Lively is a not-for-profit home care provider that connects generations, creates meaningful employment for young jobseekers and increases the connectedness and inclusion of older people in our community. We train and employ young jobseekers (aged 18–25) to provide services that help older people maintain social connection, independence and wellbeing. Through this process, we also build connections that enable older people to share their rich life experiences, stories and knowledge back with the young, fostering intergenerational understanding and respect, as well as young people’s personal development. We're a small not-for-profit preparing for rapid growth from our base in Melbourne and our team is full of people who really care about care.

We believe that Australia’s home care system is crying out for fresh new approaches, and we hope our emerging model will offer just that. We're working to change Australia's approach to aged care by developing a model of care that recognises older people's independence, offers genuine flexibility and autonomy, prioritises social connection and values what older people have to share and offer back to their communities. We believe that aged care can and should be a valued and desirable profession for young people: stable, rewarding, properly remunerated and with good working conditions. Amongst our Helpers we aim to attract a diversity of workers, including those who both have existing experience and qualifications working in aged care, as well as those who are just looking to try it out for the first time.

Following our approach, our young workers are matched with older people to work directly with them as their personal home Helper, providing a range of supports for them including basic home help and cleaning, transport, social support, personal care—in short, to be a helping friend while supporting them to manage their own care. We believe in the importance of meaningful connections between our members and Helpers; we know that caring relationships mean building up trust and rapport, and that takes time and consistency.

The Position

As a Lively Helper +, your role is to be a friend and primary supporter to one or more older people (Lively’s “members”), providing a range of supports, starting from companionship and social support through to basic home help such as cleaning and basic gardening, transport to social events or appointments and support with shopping. As a Helper + you will also have a relevant qualification that allows you to provide personal care and other more specific or complex supports to your Members - for example: a certificate III in Individual Support, a Certificate IV in Disability, a Certificate II in Community Services or a Certificate IV in Ageing Support.

Every member will have different needs, and you will work with us and each individual to agree on the types of support you will provide. You will manage your own schedule and hours, negotiating ‘shift’ times that work for both yourself and the member(s) you support. While part of your role will be to deliver tangible supports as requested by each older person (e.g. help getting to a weekly club meeting, help chopping vegetables to prepare their weeknight meals, help walking their dog), your role is also to get to know the older participants, develop a friendly relationship with them, and learn from them too wherever possible. You might like to think of the role as being ‘a younger friend who comes around to help’.

At the moment, you may only have one or two clients; however, we anticipate this number to increase significantly during the year as we grow, and should you be successful in passing your trial period of 3 months.

Lively is a new organisation and our approach to our work continues to evolve as we find the smoothest and most supportive way to facilitate the partnership between our members and our Helpers. This means there will sometimes be some uncertainty around our processes as we finalise aspects of our approach; when these come up, we welcome and encourage your participation as our colleague working directly with members, in working with us to learn how we can improve how we do things. You will occasionally be asked to participate in design or feedback sessions with the team to examine how we can improve our approach.

You will catch up regularly with our local Coordinator and other members of the team to talk about how you’re going, and to discuss any challenges you might have or support you may need.

About you

To be eligible for a role as a Lively Helper +, you don’t need to have had previous experience in a care role. You must, however have a relevant qualification as outlined above and be:

• Between 18-25 years of age and currently looking for work.
• Skilled in supporting older people with more specific or complex needs, in particular through:
  • Personal care, including hygiene and grooming, dressing/undressing, showering/bathing, toileting.
  • Assistance with speech, hearing, seeing or other communication.
  • Meal preparation and support with eating.
  • Continence support.
  • Mobility assistance, including transfer, and using mobility aids.
• Friendly, outgoing and enthusiastic.
• Patient, understanding and able to communicate effectively with older people.
• Well-presented, polite and respectful of older community members.
• Reliable, punctual and able to commit to providing consistent support to the older people you work with.
• Flexible and able to exercise initiative to adapt the support you provide to older participants when their needs or wishes change.
• Good at managing your time and juggling competing priorities.
• Interested in learning about older people’s lives, stories and experiences, and in being a champion for them to live active and full lives.
• Ready to learn and grow your skills in practical support and interpersonal communication, particularly with diverse audiences.
• In possession of a driver’s licence and a safe, roadworthy car.

You will receive additional training and support from the Lively team to help equip you for this role. Experience or training in supporting people living with dementia will be highly regarded.

Please note: Lively is a not-for-profit organisation with a specific mission to offer meaningful work opportunities for young people aged 18-25 years who have limited previous experience. Priority is therefore given to applicants within this age range.

At Lively we embrace each other’s uniqueness through age, gender identity or expression, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, disability status and sexual orientation. We extend this embrace to our communities as we strive towards providing a safe environment that reflects the beautiful diversity of people who call Australia home. If you join the Lively team, we’re committed to celebrating all the things that make you who you are.

What You’ll Gain

• Meaningful work that builds personal and professional skills with the backing of a supportive and trusting team.
• An opportunity to have a significant positive impact in the lives of older individuals.
• The opportunity to form a meaningful relationship with an older person, to share and learn from them.
• The opportunity to get in on the ground floor with a new and dynamic home care provider with aspirations to change the face of Australian home care.
• The chance to contribute to the development of an exciting new service through your observations and participation.
• References to support your future job seeking efforts.

Wages

You will be paid in accordance with the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Award. We are offering the position at an hourly rate of $30ph, which includes the extra 25% casual loading. In accordance with the award, we pay the appropriate penalty rates, superannuation and allowances.

You will also be paid for training that you undertake with Lively. This includes initial orientation training and ongoing learning & development.

As Lively is a not-for-profit, you are eligible to benefit from the NFP salary packaging allowances under the scheme we have set up.

Working at Lively

Lively is a small and growing organisation, having just become accredited as a new provider of home care in September 2019. Right now, we’re a core team of nine. We’re seeking to build a team of passionate and dynamic helpers as we start to roll out our services, so you’ll be joining us at a pivotal and exciting time of transition. At Lively HQ we’re a positive, warm and lively bunch (thus the name!) and we centre people in everything we do. Though we may be small right now, we’re committed to providing a rewarding employment experience with opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Working with us at Lively, your ideas are encouraged and creativity welcomed. We’re in an exciting growth period, which means that we are constantly learning, developing and improving - finding solutions to new and emerging challenges, and working hard to strengthen our foundations for growth. We don’t buy into unnecessary bureaucracy which gets in the way of older people getting what they need.

We currently work out of a co-working space in North Melbourne and although you will largely be out and about, we’ll ask you to drop by periodically to connect with the team, and encourage you to pop in whenever you feel like.

Apply

To apply, please complete your written application by clicking Apply Now.

Please note: We are only accepting applications via the Apply Now button.

Lively is an equal opportunity employer with a zero tolerance approach to discrimination. We welcome and encourage you to apply regardless of your gender, sexuality, or cultural background.