Your opportunity

Please review the Position Description on our careers page prior to applying.

headspace is operated by Lives Lived Well, a progressive, for purpose organisation, delivering leading edge services aimed at supporting people to live their lives well. Our Youth Mental Health Programs provide evidence-based interventions and support to young people aged 12 to 25 years, comprising primary care and specialist case management services.

About the role
 

This is an exciting opportunity to provide support and mentorship to your peers with the aim of helping them to engage with their recovery and treatment and work toward their goals. We are looking for a passionate individual with lived experience of mental health challenges, treatment, and recovery, to walk alongside your peers who are experiencing their first episode of psychosis.

You will play a key role in providing a safe place for young people to feel heard and understood. Utilising a lived experience framework, you will provide valuable insights and perspectives, adding to our holistic approach to recovery, treatment, and care.  
 

You will be joining a new, supportive and inclusive lived experience team, who work collaboratively as a part of a multidisciplinary service. You will have the opportunity to significantly contribute to our peer work program development and will pay a critical role in its success.
 

You will thrive in this opportunity to:

• Apply your training and knowledge from the Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work.
• Appropriately and purposefully share parts of your own lived experience with mental ill health, recovery and/or young-adult experiences as a part of supportive conversations that help young people feel heard, supported and seen when sharing their experiences.
• Provide individualised peer support to young people, supporting them to work toward their recovery goals and practice recovery strategies.
• Work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team develop and share information and resources as well as facilitate or co-facilitate groups for young people.
• Provide individual advocacy to support the inclusion of young people’s perspectives and input into care and recovery plans.

This is a part-time position, working 2 days per week (15.2 hours). The position is based at headspace Southport with the occasional requirement to travel to our Meadowbrook or Upper Coomera offices for meetings, training or to deliver services. headspace services, including the Peer Support Program are primarily delivered between 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday, with the occasional requirement to work outside of these hours.

The gross hourly rate for this position ranges between $36.00 to $38.60 per hour + super + salary packaging, depending on the successful applicant’s skills, knowledge, and experience.

What you’ll bring

You are an approachable, engaging individual, with the ability to work within appropriate boundaries and draw on knowledge and expertise gained through reflection on your own lived experience.

Self-care and strong boundaries are paramount, along with the ability to self-reflect and determining your own support needs. This includes raising issues early with your leader and seeking suitable support when required.

Essential criteria for the role that you must be able to meet: 
 

1. Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work or working towards this and nearing completion.
2. A lived experience of mental ill health and treatment in a mental health service (preferably in a youth specific mental health service).
3. Previous experience in a Youth Peer Support role or similar consumer support or lived experience role in a mental health setting.
4. Willingness and ability to share your lived experience in a safe, purposeful way including clearly describing strategies and factors that have supported your recovery and wellbeing.
5. Knowledge and understanding of lived experience/peer support frameworks that providing individualised and goal-oriented support to young people.
6. Demonstrated experience and effectiveness in working considerately and non-judgmentally with young people from diverse backgrounds and/or experiencing complex challenges.
7. Demonstrated experience facilitating or co-facilitating recovery or support groups for young people.
8. The ability to work autonomously, while also contributing to team direction and planning as well as maintaining appropriate boundaries with young people that you are supporting.
9. High level written and verbal communication skills, and basic computer skills including programs such as Microsoft Office and information and data recording service systems.

We would love for you to have:

1. Sound knowledge and understanding of first episode psychosis and treatment. To enable you to relate to the young people we support, it would be ideal if your experience of mental ill health is a first-time experience of psychosis (desirable, not essential).

Under s25 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991, there is a genuine occupational requirement for the incumbent to have a personal lived experience of substance dependence and or Mental ill-health, service use and recovery. 

What matters most is that you’ll live and breathe our values, which means:

• You are humble, human, and full of hope.
• You show up and share.
• You ask: Why not? And what’s next?
• You leave a positive wake.

And while you support others, we’ll support you with some great benefits including:

• An extra five paid leave days per year to support your wellbeing and work-life balance (pro rata for part-time staff).
• Salary packaging to increase your take-home pay.
• Paid parental leave of 8 weeks.
• An employee assistance program (EAP) for you and your family, including emotional, psychological, financial counselling and wellbeing services.
• Fitness Passport membership access to a wide range of gyms, pools, and fitness and leisure centres across Australia, at a discounted rate.

Are you ready to imagine the possibilities? Here’s how to apply.
 

1. Go to the Lives Lived Well Careers page https://www.liveslivedwell.org.au/work-with-us/
2. Locate the Position you’d like to apply for and review the Position Description
3. Apply via Lives Lived Well application option or Seek
4. Ensure you submit your Cover Letter and CV as a combined/single document
5. Ensure your cover letter addresses the essential selection criteria listed in the Position Description
6. Provide a brief outline of your lived/living experience of mental ill health and recovery journey as it applies to the context of this role
7. You will receive an email confirmation that your application has been received successfully. 

For additional inquiries relating to information not outlined in the job ad or PD, please contact the Peer Support Program Coordinator Kate Mocsay on [email protected]

If you have difficulty creating an LLW account or uploading your application, please contact [email protected] 

Due to the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Applications close: Thursday, 21 December 2023