Senior Recovery and Housing Practitioner – Looking Ahead Program

Full-Time | SCHADS Level 6 | ADO Eligible  Melbourne | Head Office and outreach across Western, Inner Eastern and Southern Melbourne 

Strengthen practice. Support recovery. Help create pathways beyond crisis. 

Are you a highly experienced family violence practitioner who wants to guide complex practice, support the development of other practitioners and remain meaningfully connected to direct client work? 

Refuge Victoria is seeking a Senior Recovery and Housing Practitioner to join our new Looking Ahead Program, an integrated housing and recovery initiative supporting victim survivors to move from crisis accommodation towards longer-term safety, stable housing and independence. 

About Refuge Victoria 

Refuge Victoria is an independent not-for-profit specialist family violence organisation and one of Victoria’s largest providers of specialist family violence refuge accommodation. 

We support people experiencing serious risk from family violence through refuge and crisis accommodation, safety planning, specialist case management and assistance to build safer and more independent lives. 

Our vision is for people escaping family violence to live safe and free. Our work is guided by our values of being Compassionate, Empowering, Collaborative, Committed and acting with Integrity. 

About the Looking Ahead Program 

Looking Ahead is Refuge Victoria’s new integrated rapid housing and recovery initiative. 

Support begins while victim survivors are residing in specialist family violence crisis accommodation and continues as they transition into longer-term housing, with graduated outreach support provided over 18–24 months. 

The program prioritises victim survivors experiencing repeated crisis presentations and complex barriers to housing, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victim survivors, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people living with disability, temporary visa holders and LGBTIQA+ people. 

Looking Ahead is grounded in three principles: 

• Safety remains paramount throughout recovery. 
• Housing is the foundation for recovery, not the end goal. 
• Recovery is client-led and recognises each person’s strengths, goals and aspirations. 

Case management is guided by the Empowerment Star, supporting collaborative goal setting, client-led Action Plans, regular review and meaningful outcomes measurement. 

About the role 

Reporting to the Team Leader – Looking Ahead, you will hold a caseload with a focus on complex, high-risk or multi-system presentations while also providing senior practice guidance, mentoring, case review and secondary consultation to other practitioners. 

You will support high-quality and consistent practice across family violence risk assessment and management, housing and tenancy pathways, recovery planning, multi-agency coordination and culturally safe responses to complex barriers. 

You will: 

• Provide skilled secondary consultation and practice guidance on complex family violence risk, safety planning, housing transitions, disengagement, ethical issues and service access barriers. 
• Hold a complex caseload and deliver coordinated in-reach and outreach support across the full Looking Ahead journey. 
• Undertake comprehensive MARAM assessment, reassessment and safety planning. 
• Use the Empowerment Star to co-design and review client-led Action Plans. 
• Support coordinated responses where clients are navigating multiple systems, services or barriers. 
• Mentor and coach practitioners to strengthen assessment, analysis, professional judgement, documentation and case planning. 
• Work closely with the Housing and Tenancy Worker to integrate housing access and sustainment with safety and recovery goals. 
• Contribute to practice resources, program procedures, outcomes reporting and continuous improvement. 
• Build strong partnerships with crisis services, housing providers, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, LGBTIQA+ specialist services and other community partners. 

The role has no formal direct reports. This is a senior practice position rather than a line-management role. Formal supervision, performance management, leave approval and employment decisions remain with the Team Leader or relevant manager. 

Regular outreach is required across Western, Inner Eastern and Southern Melbourne, including work in crisis accommodation, client homes, Refuge Victoria offices and community settings. 

About you 

We are looking for an experienced practitioner who combines advanced practice knowledge with calm, collaborative and development-focused senior practice leadership. 

You will demonstrate: 

• Advanced family violence practice: Substantial experience in comprehensive family violence risk assessment, safety planning, MARAM-informed practice, coordinated risk management and trauma-informed recovery. 
• Senior practice capability: Experience providing secondary consultation, mentoring, coaching, case review or practice guidance to other practitioners. 
• Complex case management: The ability to hold and coordinate complex, high-risk or multi-system cases while maintaining client voice and professional boundaries.  
• Sound professional judgement: Confidence working through complexity and ambiguity and escalating critical risk promptly. 
• Housing and recovery knowledge: An understanding of housing and homelessness systems, tenancy sustainment, private rental and social housing pathways, and the barriers victim survivors may experience in securing housing. 
• Inclusive and culturally responsive practice: A commitment to culturally safe and accessible practice, including respect for Aboriginal self-determination and an understanding of barriers experienced by LGBTIQA+ people, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people with disability and temporary visa holders. 
• Communication and collaboration: Strong interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build confidence in others, provide constructive guidance and work effectively with clients, colleagues and partner agencies. 
• Quality and continuous improvement: High standards of documentation, case noting and outcomes reporting, together with the ability to translate client feedback, practice learning and data into service improvement. 

The position requires a minimum of five years’ relevant specialist family violence or related case management experience, including demonstrated experience working with complex risk, recovery, housing instability or homelessness. 

Qualifications 

Applicants must be able to meet Refuge Victoria’s qualification requirements for specialist family violence practice through one of the recognised pathways, including: 

• A Bachelor of Social Work or another equivalent qualification; or 
• Relevant professional experience or a related qualification consistent with applicable mandatory minimum qualification requirements; or 
• Significant cultural knowledge, experience or lived experience where recognised under the relevant pathways. 

Postgraduate or advanced training in family violence, trauma-informed practice, supervision or reflective practice, housing, homelessness or a related area would be highly regarded.

Why join Refuge Victoria? 

This is an opportunity to help establish and shape an emerging program designed to support victim survivors beyond immediate crisis and into sustained housing and recovery. 

You will have the opportunity to: 

• Remain connected to meaningful direct client work while influencing practice quality across the program. 
• Support and develop practitioners through respectful, collaborative consultation and mentoring. 
• Work within a small multidisciplinary team that brings together family violence, recovery, housing, tenancy and specialist LGBTIQA+ expertise. 
• Contribute to the implementation and ongoing development of a new long-term recovery model. 
• Work alongside experienced family violence, housing and community-sector professionals. 
• See the longer-term impact of sustained, relationship-based support. 

The position is full-time and fixed-term for 3.5 years at SCHADS Level 6 + Salary Packaging + Super and is eligible for an Accrued Day Off where applicable. Some flexibility in hours, including occasional afternoon or early evening work, may be required to respond to client needs. 

Employment conditions 

The successful applicant will be required to satisfactorily complete Refuge Victoria’s employment screening requirements, including: 

• Australian Criminal History Check 
• International Criminal History Check where applicable 
• Current Employee Working with Children Check 
• Current full Victorian driver licence 
• Evidence required under Refuge Victoria’s workforce immunisation and screening policies. 

Refuge Victoria is committed to child safety and to providing an inclusive, culturally safe and responsive workplace and service environment. 

In accordance with sections 12 and 28 of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic), Refuge Victoria exclusively recruits people who identify as female or non-binary for service delivery positions, reflecting the specific needs of the women and children we support

How to apply 

Are you ready to use your experience to strengthen practice, support other practitioners and help victim survivors build safety, stable housing and recovery beyond crisis? 

Please submit your resume and a cover letter outlining your relevant experience and what you would bring to the Looking Ahead Program. 

Join Refuge Victoria and help create pathways beyond crisis, towards safety, housing stability and recovery.