OUR ORGANISATION
VACSAL
The Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Limited (VACSAL) is the recognised state-wide Peak Advisory body on Aboriginal Community issues. VACSAL is a community based, community-controlled organisation, comprising representatives from Koorie organisations across the State. As well as having an advisory role, VACSAL delivers and manages a range of critical community services across Victoria.
About the Orange Door
The Victorian Government has committed to implementing all 227 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence and to delivering on the vision described in Roadmap for Reform: Strong families, Safe children. A key recommendation of the Royal Commission and the Roadmap for Reform was to establish The Orange Door- a network of Support and Safety Hubs across Victoria. The Orange Door aims to provide a new way for women, children and young people experiencing family violence, and families in need of support with the care, development and wellbeing of children and young people, to access coordinated support. The Orange Door will also focus on users of violence of family violence, to keep them in view and play a role in holding them accountable for their actions and changing their behaviour.
The State-wide Concept highlights that the safety of victim survivors and children will be the Orange
Door’s priority. It also recognises that a gendered understanding of family violence and an understanding of child and family vulnerability are critical to effective services and systems. The Orange Door will be accessible, safe, and welcoming to people, providing quick and simple access to the support and safety they need. The Orange Door will engage user of violence and plan interventions to hold them to account and support them to access services to address these concerns.
Role of The Orange Door
The Orange Door will deliver a fundamental change to the way we work with women, children, families and men. The role of The Orange Door is to provide:
• A more visible contact point so that people know where to go for specialist support.
• Help for people to identify family violence and child and family safety and wellbeing issues.
• Advice based on contemporary risk assessment tools and guidance and best available information.
• Specialist support and tailored advice for victims, families and children, and users of violence.
• A strong focus on users of violence accountability.
• Connection and coordination of access to support.
• An approach across the spectrum of prevention, early intervention, and response.
• A system-wide view of service capacity, client experience and outcomes.
The Orange Door Team will include a mix of staff employed by Family Safety Victoria and other agencies (including VACSAL) to reflect the local needs.
POSITION SUMMARY
Located at The Orange Door, this role will provide comprehensive intake, assessment and planning to Aboriginal community members seeking support around family violence and child well-being.
The Aboriginal practitioner will work primarily with women as part of a multi-disciplinary team to deliver high quality, culturally safe and effective responses to women, children and families seeking support and safety through the Orange Door. Through a whole of family approach focused on victim/survivor safety and well-being, services will also be offered to users of violence to engage with services to address these behaviours and other support needs.
KEY RESULT AREAS
TASKS:
• Provide culturally safe intake, assessment and planning to women, children, families, and men seeking support through The Orange Door.
• Work within a specialist discipline to deliver Orange Door services and develop an understanding of and the capabilities to work safely across family violence, users of violence responses and child well-being (with appropriate training and supervision).
• Deliver screening and triage, assessment, crisis responses, service planning, targeted interventions, allocation and coordinated referrals consistent with the Integrated Practice Framework, Operational Guidelines, Services Specifications and relevant risk assessment tools and frameworks.
• Identify, assess, and prioritise risk and needs of women and children, families, and users of violence, drawing on the expertise of different practitioners in a multi-disciplinary team.
• Work collaboratively with the Orange Door team to support integrated risk assessment and planning, including participating in case conferences and meetings.
• Recognise and identify limits of own expertise and when to seek advice or refer clients to The Orange Door specialist practitioners or Practice Leaders to ensure safe practice.
• Identify when a Central Information Point (CIP) request is required and refer request to the Orange Door Practice Leader and/or Family Violence Team Leader.
• Apply for brokerage on behalf of clients in accordance with brokerage guidelines.
• Navigate the broader service system for clients by referring clients to services and providing information and support including supporting strong links between The Orange Door and other Aboriginal services.
• Record client information accurately on The Orange Door Client Relationship Management (CRM) system.
• Handle client information in accordance with the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS), Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS), information security, privacy policies and requirements.
• Participate in training and development activities designed to build capabilities to work effectively in The Orange Door environment.
• Assist with VACSAL community events such as NAIDOC activities, sports carnivals etc.
• Attend internal and external training as required.
• Ensure compliance with legislations, contract and policy requirements in your day-to-day work to meet the organisation’s audit, contract and registration obligations.
• Proactively apply your specialist knowledge in the review and maintenance of policies, systems and processes.
• Continue the development of a culturally strong and positive working environment using a continuous improvement approach.
• Attend VACSAL In Service and AGM annually.
• Ensure you have a sound knowledge of all VACSAL programs
• Create a yearly work plan, ensuring it aligns with your KPI’s and is in conjunction with your program and the Strategic Plan. Ensure it is updated bimonthly as part of your Supervisor Sessions.
• Participate in bimonthly Supervisor Sessions
• Undertake other duties that are peripheral to the main tasks, provided that such duties are reasonably within the employee’s skills, competence and training.
KEY SELECTION CRITERIA (KSC)
Mandatory KSC:
Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills and Experience: Mandatory
• Bachelor level qualification in Social Work or equivalent (or working towards Bachelor level qualifications).
Preferred
• Sound knowledge and understanding and commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, culture and the philosophy and practice of Aboriginal Community Control and be able to effectively utilise this knowledge to effectively communicate with Aboriginal people including women and children, men, and families.
• Demonstrated ability to work successfully with Aboriginal people to address a range of complex and diverse needs including the understanding of the importance of culture and community connection.
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the drivers/causes of family violence and child and family vulnerability.
• Ability to provide outreach and home visits outside of normal office hours.
• Proven ability to maintain confidentiality and knowledge of privacy requirements relevant to the role.
Other Relevant Information:
• Work through VACSAL closure periods with Time in Lieu accrued during these periods.
• After hours, weekend may be required.
• 10am – 6pm shifts may be required
• The successful applicant will be required to disclosure any pre-existing injury/injuries and/or medical condition/s, which could be aggravated by the type of employment they are applying for. The existence of an injury/injuries and/or medical condition/s will not preclude the applicant from employment, unless they are unable to perform the inherent requirements of the position. However, failure to disclose any relevant information may affect a claim for Worker’s Compensation.
• Current Working with children’s check
• Current National police check
• Current Victorian Driver’s License
Attachment – Supporting Information Support and Safety Hubs
https://www.vic.gov.au/familyviolence/family-safety-victoria
The Victorian Government has committed to implementing all 227 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence and to delivering on the vision described in Roadmap for Reform: Strong families, Safe children.
A key recommendation of the Royal Commission and the Roadmap for Reform was to establish a network of Support and Safety Hubs (Hubs) across Victoria to provide a new way for women, children and young people experiencing family violence, and families in need of support with the care, development and wellbeing of children and young people, to access coordinated support from community, health and justice services. The Hubs will also focus on users of violence of family violence, to keep them in view and play a role in holding them accountable for their actions and changing their behaviour.
Ending Family Violence: Victoria’s Plan for Change released in November 2016, sets out the Victorian Government’s commitment to establish a network of Hubs across all 17 Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) areas. The Hubs will be central to Victoria’s approach to addressing both family violence and ensuring child safety and wellbeing. The Hubs will also form a critical part of the broader service system response.
The Support and Safety Hubs: Statewide Concept released in July 2017 describes the intent, scope, key functions and roles of the Hubs and how the Hubs will contribute to the vision and aspirations of Victoria’s Plan for Change and Roadmap for Reform. It outlines what the Hubs will deliver across the state as part of the future service system; the approach government is taking, and a number of principles for the design of the Hubs.
For further information please visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/familyviolence/family-safety-victoria
The Statewide Concept highlights that the safety of victim survivors and children will be the Hubs’ first priority. It also recognises that a gendered understanding of family violence and an understanding of child and family vulnerability are critical to effective services and systems.
Hubs will be accessible, safe and welcoming to people, providing quick and simple access to the support and safety they need. The Hubs will engage users of violence and plan interventions to hold them to account.
Family Safety Victoria (FSV) will facilitate statewide coordination and development of the Hubs model, including with the support of a Hubs Statewide Reference Group. FSV will oversee the establishment of the Hub network in collaboration with the local Hub Leadership Groups, Hub Operations Leadership Groups and Hub Establishment Groups which will lead the implementation and management of the Hubs in each area.
The Victorian Government has committed to the initial establishment of five launch sites in the DHHS areas of Mallee, Barwon, Bayside, Inner Gippsland and North-East Melbourne from early 2018, with Hubs in all 17 DHHS Areas by the end of 2021.
Given the phased approach to implementing the Hubs and the evolving nature of the design process, certain elements of this service model may change over time. The role and operations of the Hubs will not be static or fixed at one point in time. Just as the practice of the Hubs will be informed by emerging needs and evidence, and firmly embedded with the principle of continuous improvement, the design and implementation of the Hubs will continue to develop and be informed by community needs, co-design, evaluation, and practice learnings. Future development of the service model will continue to be set at the statewide level, informed by local practice and experience.
Role of Hubs
The Hubs will deliver a fundamental change to the way we work with women, children and families, and men. The role of the Hubs is to provide:
• a more visible contact point so that people know where to go for specialist support
• help for people to identify family violence and child and family safety and wellbeing issues
• advice based on contemporary risk assessment tools and guidance and best available information
• specialist support and tailored advice for victims, families and children, and users of violence
• a strong focus on users of violence accountability
• connection and coordination of access to support
• an approach across the spectrum of prevention, early intervention and response
• a system-wide view of service capacity, client experience and outcomes.
The Hubs will support the agency of women, children and families, to ensure that the services they receive meet their needs and their goals.
The Hub Team
Hubs will bring together different workforces and practices to create an integrated Hub team and a consolidated intake point in each Hub area to create a new way of support for:
• women, children, young people and families experiencing family violence
• users of violence of family violence
• families in need of support with the care, development and well-being of children.
This will be achieved by drawing on the expertise of CSOs and bringing together workers from organisations that currently:
• receive police referrals for women who are victims of family violence
• receive police referrals for users of violence of family violence (known as ‘Enhanced Intake Services’)
• receive child wellbeing referrals
• provide the Child FIRST service
• deliver other relevant services as appropriate, such as those delivered by Aboriginal services.
The Hubs Team will include a mix of staff employed by FSV and staff employed by Community Service Organisations (CSOs), Aboriginal services and DHHS. For each launch site the size of the team will vary to reflect the local needs.
Applications for this position must include the following:
1. Written cover letter that outlines why the applicant believes that he/she would be suitable for this position.
2. Detailed Curriculum Vitae that outlines educational and employment background, which must also include at least 3 referees.
3. A detailed response to the Key Selection Criteria.
4. Applications for this position close on 21st March 2026. Applications must reach VACSAL office by close of business that day.
5. It is a mandatory requirement that all successful applicants provide a current Working with Children check and a current National Police check.
6. Applications must be marked Private & Confidential and addressed to:
Human Resources
Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Limited
496 High Street
Northcote, VIC 3070
Email: hr@vacsal.org.au
