Lived Experience AOD Clinician

• Exciting Perm/Part-time (0.8 FTE) AOD Clinician role based at Ballarat East.
• Apply your own lived AOD experience and make meaningful impact to people’s lives.
• SCHADS Level 4 with Salary packaging options to enhance your take-home income.
• Amazing and supportive team with lots of learning and development opportunities.

Windana provides connected services for more people in need.

We provide services across Victoria for adults and young people experiencing alcohol and other drug harms, family violence, mental health challenges and social disadvantage.

Our Model of Care puts clients at the centre of what we do to create positive change in people's lives. We work with families, communities and other organisations to deliver trauma informed, equitable, culturally safe and integrated services based on evidence and practice wisdom.

By intervening early and creating purposeful partnerships, we help clients achieve improved outcomes while reducing demand on acute services. And we are influencing policy, practice and research to help shape better systems for clients. Together, we influence the broader system for a more positive and connected future.

Is this your next career opportunity?

The Lived Experience AOD Clinician is responsible for supporting residents within a residential rehabilitation service to identify and address patterns of behaviour that may contribute to harm, while fostering recovery, wellbeing, and lifestyles of self-determined purpose. Through collaborative, trauma-informed, person-centred, and recovery-oriented practice, the AOD Clinician works alongside residents to build on their strengths, experiences, and aspirations.

Reporting to the Team Leader, the Lived Experience AOD Clinician provide case management to a caseload of up to 10 residents. This includes individual and group interventions, supporting residents to achieve the goals of their individual treatment plans, and facilitating access to appropriate internal and external services and supports.

The Lived Experience AOD Clinician works collaboratively with AOD Support Workers, AOD Peer Workers, Work Program Staff, and other stakeholders to ensure residents receive the full benefits of the residential-rehabilitation program. The role values and integrates the perspectives of people with lived and living experience of alcohol and other drug use, recognising the unique contribution this knowledge brings to recovery and treatment outcomes. Together, staff support residents to engage meaningfully in the program and achieve their goals.

Working Hours:

Week 1: Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

Week 2: Saturday to Tuesday from 10:30am to 6:30pm & Wednesday from 8:00am to 4:00pm.

• Develop treatment and intervention plans, aligning them with individual client goals.
• Engage in collaborative discussions to clarify and refine client needs and aspirations.
• Provide case management, advocacy, referrals support and therapeutic interventions to residents accessing residential rehabilitation services including assessment and interventions to ensure timely and appropriate referrals.
• Initiate case management responsibilities, taking on primary responsibility for a caseload of clients.
• Provide evidence base therapeutic interventions and programs inclusive of various modalities of individual and group supervision.
• Utilize brief interventions, de-escalation strategies and motivational interviewing and other strategies to motivate residents in treatment.
• Facilitate group interventions focused on a range of treatment modalities including psychoeducation, trauma-informed care, relapse prevention, and other therapeutic interventions when required.
• Coordinates client care across multiple services and providers, ensuring seamless delivery.
• Maintain comprehensive client documentation and case notes, ensuring accuracy and compliance and capturing relevant details for analysis.
• Support referral to appropriate specialist services and assist clients to exit from the service on achievement of treatment goals.

What we're looking for:

• Minimum of two years’ experience working within the alcohol and drug sector, mental health or other primary health care environment with an understanding of AOD service navigation.
• Lived Experience of Alcohol and/or Drug Addiction &/ been a carer for someone who has experienced Alcohol and/or Drug Addiction.
• Ability to intentionally share personal lived experience whilst retaining professional and safe boundaries.
• Proven experience conducting assessments, case management and development of trauma-informed, person-centred treatment plans with clients with complex needs.
• Capacity to provide case work and AOD interventions within the context of a harm reduction, family work and recovery philosophies.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills with the ability to build rapport, negotiate and facilitate client outcomes and resolve conflict with a diverse group of people with complex needs using compassion.
• Demonstrated experience in assessment of clients with complex needs utilising relevant AOD screening tools.
• Case management skills and ability to write clear and professional case notes/handover notes and other essential documentation.
• Proficiency using computer software such as Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook) and client data base system (i.e, Mastercare).
• Tertiary qualification in Counselling, Nursing, Psychology, Social Work, Occupational Therapy or a related field.
• Certificate IV in AOD or 4 AOD core competencies.
• SHARC Peer Training, or preparedness to complete within 3 months of successful application.

Join our team to contribute to our life-changing work.

Our people are integral to the work we do, and we pride ourselves on providing our team opportunities to contribute, grow and thrive:

Contribute to our meaningful work and values-based culture through:

• our Strategic Plan,
• our quality accreditation,
• Reconciliation Action Plan, and
• Rainbow Tick accreditation.

Grow with professional and personal development, including:

• 40 hours of study leave each year
• Support for qualifications, external training and up to $200 towards professional registrations
• Career pathways through secondments and our Leadership Network
• Regular supervision, goal-setting, and individual development plans

Thrive with benefits that support your wellbeing and work-life balance, including:

• 12 weeks paid parental leave from day one
• 15 days personal leave, compassionate, and gender affirmation leave
• 10 days cultural leave for First Nations employees (including 2 paid days)
• Flexible working arrangements tailored to you
• Generous salary packaging to increase your take-home pay
• Retail perks and fitness discounts
• Access to our wellbeing program, including discounted osteopathy treatments.
• WWCC costs covered
• Public holiday swap

Ready to join us?

Be quick! Applications will be reviewed as soon as they land on our desks so apply today if you're interested. 

Windana is committed to child safety and a valid Working with Children Check and Police Check are required for this position.

Windana values and celebrates diversity and inclusion and is an equal employment opportunity employer. We encourage applicants of all backgrounds and life experience to apply. Our aim is to build a team that closely reflects the diversity of the people and communities we work with.