Peer Worker in Penrith

Peer Worker - Penrith & Hawkesbury Medicare Mental Health Centre

For all people in Australia living with mental health and wellbeing challenges to live a life that is meaningful to them.

Position Details

• Casual Position
• Classification: SCHADS Level 3, with an hourly rate of $50.66 - $54.33 per hour including casual loading + Superannuation
• Salary packaging arrangements providing tax benefits available for living and entertainment expenses increasing your take home income where part of your wage is paid tax free each pay, savings thousands in tax each year
• Location: Penrith & Richmond, NSW 2753
• Working 7 day rotating roster, includes weekend work

About your new role

The Penrith and Hawkesbury Medicare Mental Health Centres provide a welcoming, person-centred mental health support service for people in the local community, with a focus on providing accessible, timely and low-barrier support that responds to people's individual needs and connects them with supports that are right for them.

As a Peer Worker with the Penrith & Hawkesbury Medicare Mental Health Centres, you will use your Lived Experience of mental health challenges and recovery to inform your practice and contribute peer-informed perspectives across all aspects of the role.

Working within a multidisciplinary team, you will build meaningful connections with guests and colleagues through mutuality, purposeful use of Lived Experience and genuine human connection. Drawing on your Lived Expertise, you will work alongside others in ways that create opportunities for reflection, growth and self-determination, supporting people to navigate challenges, identify what matters to them, explore their aspirations, and identify pathways towards achieving their goals. Through your practice, you will help foster an inclusive and recovery-oriented environment where people feel heard, respected and valued.

About Neami National

We're Neami. We're big believers in everyone having the opportunity to live a full life. We support people to achieve wellbeing and mental health outcomes that matter to them. We provide services across Australia for mental health and wellbeing, housing and homelessness, and suicide prevention.

For some people, this means having a stronger sense of self. For others, it may mean nurturing relationships or building the confidence to tackle tomorrow. We support people to improve their quality of life in a way that suits them.

We're proud to support 34,000+ people living with mental health challenges each year across Australia and offer services over 40 different Indigenous lands.

Values

Together with our vision and purpose, our values define who we are and guide the way we operate. They are fundamental to our identity, and we align all our actions with them.

• Connecting
• Collaborating
• Learning
• Belonging

What will Neami offer

• Professional development through regular practice development sessions and coaching with your supervisor
• Ongoing extensive in-house Learning and Development programs to encourage learning and skill-building
• Fitness Passport membership to support your health and wellbeing (available in most States/Territories and subject to minimum working hours and/or length of service)
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) through TELUS - providing holistic health and wellness supports and resources to Neami staff and their immediate family

What you will bring to the role

• Personal Lived Experience of mental health challenges and recovery, and the ability to purposefully use Lived Expertise to foster connection, inform practice, and contribute personal and collective perspectives within the service.
• Strong understanding of Peer Work as a discipline including its values, principles and practice approaches. Understanding of the historical development of Peer Work and its connections to Lived Experience advocacy, human rights and social change.
• Understanding of recovery-oriented, trauma-informed and person-centred approaches, and their application in supporting people experiencing mental health challenges and other co-existing challenges.
• Strong capacity to engage with discomfort, distress and people experiencing crisis while maintaining reflective and purposeful practice.
• Ability to work autonomously and as part of a multidisciplinary team, adapt communication in response to diverse needs, and uphold privacy and confidentiality.
• Ability to engage in reflective practice independently and collaboratively, seek and provide meaningful feedback, and commit to ongoing learning and professional practice development.
• Strong written & verbal and written communication skills plus computer literacy. Understanding of strength-based, trauma-informed and discipline specific language.
• Relevant experience in a designated Lived Experience role
• Peer Work practices in individual, group, and collaborative supports and spaces.
• Willingness to identify/be identified by others as a professional with Lived Experience, understanding the strengths and professional accountabilities that best support success in the role.

What the role requires

• National Criminal History Check (police check) - disclosable outcomes considered
• Current Working with Children Check - required before commencement of work
• Australian working rights
• A valid driver's licence

Applications Close: 20 November 2026

Be Yourself - Neami values and celebrates diversity including multidisciplinary teams and the unique backgrounds, experiences and contributions that each person brings to our community. First Nations people, those identifying as LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities and culturally and linguistically diverse people are encouraged to apply. Our aim is to create a workforce that is accessible, inclusive and reflects the community in which we live.

Neami is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. We commit to providing accessible and safe physical and online environments for all children and young people. Click https://www.neaminational.org.au/about/our-approach/children-and-young-people/ for the full statement.

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