Social Worker in Melbourne

Help shape a new way of supporting children and families. Thriving Kids is creating a new way of supporting children and families across Victoria - bringing early intervention, allied health and family support closer to where children live their everyday lives.

We're looking for experienced Social Workers to join us as we build this new service and help shape how allied health is delivered to children aged 8 and under experiencing developmental delay or autism and low to moderate support needs.

Working alongside families and professionals across education, health and community services, you'll help provide accessible support that can include developmental assessment, information and advice, building parents' and carers' skills and confidence, and targeted, time-limited allied health support.

This is more than an opportunity to join a new service - it's an opportunity to help create one.

About the Role

As a Thriving Kids Social Worker you'll have the opportunity to use your professional expertise in a new way - working alongside children, families and other professionals to provide practical support that makes a difference in everyday life.

You will:

• Bring your clinical expertise to early intervention, providing evidence-informed Social Worker assessment, intervention and advice tailored to each child and family.
• Work alongside families, not just with children, building parents' and carers' knowledge, skills and confidence so they can support their child's development in everyday activities and routines.
• Focus on what matters in everyday life, delivering targeted, time-limited support that helps children participate and thrive where they live, learn and play.
• Think creatively about how support is delivered, working across home, early childhood and school environments and adapting your approach to the needs of each child, family and setting.
• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team, sharing your professional expertise and drawing on the knowledge of colleagues across allied health and other Thriving Kids roles to develop coordinated responses.
• Build strong partnerships beyond the therapy room, working collaboratively with early childhood services, schools, Maternal and Child Health, health and community services.

About You

You're a Social Worker who is passionate about giving children the best possible start and working alongside families to make a real difference in everyday life. You bring strong clinical skills, curiosity and a collaborative mindset. You're comfortable looking beyond a diagnosis or a single clinical goal to understand the child, the family, their strengths and the environments in which they live, learn and play.

You will have:

• Qualifications and eligibility for registration/membership as a Social Worker.
• Knowledge and experience in child development, early intervention and child- and family-centred practice.
• Experience working with children aged 0-8 years and their families/carers.
• The ability to apply sound clinical reasoning and evidence-informed Social Worker assessment, intervention and advice.
• Strong communication and relationship building skills, with the ability to work collaboratively with families, professionals and services.
• A commitment to culturally safe, inclusive and strengths-based practice.

You'll be someone who is open to new ideas, enjoys working as part of a team and is excited by the opportunity to contribute to a new way of delivering allied health support. Experience across early childhood, education, health or community settings, and experience working in multidisciplinary or transdisciplinary environments, will be highly regarded.

About the Team

Be part of building something new. Thriving Kids is bringing together a multidisciplinary workforce of allied health, access and pathways, community development and administration professionals to create a new way of supporting children and families across Victoria. You'll be part of a collaborative team that values different perspectives, builds strong partnerships and works together to deliver practical, coordinated support.

About the Department

The Department of Education provides a wide range of learning and development support and services. The department provides policy leadership, plans for the future of education in Victoria and leads key cross-sector collaboration.

The department plays an important system steward role by providing support, guidance, oversight and assurance across early childhood and school education systems, as well as directly providing school education and 50 new early learning centres.

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