Community Connector Practitioner

Position

Community Connector Practitioner

Team

Families & Community Program

Role Classification

SCHADS Level 5

Employment Type

Fixed Term, Full Time 

Location

Frankston, Sandringham and Hampton East (Bunurong Land)

From time to time the incumbent may be requested to work from or be based at other Family Life sites.

Reports To

Team Leader, Family Services

Effective Date

June 2026 

Overview of Program 

The Families & Community Program at Family Life offers a range of services within the Bayside Peninsula catchment. All programs fall within three streams, Connecting Families, Strengthening Families and Restoring Families.

The Restoring Families program provides relational, evidence informed and targeted support to children and families through a collaborative and coordinated partnership between Restoring Practitioners and Child Protection. The Restoring Families program offers an initial phase of rapid, intensive and flexible approach to support, followed by sustained support and transitions to other services based on need. 

The aim of the Restoring Families is to strengthen families, promote children who are safe, healthy, resilient and thriving; while supporting parents/caregivers to create a safe and nurturing home environment.

Family Life as an Organisation has been delivering quality services to the Bayside/Peninsula community since 1970, as such we are deeply committed to our place-based approach to support. We value our community and have a strong belief in the importance of activating community to build and sustain all families. This approach allows Family Life to be responsive to the differing needs of the families we support in their local communities.

Position Objective

The Community Connector Practitioner role forms part of Restoring Families in the Bayside Peninsula region. This position also plays a part in Family Life’s Place Based Community Activation approach. Recognising that the communities we support have immense resources to build the capacity of families.   

The Community Connector Practitioner role has a focus on strengthening the confidence and capacity of families to increase connection and belonging. This is achieved through direct support, group work, community programs and secondary consultation with Restoring Families providers. Engagement with the Community Connector program is voluntary. 

The Community Connector Practitioner will work closely with the Families and Communities team and the Creating Capable Communities (CCC) team to enable community reconnection.  Finally, the Community Connector will collaborate with the CCC and Strengthening Families teams to develop groups and offerings that create engagement for families to develop their connection and networks.   

Key Responsibilities

The key responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

• Manage a full caseload of families working with Restoring Families funded agencies across the Bayside Peninsula area, using trauma and evidence informed approaches to practice. 

• Utilise evidence-informed tools to formulate strengths and needs assessments, safety plans, and community connection plans, approaching support from a strengths-based, attachment focused lens. 

• Utilise systems and community capacity building skills to promote empowerment, independence and sustainable change. 

• Deliver practical, targeted support to families consistent with their community connection plan, goals and recommendations from the care team. Identifying emerging community needs and designing/facilitating group/ community-based programs that promote connection, resilience and wellbeing.  

• Maintain strong working relationships with the Restoring Families Practitioners from funded agencies and the Family Group Convenor, ensuring collaborative and complimentary support to families.  

• Work alongside the Creating Capable Communities (CCC) team in building, updating and maintaining professional and support networks. Ensuring avenues for warm referral and smooth connection to activities and support.  

• Build capacity in community resources to support local families on the caseload to access connection 

• Work flexible hours, which includes work outside of 9:00am-5:00pm and some occasional weekend work, determined by the needs of the family and service availability. 

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the Restoring module-based framework. 

• Engage in regular management and reflective supervision with the Team Leader and reflective practice to support professional development.  

• Taking an active role in the organisational priority of building on our “place based” approach to support, by activating community to increase accessibility and community involvement in supporting local families. 

• Practitioners are required to deliver a fulltime equivalent case load of 1,314 hours (at a minimum) of service delivery to clients annually. 

• Facilitate a minimum of one group per year, which may require work after-hours.  

Key Selection Criteria

1. Bachelor Level qualification in Social Work, Psychology, Social Sciences or equivalent.


2. Experience supporting vulnerable members of the community to meet their goals using trauma informed, strengths based and person-centred approaches.


3. Experience building strong relationships with key stakeholders, working as part of a multidisciplinary team to ensure wrap-around support to empower independence and connection to community level support. 


4. Strong knowledge of the community resources and the ability to assess and link families based on support needs, service capability, accessibility and sustainability. 


5. Ability to work effectively with families experiencing a range of complexities including mental health, alcohol and other drug misuse, family violence, adolescent violence, sexual abuse and trauma. 


6. Strong understanding of the Child, Youth and Families Act 2005, Family Violence and Child Information Sharing Schemes and the MARAM framework. 


7. Ability to promote safety and stability through ongoing application of risk assessment and safety planning. 


8. Have a passion for networking and activating existing resources in the community for the benefit of local families. Including cross-service collaboration to develop and deliver on an identified need.  


9. High level of verbal and written communication skills, including client record keeping, assessment and care team representation.  


10. Highly developed time management skills, to manage and respond to a caseload of families from across a wide region. 


11. Commitment to meeting the needs of at risk families and children guided by the organisation’s whole-of-family approach and community-based model of service delivery. 


12. Information technology skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office suite, video conferencing platforms and client management systems.