• EMPLOYMENT STATUS:
  • 22.8 hours per week
  • Tuesday and Wednesday in the office is mandatory, other day is negotiable.
  • Normal work between the hours of 8.30am- 5.00pm with flexibility to make adjustments to support preplanned groups and events that may fall between 5.00pm and 8.00pm.
• AWARD DETAILS: Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS) Level 4.1. Generous salary packaging available.
• REPORTS TO: Team Leader Consumer Peer Work
• LIAISES WITH: Senior Manager Lived Experience, Lived Experience team members, external stakeholders, other EDV staff

ABOUT US

Eating disorders are complex and debilitating mental illnesses that affect up to 1 in 20 people. Like any mental health disorder, they are not the fault of the individual and can affect anyone no matter their age, gender or background. While serious, eating disorders are treatable. With the right support, full recovery is possible for everyone.

Eating Disorders Victoria is the trusted guide for Victorians affected by eating disorders. We help people get the support they need to inspire hope and ensure the earliest possible recovery.

How we work

We are a committed, engaged and progressive community health service who value innovation. We are known for developing and delivering eating disorder services that can’t be found anywhere else in Australia, or even the world.

We are a strong voice for people affected by eating disorders and actively advocate for our eating disorder affected community at state and national level.

We pride ourselves on being a vibrant place to work, where creativity, collaboration and lived experience are highly valued and supported.

Our work is guided by our values of Courage, Lived Experience, Authenticity, and Optimism.

Where we are going

We are moving through an exciting time of reform in Victoria’s Mental Health System and have every intention of ensuring eating disorders are fully supported in this new system. We want eating disorders to be considered core business when it comes to mental health, so that more Victorians are identified, diagnosed and put on the path to recovery, sooner.

We are focused on delivering high quality, data-driven community services that demonstrate the impact of our work, while underscoring the growing community demand for specialised eating disorder services. Underpinning this is an evolving culture of strong clinical governance, which supports the wellbeing of staff, volunteers and our service users.

We consider the lived experience workforce to be pivotal to the future of eating disorder treatment and are positioned to be leaders in this emerging field.

ROLE STATEMENT

The Senior Consumer Peer Worker provides non-clinical, person-centred support to individuals experiencing eating disorders by drawing on their own lived experience. The purpose of the role is to foster authentic hope, connection and empowerment through the development of respectful, mutual relationships that support clients in defining and pursuing their own individual recovery or quality of life goals.

The Senior Consumer Peer Worker plays a role in collaborating across teams at EDV, including clinical and non-clinical staff to foster timely access to a peer worker at any stage of a client’s help-seeking journey, promoting recovery-focused environments.

This role will deliver lived experience programs and individual support for clients and professional development for other consumer peer workers. This role is expected to maintain appropriate boundaries and engage in professional development, and supervision.

Identifying emerging themes for peer workers in practice and building on lived experience expertise is a key part of this role. This role provides direct peer led support across all EDV’s peer-led consumer services, including Single Session support, Short-Term Peer Mentor Program, Long-Term Peer Mentor Program, Ngamai Wilam Waitlist support and any future services that may be introduced.

EDV has a commitment to supporting the Lived Experience Workforce through the EDV Wellbeing Framework. Candidates who have lived experience of an eating disorder must align with the definitions as detailed in the attached Position Description.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Direct Client Support:

• Provide high-quality, trauma-informed peer support for individuals with complex eating disorders and mental health experiences.
• Provide individual peer-led sessions across the full range consumer peer led services.
• Provide consumer perspective supervision, professional development and guidance to peer workers in the delivery of sessions across some peer-led services as required.
• Escalation of any concerns of client risks to the Team Leader Consumer Peer Work.
• Under direction of the Team Leader Consumer Peer Work, work within program guidelines, maintaining safe, and collaborative peer relationships.

Intentional Group Facilitation:

• Lead the co-facilitation of intentional group programs, community events and co-reflective spaces.
• Work collaboratively with staff across the organisation to support the delivery of groups that reflect lived experience values.

Peer Workforce Development:

• Provide peer supervision and regular check-ins/debriefs to less experienced consumer peer workers, that prioritises emotional wellbeing, reflective practice and the maintenance of ethical peer boundaries.
• Provides practice/discipline specific supervision (consumer perspective supervision) to all consumer lived and living experience workers (as needed).
• Actively contribute to team-based professional development by sharing practice insights, participating in group reflection, and supporting a culture of continuous learning grounded in lived experience values.
• Escalation of any concerns of risk to the Team Leader Consumer Peer Work.

Programs & Innovation

• Participate in service improvement through co-design, feedback processes, and advisory lived experience group meetings.
• Contribute to the review and adaptation of resources and peer practice frameworks, supporting an alignment with recovery-oriented and lived experience-informed approaches.
• Collaborate across all of EDV teams and service including attendance at case review where appropriate.

Data maintenance and evaluation

• Record accurate data in Salesforce to meet internal and external reporting requirements.
• Support the Team Leader Consumer Peer Work in collating and maintaining accurate data in Salesforce to meet internal and external reporting requirements.
• Use lived experience expertise to support program evaluation, with the aim of promoting peer-led services that remain responsive, mutual, and effective.
• Contribute lived experience insights through data analysis and reflective practice to support the Team Leader Consumer Peer Work.

Stakeholder Collaboration 

• Supports lived experience collaboration across the organisation and sector, helping to ensure peer perspectives are embedded in decision-making, co-design and systems advocacy.

KEY SELECTION CRITERIA

Essential

• At least 3 years’ experience working in a lived experience role in a mental health or community-based setting.
• Lived Experience of an eating disorder and alignment with the definitions as specified below.
• Ability and willingness to discuss own experiences of mental illness in the context of supporting staff and someone with an eating disorder.
• Previous work experience in & well-developed practice of consumer lived experience perspective.
• Strong commitment to peer support and ability to value peer work in mental health recovery and support peer work practice across various settings (internal/external).
• Developing understanding of and usage in practice frameworks such as Mental Health Consumer Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework or Butterfly Eating Disorder Peer Workforce Guidelines.
• Demonstrated experience working 1-1 providing peer-led support to individuals across a variety of approaches, experiencing mental health challenges.
• Ability to provide consumer perspectives supervision (individual/group).
• Demonstrated experience leading the co-facilitation of group spaces.
• Demonstrated commitment to ongoing evaluation, data collection, feedback and review of lived experience services
• Ability to work as part of a team in a busy and dynamic office environment.
• Ability to identify, respond to and escalate risk for as required.
• Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal).
• The ability to build rapport and adapt approach according to the audience (clients, stakeholders, services, staff).
• Understanding of the role of professional treatment in recovery from an eating disorder.
• Ability to take responsibility for own learning, and to use direction and feedback to develop capabilities.
• Understands professional boundaries & the importance of self and collective care at work, to enable wellbeing that assists you to engage fully with your role and responsibilities.
• Experience in maintaining accurate Salesforce data and collating feedback and data to support reporting and evaluation
• A moderate understanding of eating disorders.
• Experience in Microsoft Office applications

Desirable

• Well-developed consumer lived experience perspective.
• Sound knowledge of and a commitment to human rights, recovery-oriented practice.
• Cert 4 Mental Health Peer Work
• Intentional Peer Support Training (IPS)
• Consumer Perspective Supervision Training (CPS)
• Experience in a service that provides support to eating disorder clients

CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

Location: This position will be based at the EDV office on Level 2 of the Magpies Community Centre (corner Lulie and Abbot Streets, Abbotsford). We also offer hybrid working options, with a minimum 50% of time in the office

Employment conditions:

• Normal working hours will be during Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.00pm. At times work will be required outside of these hours and this will be negotiated in line with the relevant Award.
• Other conditions as mandated by the Fair Work Act. 
• Subject to satisfactory Working with Children Check, National Police Check and completion of Conflict-of-Interest Declaration. 

Wellness Plan: EDV acknowledge that the work in this sector can be challenging and stressful, which can impact on all employees, volunteers and students' personal wellbeing and mental health. Therefore, it is mandatory for all staff to complete a ‘Wellness Plan. This important document acknowledges that in times of stress, a commitment to positive mental health practices and supports can improve resilience and wellbeing.

Ethical requirements: All EDV staff are required to adhere to the EDV Code of Ethics, Code of Conduct, Core Values and guiding principles and relevant organisational policies, practices and guidelines.

We strongly encourage applications from applicants with diverse experience and backgrounds.

For more information about the role and working at EDV please contact Rachael at [email protected], using the subject line: Senior Consumer Peer Worker enquiry via EthicalJobs.

A position description is attached.