Adolescent and Family Counsellor (Youth Homelessness)

Type: Full Time
Location: Randwick, NSW
Remuneration: Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (Level 5) + full salary packaging options available 

About Us:               

Originally named The Wayside Foundation, The Ted Noffs Foundation was established in 1970 by the Australian humanitarian, Reverend Ted Noffs, who’s work championed social justice, mental health support, and innovative youth services. Today, the Foundation continues his legacy, delivering frontline services and community support across NSW, ACT & QLD. With over 200 staff and 350 volunteers, we remain deeply committed to helping young people affected by issues related to drugs, crime, and mental health.

The Role:               

Noffs is looking for a dynamic and compassionate Adolescent and Family Counsellor to join our Youth Housing Service (Home), a program that provides services to young people aged 16-25 years old who are at risk of and/or experiencing homelessness.

The Adolescent and Family Counsellor works within a multidisciplinary team to provide comprehensive support for young people facing homelessness. Home works with person centred, trauma informed, strengths based approaches to support young people out of homelessness. Home focuses on early intervention for those at risk of homelessness, intensive support to rapidly and safely re-house young people in crisis, building young people’s independence to be able to maintain stable housing and building support networks to address complex support needs such as poor mental health and substance misuse. This role encompasses thorough client assessment to formulate effective treatment plans, offering individual counselling and brief family interventions as needed.

Responsibilities and duties include, but not limited to:

• Proactively engaging with and supporting young people with complex needs such as substance misuse, mental ill-health, trauma histories, homelessness child protection/Out Of Home Care involvement, engagement with the criminal justice system.

• Providing evidence-based, person centred counselling to effectively support young people’s personal, mental health and AOD goals.

• Providing AOD counselling support with a focus on harm minimisation 

• Conducting thorough assessments, case formulations and clinical treatment plans.

• Provide case management support to assist young people with practical and material needs such as housing, financial support and brokerage, education and vocation, health, cultural support, advocacy, independent living skills, and accessing specialist services and programs. 

• Liaising effectively with key stakeholders and/or family and carers to ensure the best service for our young people.

• Undertake family counselling with young people and their families with a focus on supporting young people to either return to or remain living safely with their family unit. 

• Warmly connecting clients to specialist mental health and AOD services such as residential rehabilitation centres. 

• Completing follow up assessments with clients to monitor their progress.

• Attend and/or facilitate programs and community events for young people.

• Maintaining accurate and up to date client records, statistics, and reports.

Essential Selection Criteria

• Relevant Tertiary Qualifications (e.g. Psychology, Social Work, Counselling).

• Minimum 2 years of direct counselling experience.

• Demonstrated experience supporting young people with complex needs.

• Must have a current and valid NSW Working with Children Check and NSW Driver’s Licence (minimum Provisional status.

Desirable Selection Criteria

• 2 years experience working in the homelessness/mental health/AOD sector.

• Understanding of harm minimisation principles and knowledge of the biopsychosocial impact of drugs and alcohol. 

• Experience providing family counselling. 

• Experience in conducting clinical assessments, developing treatment plans, providing effective and compassionate individual counselling, delivering appropriate clinical interventions, and communicating clearly within a multidisciplinary team.

• Ability to work effectively both as a team member and as a practitioner with a high degree of independence.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills.

• Commitment to the principles of harm minimisation and to the aims of the Ted Noffs Foundation.

Ted Noffs Foundation is committed to equal employment opportunity and embraces diversity and inclusion within its workforce. As such, people from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. This includes, but is not limited to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, People with Disability, Women and People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds.

How To Apply

Submit your application via SEEK with a Resume and a Cover Letter addressing the selection criteria. 

As interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis, applicants are encouraged to apply at the earliest point and will be highly regarded. Interviews may be offered upon application.

Please note only successful applicants will be contacted.