Position
Orange Door Practitioner
Team
Family Safety and Wellbeing
Role Classification
SCHADS Award Level 6
Employment Type/Hours
Full time, Permanent
Location
Frankston - Bunurong Land
From time to time the incumbent may be requested to work from, or be based at, other Family Life sites.
Reports To
Team Leader, Family Safety & Wellbeing
Effective Date
January 2026
Overview of Program
The Orange Door Partnership aims to address the needs of all Victorians who experience or use Family Violence as well as families who need support in relation to child wellbeing. The Bayside Peninsula Orange Door covers Seven Different Local Government Areas from the City of Port Phillip down to the Mornington Peninsula. The Orange Door is an integrated intake and assessment service that is the referral pathway to Integrated Family Services, Specialist Women's Family Violence Services and Men's Behaviour Change. The Orange Door seeks to improve service capacity and integrate service delivery with a commitment to developing opportunities for timely, appropriate and where necessary, intensive interventions to prevent the escalation of risk factors and issues regarding vulnerable children and their families. The program operates through a partnership of 10 key service providers.
Position Objective
The Practitioner will be required to perform Intake and Assessment function identifying risk, safety and wellbeing concerns from varying referral pathways such as Police reports, Child Protection Referrals, Community Referrals and Client Self referrals, either via the phone or on site. This will ensure that Orange Door Clients are supported and provided with and/or linked into effective and relevant services. The Practitioner will be required to work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary, inter-Agency team, while managing a complex workload.
Key Responsibilities
The key responsibilities include but are not limited to:
* Complete Intake and Assessment incorporating high quality assessments of children in relation to need and risk utilising both the Best Interests Framework and MARAM Framework.
* Receive and process referrals from a variety of resources, prioritising risk, safety and wellbeing for all clients within the Orange Door.
* Work respectfully with families, considering cultural and social influences that each family may present with.
* Comply with agency, program and legislative requirements in relation to information sharing, case recording and data entry requirements.
* Provide a range of short-term interventions that will include a variety of casework and case management skills.
* Take an integrated practice approach with local Family Violence services (including Victoria Police), Integrated Family services agencies, the Aboriginal Practice Lead, Senior Community Based Child Protection Practitioners and other service providers to provide creative, flexible intake service responses for children and families with complex issues and who may be difficult to engage.
* Make an active commitment to the development and maintenance of a cohesive multi-disciplinary team and participate in staff meetings, team meetings and staff development.
Undertake occasional after-hours work, as approved and managed in line with organisational policy and relevant legislation.
* Participate in regular supervision.
* 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 Family Life's occupational health and safety (OHS) policies and procedures.
* Work collaboratively with other Intake Workers and may be required to supervise students on placement.
Key Selection Criteria
1. A Bachelor Degree in Social Work, Psychology, Early Childhood Specialist and/or related behavioural sciences* with substantial relevant experience.
2. Proven ability to implement key theories, particularly Child Development, Trauma Informed, Systems, Family Violence and Coercion and Control in practice.
3. Well-rounded understanding of Family Violence drivers, risk assessment and safety planning.
4. Experience working with families and children experiencing complex needs and high risk / risk issues in any of the following services areas: Family Services, Child Protection, Housing, Family Violence, Disability, Mental Health and/or Alcohol and Other Drugs Position.
5. Demonstrated ability to conduct comprehensive safety and wellbeing assessments and work within the 'Best Interests Principles' as outlined within the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 and well as a sound knowledge of the MARAM framework.
6. Proven ability to engage with families who are reluctant to use support services.
7. Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain strong collaborative relationships and partnerships with key stakeholders, both internal and external.
8. Capacity to work with ambivalence and uncertainty in the context of ongoing environmental change and complex problems for vulnerable members of the community.
9. Capacity to remain calm and focused under pressure and take initiative in resolving problems.
10. 10. Demonstrated experience of working under limited supervision with full accountability for their own tasks and duties.
11. 11. Excellent communication and time management skills, and ability to be self-directed.
12. Information technology skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, Microsoft Teams and Client Relationship Management (CRM) system.
*Minimum mandatory qualifications requirements
As per the minimum mandatory qualifications requirements via, all candidates wishing to apply for this role must be able to demonstrate that they:
* are considered EXEMPT under the policy; OR
* AQF Level 7 Bachelor's degree or higher in counselling, social work, psychology or equivalent; OR
* have minimum 5 years relevant professional experience, OR a related qualification as per the mandatory minimum qualification requirements; OR
* hold significant cultural knowledge and experience or lived experience, and have faced barriers to educational pathways
Please note that candidates wishing to enter the specialist family violence workforce via a related qualification or 5 years related professional experience pathway, OR the significant cultural knowledge and experience or lived experience pathways will be required to work towards an equivalent qualification within specified timeframes (as per the mandatory minimum qualifications policy).