Working at Melba Support Services (Melba)
* We support people with disability to live the life they want.
* We have a Zero Tolerance approach to violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
* Every member of the Melba community is committed to The Melba Way Charter, our vision, purpose and values.
* Melba aims to create welcoming and respectful workplaces that promote inclusive and collaborative working relationships.
* For over 50 years Melba Support Services has been providing services to people with disability that focus on supporting people to dream big, embrace life and do what they choose and value. Melba is firmly grounded in upholding human rights and recognises that part of living a happy, healthy life is being independent and being able to do the things that bring us joy. Melba won the 2023 National Disability Award for Excellence in Service Quality.
Why Join Us?
We are a human-rights, values-based, not-for-profit community organisation committed to providing services that support individuals with disability to lead everyday lives of their choice, if this resonates with you, come join us!
General
* Commitment to Melba's vision, missions, values, human rights framework, and Zero Tolerance
* Compliance with Melba's code of conduct, privacy, workplace health and safety policies and procedures
* A commitment to creating and fostering a workplace free from bullying, harassment, or any form of unreasonable behaviour towards a person, group of people or Melba.
* Conduct all duties and responsibilities in accordance with Melba's policies and procedures
* Ensuring that all duties, responsibilities, and behaviours support and comply with equal opportunity, cultural diversity and human rights values and expectations.
* Your interactions with co-workers and people supported are culturally appropriate and sensitive to each individual's needs
* Provide opportunities that support people to live a life of their choosing irrespective of their background and differences
Occupation Health Safety and Wellbeing (OHS&W)
* Take reasonable care for their health, safety, and wellbeing and that of others.
* Observe safe systems of work
* Follow OHS&W policies and procedures
* Report hazards, near misses and incidents in accordance with the agreed incident reporting system
* Contribute to a positive culture in relation to OHS&W and participate in consultative structures
Role Specific
* Manage a small staff team and related services including:
* Contribute to roster development, staff replacement and leave planning
* Participate in interview process of staff recruitment
* Allocate work across a team
* Plan for staff capability including: staff induction; identify role expectations and performance requirements to staff; inform staff on policies and standards within area of responsibility
* Review staff decisions and performance
* Ensure service records and accounts are accurate, regularly updated and comply with organisational standards
* Prepare proposals for specific funding or services for people supported
* Implement quality improvements and process changes
* Budgetary oversight
* Lead and plan support for people with disabilities, within their home and community, to participate in a range of life areas (including social, recreational and daily living activities) based on the goals of individual support plans.
* Advocate within the broader community on behalf of people supported and their families to support inclusion, participation and respect for rights.
* Convey information, to people supported and their families, and other people in the lives of supported people and participate in negotiations with family members, medical services, activity services and other community services to help meet daily supported people's needs and/or plan support for future person supported requirements.
* Participate in internal or community information sessions or consultative processes that relate to people supported and service issues.
* Administer medication treatments and therapies or seek appropriate medical assistance according to prescribed protocols.
* Work to develop and maintain team morale and effectiveness and provide day-to-day mentoring and share practice knowledge.
* Identify learning and career development opportunities.
* Define and maintain professional boundaries.
* Work independently or as a team supervisor, with access to supervision, in a range of organisational relationships.
* Determine matters on a day-to-day basis, handling commonly occurring situations or cases within an area of practice, and reporting regularly to a manager who has overall accountability for the area or program.
* Be professionally accountable for autonomous decisions that impact on people supported and staff, made within bounds of Melba policy and with management support.
* Be responsible with a high degree of independence for the development and implementation of a range of plans that contribute to the wellbeing of people with a disability and community safety, within area of responsibility and managerial oversight.
* Manage time and other resources productively with a view to ensuring optimum results for people supported and Melba.
* Use judgment to identify and pro-actively minimise risks to the health, safety and wellbeing of people supported, self, staff and the wider community within area of responsibility and agreed procedures.
* Prepare detailed reports, data and notation within area of expertise or responsibility and identify areas of service improvement.
* Implement and maintain systems within area of responsibility to assist planning, operational, budgetary, resource management, risk management and quality assurance functions.
* Attend meetings, including those in public settings, on behalf of Melba and share outcomes of meetings with relevant staff.
* Liaise with agencies such as courts, policy and mental health services and communicate effectively with a range of external agencies and service providers.
* Keep accurate and complete records of your work activities in accordance with legislative requirements and Melba's records, information security and privacy policies and requirements.
* Take reasonable care for your own health and safety and for that of others in the workplace by working in accordance with legislative requirements and the Melba's occupational health and safety (OHS) policies and procedures.
* Demonstrate how the actions and outcomes of this role and work unit impact people supported and Melba's ability to deliver, or facilitate the delivery of, effective support and services.
Inherent Requirements of Position
Physical Requirements:
* Sitting - Occasional
* Standing - Regularly
* Computer Based Task - Occasional
* Driving - Regular
* Bending and Lifting - Rarely (no lift policy for the manual tasks relating to people supported)
Role Challenges and Essential Requirements:
Compliance with OHS regulations, legislation, Code of Conduct and Policies and Procedures
Successful completion of Pre - Employment checks (NDIS Check and Working with Children Check) and mandatory training and their subsequent renewals
Key Selection Criteria & Skills/Attributes
* All new applicants are subject to a NDIS Worker Screening Check.
* All staff are required to possess a current and valid Victorian Working with Children Check. Currency will need to be maintained by the employee for the period of employment.
* All existing staff are required to obtain an NDIS Worker Screening Clearance prior to the expiry of their Working with Children Check.
* Applicants who have lived overseas for 12 months or longer during the past 10 years are required to provide the results of an international police check.
Knowledge and Skills
* Problem solving: seeks all relevant information for problem-solving; investigates and probes for the facts; liaises with stakeholders; analyses issues from different perspectives and draws sound inferences from information available; identifies and proposes workable solutions to problems.
* Interpersonal skills: sees things from other's point of view and confirms understanding; expresses own views in a constructive and diplomatic way; reflects on how own emotions impact on others.
* Environmental scanning: contacts others, not immediately involved, to obtain their perspective and expertise; consults experts to gain broader and deeper understanding of a specific issue; seeks underlying reasons for a presenting issue.
* Self-management: plans and prioritises work to ensure outcomes are achieved, resists the temptation to react immediately without taking time to think things through, uses strengths to contribute constructively and consciously manages the impact of own weaknesses, anticipates own reactions to situations and prepares accordingly.
Personal Attributes
* Conceptual and analytical ability: deals with concepts and complexity comfortably; uses analytical and conceptual skills to reason through problems; has creative ideas and can project how these can link to innovations.
* Initiative and accountability: proactive and self-starting; seizes opportunities and acts upon them; takes responsibility for own actions.
* Empathy and cultural awareness: pays attention to words, expressions and body language; paraphrases messages to check understanding; shapes responses to individuals, based on a range of information they have noted; communicates well with, relates to and sees issues from the perspective of people from a diverse range of cultures and backgrounds.
* Teamwork: cooperates and works well with others in pursuit of team goals, collaborates and shares information, shows consideration, concern and respect for others feelings and ideas, accommodates and works well with the different working styles of others, encourages resolution of conflict within the group
Specialist expertise
Recognised experience and knowledge in the field of disability and ability to apply policies and processes to meet challenges of known or evolving disability support situations would be expected. This includes:
* specialised and contemporary understanding of disability and an ability to apply this theoretical knowledge to support knowledge of and skill with coaching, supervision and planning practices
* knowledge of complex conditions that impact on disability and the capacity to remain up to date with related developments
Qualifications:
* Positions at the DDSO-3 level require a Certificate IV (Disability), or other qualification recognised within guidelines as being equivalent and a copy must be provided with your application.
* A full driver's licence is required as some positions and shifts may be required to drive supported people to appointments and other locations.
* A level 2 First Aid Certificate with CPR is required.
Inclusion at Melba
Melba Support Services recognises the contribution that a diverse workforce makes to continuous improvement and service delivery and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Melba Support Services values diversity and encourages applications from Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders. People with disabilities and from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are also encouraged to apply. Melba Support Services is committed to making reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process and day-to-day work. As a provider of supports and services to children, Melba is committed to ensuring that every child feels safe and respected. All Melba staff and volunteers have a responsibility to make sure that children's wellbeing and safety comes first, that they are supported to achieve their potential, respected, and protected from abuse and neglect.