• It is an exciting time to join our headspace Gympie team as we progress to a full-scale headspace Centre
• Join a passionate and growing team who are dedicated to supporting young people
• Salary packaging to maximise your income by increasing your take home pay – up to $15,900 available for salary packaging plus Superannuation!
• Professional development opportunities
• Community awareness and youth engagement plays a vital role for headspace Gympie

headspace is Australia’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation providing early intervention mental health services to 12-25 year olds. The service is designed to make it as easy as possible for a young person and their family to get the help they need for problems affecting their wellbeing. This covers four core areas: mental health, physical health, vocational support, and alcohol and other drug services. To find out more about headspace visit www.headspace.org.au

Youturn is a not-for-profit organisation that started in 1989 to help address youth homelessness in Noosa.  Since then, the organisation and grown and evolved, and now provides health and social services to over 6,000 young people and their families annually, to assist them in achieving their full potential.

Youturn is the lead agency of five headspace centres across Southern Queensland that focus on early intervention for young people through a range of services.

You’ll find out more about Youturn at www.youturn.org.au  

Working at headspace Gympie Youturn, you’ll be supported in an environment that encourages professional development, structured clinical support and values positive workplace culture. 

This is an exciting role that provides meaningful impact for Gympie. Our goal is to achieve the best possible mental health and social and emotional wellbeing outcomes for young people (and their family and friends) seeking early intervention support.

Gympie is a 2-hour drive north of Brisbane and near Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. The region offers access to beaches, unspoiled coastlines, forests, National parks and beautiful hinterlands.  To the east is the Cooloola Coast, home to Rainbow Beach and Tin Can Bay and a gateway to K’Gari Island.   To the west are country towns of Kilkivan and Goomeri.  To the south, the lush rural communities of Mary Valley home to a wide array of fresh local produce.

The Opportunity:

As the Senior Intervention Worker you will engage, screen, assess, provide evidence based clinical interventions, and coordinate care for young people aged 12-25 years old who are clients of headspace. 

The primary role is to provide individual and group-based therapeutic counselling to young people aged 12-25 years at headspace Gympie. This position includes managing a caseload of young people using evidence-based short-term psychological interventions. This includes undertaking mental health assessments, developing goals in conjunction with the young person and working with family/friends and other professionals to coordinate care.

This position requires a clinically confident practitioner who is able to work autonomously, as well as part of a team. This position requires a pro-active, personable, youth friendly practitioner with great communication skills.

Key Responsibilities:

Service Provision

• Relate to young people (aged 12 -25 years) relevant and appropriate to their development and cognitive level of functioning and provide services in a youth friendly manner
• Demonstrated ability to engage and work collaboratively with young people and their families and friends
• Conduct high quality biopsychosocial assessments of young people presenting to the service with mental health concerns
• Demonstrated experience in clinical practice, and in delivering evidence-based clinical therapeutic interventions to a caseload of young people with mild to moderate mental health presentations

Some of your other responsibilities will include:

• Undertake clinical service provision to a complex client case load
• Facilitate access for young people to a range of health, vocational and other support services, both internal and external to the organisation
• Conduct thorough risk assessments, including assessment of suicide risk and violence and provide follow up support, treatment and referrals as needed.
• Facilitate and monitor the integration and coordination of care of young people, participating in case review meetings
• In the Clinical Lead’s absence, facilitate and monitor the integration and coordination of care of headspace young people and assist the Centre Manager to monitor high risk young people and ensure that appropriate assessment, management and follow up support/referral is provided. 
• Facilitate clinical and psycho-social based group programs for young people.
• When required you may be required to participate along with the screening and assessing young people as part of intake and first engagement.

Selection Criteria 

Below are the essential (unless otherwise indicated) demonstrable experience a person requires in order to successfully fulfil the responsibilities of this position. 

An applicant must provide specific information and/or examples of how you can meet each of these criteria in your application in order to be considered for this position. 

• Tertiary qualifications in Psychology, Social Work, Mental Health Nursing or Occupational Therapy and registration with relevant body: AHPRA or AASW.
• Mental Health Counsellors or Psychotherapists whose skills, training and experience are equivalent to the requirements outlined within the Australian Counselling Association Scope of Practice Guidelines at a minimum Level 3 or above within those guidelines, and who are registered with the relevant membership body (ACA or PACFA or equivalent)
• Knowledge and understanding of youth mental health, evidence-based interventions and clinical practice as well as demonstrated excellence in the practical application of such, in the areas of youth mental health and alcohol and drug use 
• Demonstrated ability to undertake initial screening activities and a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment to determine client care needs, and provide appropriate follow up support
• Highly developed communication (including written) and interpersonal skills, and the ability to engage with young people, advocate on their behalf and establish and maintain effective relationships with staff, clients, carers and stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to develop and deliver individual and group-based skills training activities to assist clients’ psychosocial functioning (i.e., life skills, anger management, problem solving, conflict resolution, etc) 
• Demonstrated ability to conduct a risk assessment, including suicide risk and violence
• Ability to use a desktop computer, with familiarity with the Microsoft Windows environment and Microsoft Office applications and capacity to learn how to use a new clinical software package for keeping of electronic client records
• Desirable: Knowledge of local youth/health sectors and knowledge and understanding of trauma informed practice

Other Requirements 

• Hold a current ‘C’ class open driver’s license
• Hold a current Working with Children Check (Blue Card), if required, issued by the Queensland Government. 
• Youturn requires all its workplace participants to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with an approved COVID-19 vaccine, according to up-to-date health advice from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) or a State or Federal Government; or provide a valid exemption certificate.

Mission & Values

Supporting young people in their time of need, is at the heart of what we do at Youturn. Our organisational culture is built on trusting relationships that are meaningful and inclusive.  We listen to understand, we embrace diversity, and we offer a safe spacefree from judgement.

To ensure our young people receive individualised support, we invest in team members who embody our values to foster a collaborative culture of excellence.

For everyone who shares our passion
We encourage applications from people of all ages, nationalities, abilities, and cultures – including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the LGBTQI+ community, and people living with disability.

We’d love to meet you!
If you have the skills, experience, and passion to fit our headspace Toowoomba team, please take the next step and submit your resume and cover letter.