Intake & Interim Support Officer

• Position Title: Intake & Interim Support Officer
• Location: Hybrid – Remote/West Melbourne 3003
• Salary: Level 3 SCHADS Award 2010
• Tenure: 12 Month contract
• Hours of employment: Fulltime, 38 hours per week
• Conditions of employment: In accordance with SCHADS Award 2010

The Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights (AMWCHR) is an organisation of Muslim women working to advance the rights and status of Muslim women in Australia. We are a non-religious organisation reflecting the sectarian, cultural and linguistic diversity within the Muslim community.

We work for the rights of women by:

• Empowering women’s self-determination
• Bringing a human rights approach to bear on issues of inequality and disadvantage
• Working with individuals, the community, and government to advocate for equality within the Australian context

We aim to inspire positive action by others and aspire to continuously enhance the quality, impact and effectiveness of our work.

AMWCHR works with individuals, groups and service providers in the following areas:

• Case work, referrals, secondary consultation and outreach
• Advocacy
• Community-based programs and service delivery
• Capacity building
• Leadership development
• Policy development
• Partnership projects

AMWCHR also undertakes:

• Research
• Training development and delivery
• Publications
• Consultancy services.

Intake is the face/voice of Client Services and sets the tone for our clients’ experience. The Intake & Interim Support Officer will conduct needs and risk assessments of callers to AMWCHR, including assessing eligibility for various streams of service.

The Intake & Interim Support Officer will be experienced in MARAM risk assessment, safety planning, provision of information, referral and support as well as providing interim support that will include crisis management and short-term case management.

The Intake & Interim Support Officer must be confident engaging with Muslim women with diverse needs, languages and complexities to their personal situation, this includes those experiencing family violence in all its complex forms, systemic barriers to service access, settlement issues and visa vulnerabilities.

The Intake & Interim Support Officer will be comfortable building rapport over the phone with clients, engaging interpreters, deescalating client distress through mental health first aid, basic counselling skills and crisis management experience.

This role requires high level knowledge around human rights and issues relevant to Muslim women in an Australian context. The ability to successfully manage a range of complexities and competing demands are essential to this role.

Regular supervision is provided by the Casework Practice Lead to ensure reflection, client centered, and strengths-based practice remain central to the work of intake and interim support.

• Reports to: Casework Practice Lead
• Manages: N/A
• Key liaison: Director of Client Services, Casework Practice Lead, Casework Team, Programs Team, Organisational Support Team
• External Liaison: Community members, Government agencies, Settlement Services, Family Violence Stakeholders

• Conduct and manage intake services, including needs and risk assessments, eligibility assessments, safety planning, interim/ short-term casework support, crisis management, advocacy, support and referrals for Muslim women.
• Using a high level of interpersonal skill, engage respectfully with all clients over the phone, creating safe and engaging spaces for women that contact AMWCHR.
• Confidently identify issues of violence, control and abuse, some of which may be specific to cultural and migrant experience.
• Conduct MARAM risk assessments and safety planning for women who are at risk of family violence.
• Confidently identify, assess and respond to issues of mental health and suicidality.
• Advocate and coordinate with relevant services to seek support for clients in crisis - including refuge/housing, income security, financial/material aid, access to education and childcare for children, migration support, legal support, health and mental health referrals and support people with issues of social isolation.
• Support and contribute to the development, implementation and evaluation of intake processes and quality of service.
• Work with a strengths-based/ trauma-informed / client-centered approach, aware of barriers to help seeking for women from migrant background and marginalised communities that may also have additional barriers such as disability, substance abuse, experiences of racism and discrimination, fear of community stigma and exclusion.
• Provide secondary consultation to service providers as appropriate.
• Work reflectively and feed into broader Client Services and organisational planning, research and development.
• Regularly maintain and contribute to data collection, case notes and various stakeholder databases.
• Model AMWCHR’s values and associated behaviors within the AMWCHR and across external liaisons.

The recruiting panel will need to feel confident that the successful candidate will understand AMWCHR values, integrate these values into their work and demonstrate behaviours that reflect these values.

• Ability to work successfully in a changing environment, accept new challenges and continually strive for improvement.
• Ability to speak a language other than English relevant to Muslim women.
• Significant experience working with migrant women on issues of Family Violence.
• In-depth understanding of migration and settlement issues.
• Understanding of Muslim culture and political representations of Muslim women.
• Understanding of the following theories and frameworks: intersectionality, family systems, community capacity building and development, reflective practice.

• Experience in intake and short-term case management relevant to family violence and settlement services.
• Demonstrated experience and well-developed skills in the delivery of telephone assessment and referral services to individuals, families, and communities with diverse and complex cultural, emotional, and social needs.
• Demonstrated experience in working with Muslim women, their families and communities.
• Qualifications in casework, social work, community services, mental health.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct MARAM risk assessments on SHIP database.
• Demonstrated ability to refer to SAFE STEPS, to complete in-depth referrals and applications to services and aid providers.
• Demonstrated ability to manage crisis.
• Demonstrated working knowledge of specialised Settlement Services and Family Violence Services, including women’s support agencies and systems across Victoria.
• Knowledge of client data and management information systems.
• Excellent problem-solving skills demonstrating resourcefulness and value-adding skills.
• Well-developed written and verbal communication skills, and diplomatic and effective liaison and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team and contribute across the organisation.
• Excellent time management skills and the ability to work independently.
• Current Drivers Licence and Working with Children Check and police checks.

AMWCHR is committed to child safety. The successful applicant will be subject to a satisfactory Police Check and be required to obtain a valid Working with Children Check. AMWCHR offers flexible working arrangements and salary packaging.

A position description is attached.