred practice, empowerment and confidentiality
• Demonstrated understanding of social, cognitive, developmental and mental health issues confronting children, young people and their families

your benefits

When you join yourtown you will be welcomed into a safe, inclusive, and diverse community and an established and reputable national organisation. We are a resilient, resourceful, and dedicated team who strive to make a difference and not accept the status quo.

Your employment experience will include:

• salary sacrifice options to increase your take home pay
• regular line supervision and support plus internal practice supervision
• opportunities for internal and external professional development
• free access to LinkedIn Learning including over 16,000 learning modules
• a genuine focus on employee health and wellbeing
• yourWellness program includes free access to Calm & Centr Apps
• access to free and confidential counselling sessions for you and members of your immediate family
• access to discounted private health insurance, banking and finance, insurance, and superannuation through our partner organisations
• an environment that genuinely values diversity and cultural capability and is an equal opportunity employer

how to apply

If you believe in the power of young people and in yourself, join team yourtown and have an amazing impact on the lives of young people, their families, neighbourhoods and the wider community in Australia.

Click “Apply Now” to submit your application and take the next step in a career where your work truly matters.

Please click here to view the full position description: https://assets.yourtown.com.au/PD.KidsHelplineCounsellor (also attached below).

Contact: Marnie Elliot – Talent Partner on 0434 609 384

yourtown has a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and we believe that Safeguarding is a shared responsibility of all, for all.

yourtown is committed to providing services that protect and keep children, young people and adults at risk free from harm. The appointment of successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory screening for child-related employment including the completion of a National Criminal History Check and retention of a valid Working with Children Check.

At yourtown, everybody belongs. We welcome, celebrate, and support a diverse and inclusive workforce that represents the communities in which we work.