Counsellor Advocate (Child and Youth)

Role Title: Child and Youth Counsellor Advocate

Team: North Queensland Team

Location: Cairns

Level: Level 5 Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award ($100,783 -$105,349 pro rata + leave loading and superannuation). Salary sacrificing available.

Reports to: Individual and Family Recovery Regional Team Leader

Contract: 4 days/week, Ongoing, pending 6-month probation.

Our Vision

Healing the past, nurturing the future.

Our vision is for refugee survivors of persecution to live lives liberated from the harms of torture, trauma and human rights injustice. We exist to nurture meaningful futures by assisting refugee survivors to heal, belong and thrive in our community.

Our Values

Kindness

We care.

In all our work, survivors of torture and trauma come first.

Optimism

We believe in meaningful futures.

We are committed to healing being a journey of growth across mind, body and spirit.

Perseverance

We don’t give up. We understand that healing requires time, patience and courage for individuals, families and communities.

Fairness

We believe that recovery from trauma is about justice and that to heal is a human right.

Honesty

We act openly and ethically.

We are committed to delivering impactful services.

Role Purpose

The primary purpose of this role is to provide recovery focused therapeutic intervention with children, young people and their families who are refugee survivors of torture and/or trauma.

The role of a Counsellor Advocate involves assessment, counselling, psychoeducation, client focused advocacy and therapeutic group work. This also includes engagement and consultation with key stakeholders who are involved in optimising the recovery and well- being of clients.

Character

We are looking for a Counsellor Advocate who is passionate about recovery from trauma for children and young people from a refugee background. We value the ability to engage clients in healing across mind, body and spirit. You will be compassionate, patient and courageous in managing a range of vulnerabilities experienced by our clients and their families. We believe in cultural respect. We are looking for someone who is comfortable working with clients from many cultural and religious backgrounds, as well as sexual orientations and who is able to flexibly and thoughtfully adapt their practice to suit client needs. We are looking for someone who enjoys developing their practice by making use of QPASTT’s supervision, internal training, team building and professional development opportunities.

Responsibilities

1. Deliver client-centered, developmentally appropriate therapeutic counselling (incorporating a range of modalities) to promote healing, and recovery;

2. Deliver appropriate client related advocacy which supports healing and the opportunity to thrive and belong in the Australian community;

3. Provide psychoeducation to enable clients to understand and develop strategies for recovery;

4. Provide assessment and intervention that is accessible, trauma informed and culturally sensitive to the needs of survivors of torture and trauma. This requires flexibility in service delivery, which involves meeting clients at QPASTT offices, schools, and/or in other community locations;

5. Manage risk with clients with complex and/or crisis presentations in accordance with organizational processes and supports;

6. Build and foster collaborative partnerships with family members, community members and other agencies;

7. Ensure quality service delivery including accountability with contractual and organisational requirements. This includes the writing of case notes and client related professional reports;

8. Ability to abide by the vision and values of QPASTT including our Code of Conduct as well as the policies and procedures of the organization;

9. Support organizational responsiveness including through the duty service and conducting intake assessment as required;

10. Support research and evaluation initiatives of the organization.

Requirements

1. Degree level qualifications in Social Work, Psychology, Counselling or Occupational Therapy or relevant expressive therapies. Eligibility for membership of the relevant professional body;

2. Good conceptualisation and ability to articulate refugee trauma recovery frameworks and the ability to apply these to therapeutic work particularly with children and young people. This includes an understanding of key theories related to trauma recovery, development across the life span and attachment;

3. Two years of professional therapeutic experience, preferably in a counselling role and/or a refugee trauma recovery context and working across children and young people;

4. Ability to build trusting, safe and respectful relationships across all ages to respond to their varying psychosocial needs;

5. Ability to deliver culturally safe support;

6. Ability to identify client-related risks and implement ways to reduce risk;

7. Ability to document assessment and intervention as well as write professional reports based on therapeutic intervention;

8. Desirable – experience in working with children and young people or whole of families.

Conditions of Employment

1. Current Positive Notice Blue Card and provision of an annual federal police check.

2. Current Queensland C Class driver’s licence.

3. Occasional out of hours’ work. Travel to other QPASTT offices and outreach locations.

4. The period of probation will be six months.

Application Process

To apply, please submit the following documents:

1. A cover letter detailing:

• Why you are interested in this position

• What do your skills, experience, capabilities and character bring to the role?

2. Your resume detailing professional experience and education.

The final date to apply is by 5pm on Tuesday 17th March 2026. Please email your application to [email protected].

Should you wish to talk with someone about this position, please contact Natalie Youssef (Individual and Family Recovery Regional Team Leader) on 0450142811 or [email protected].