StandBy Lived Experience Peer Worker

Have you been personally impacted by suicide loss and want to walk alongside others as they navigate their own bereavement journey? Your story can make a difference.

About Youturn 

The individuals, families and communities we support are at the heart of everything we do at Youturn. We listen deeply – honouring every voice, story, culture and choice – through our core values of Integrity, Respect and Inclusion. We have a strong commitment to reflection and responsibility and are always curious and adapting through our Learning value. At Youturn, we believe in the importance of caring today for a better tomorrow, represented in our value of Stewardship.

At Youturn, we believe in the power of lived experience to bring comfort, hope and genuine connection. As a Lived Experience Peer Worker with the StandBy Support After Suicide program– Australia’s leading suicide postvention service, your unique personal insights and empathetic presence will offer vital support to individuals, families, and communities navigating the complex journey of suicide bereavement.

You can find out more at youturn.org.au.

StandBy Support After Suicide 

StandBy Support After Suicide, is Australia’s leading suicide postvention program dedicated to assisting people and communities bereaved or impacted by suicide. The program offers coordinated evidence-based support and resources (including connections to local services and groups) that is individualised for each person’s unique circumstance. StandBy is guided by local advisory groups – which includes community stakeholders as well as those with Lived Experience. StandBy Support After Suicide is a program of Youturn. 

About Youturn 

Youturn is a not-for-profit organisation established more than 30 years ago to address youth homelessness on the Sunshine Coast. Today it has evolved into a national organisation with a multidisciplinary team of professionals. Trusted to create safe, inclusive, and supportive communities, Youturn offers assistance to vulnerable people of all ages, during their most challenging times. 

At Youturn, our overarching goal is to make a lasting impact in the lives of those we serve. Through our dedicated efforts and partnerships, we aspire to build a society where everyone has the opportunity to lead a fulfilling and dignified life. 

 About the Role

As a Lived Experience Peer Worker, you will provide compassionate, person-centred support to people who have been bereaved or impacted by suicide. By drawing on your own lived experience, you’ll offer practical assistance, emotional support, and referrals, helping others feel understood and less alone.

You’ll build purposeful and authentic connections that reflect trauma-informed, peer-led principles. This may include one-on-one sessions, co-facilitated group work, and community engagement activities across the region.

This role requires flexibility, empathy, and an unwavering commitment to creating safe, inclusive, and hopeful spaces for people navigating complex grief.

 What You’ll Do

• Provide one-on-one peer support using your own lived experience of suicide bereavement
• Develop tailored peer support plans in collaboration with those you support
• Communicate the lived experience perspective on suicide grief and trauma
• Model resilience and strength while honouring each person’s unique journey
• Co-facilitate group support sessions and community debriefs
• Refer to appropriate services and resources in collaboration with the broader StandBy team
• Maintain confidential, trauma-informed records
• Support feedback collection, evaluation, and reporting requirements
• Participate in supervision, reflective practice, and self-care planning
• Travel within your PHN region as needed; some out-of-hours work may be required

Essential Experience and Requirements (Repeated because it truly matters)

• Lived experience of suicide bereavement is essential. You will need to demonstrate how this experience has shaped your understanding, contributed to your personal growth, and how you can now use it to support others.
• Experience in providing support to others—professionally, as a volunteer, or informally—is highly regarded.
• Strong understanding of suicide bereavement, grief, and trauma in both personal and broader community contexts
• Ability to engage safely and empathetically with people in crisis or distress
• High level of emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and capacity for reflective practice
• Willingness to work within peer values and trauma-informed principles

 Desirable Qualifications and Training

• Intentional Peer Support, Roses in the Ocean, Our Voice in Action, Voices of Insight
• Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work
• Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) – can be supported upon appointment

 Additional Requirements

• Current C-Class Driver Licence
• Working with Children Check (or eligibility to obtain)
• Must reside in one of the following regions: Darwin
• Willingness to travel across your region

 Why Join Youturn & StandBy?

At Youturn, we walk beside people during life’s most difficult moments. As part of StandBy, you’ll be supported by a team who values your story, your growth, and your wellbeing. We offer:

• A trauma-informed, inclusive and flexible workplace
• Extensive training and professional development
• Clinical and peer supervision
• Purpose-driven work that changes lives

Benefits for Youturn Team Members

• We offer a generous remuneration package with benefits designed to support your career and lifestyle goals.
• Enjoy access to generous salary packaging of up to $15,900, plus $2,650 meal entertainment benefits, to further maximise your take-home pay, offering you even greater advantages such as partial exemptions for Remote Area Benefits, Relocation Expenses and Car Parking (if eligible).
• Flexibility: Enjoy work-life balance with flexibility for negotiating start/finish times, tailoring your career to your lifestyle!
• Wellness Leave: Recharge with 5 days of paid wellness leave each year (pro-rata).
• Paid Parental Leave: Unlock 12 weeks of paid parental leave benefits after just one year of dedicated service.
• Annual Leave Loading: Receive additional pay with annual leave loading.

For everyone who shares our passion

We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the LGBTIQA+ community, people with a disability, candidates from culturally diverse backgrounds, and people with lived experience.

Accessibility and Support

We encourage all candidates to apply, please let us know in your application if we can support you with any adjustments in the hiring process. 

We’re committed to ensuring a safe, respectful and inclusive experience for all candidates, and we’re happy to work with you to ensure your needs are met.

Please contact us at recruitment@youturn.org.au to discuss how we can best support you.

Apply now to become a powerful part of someone’s healing journey.