Who is Rural Aid?

Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. Founded in 2015 on the back of the very successful “Buy a Bale” drought fundraising campaign of 2013, Rural Aid continues to provide critical support to farmers and rural communities when they need it most.  More than 16,500 farmers – our mates in the bush - have registered with Rural Aid, Australia wide.

Rural Aid’s vision is that farming and rural communities are safeguarded to ensure their sustainability before, during and after natural disasters. Rural Aid is only able to provide support to farmers through our many programs due to the donations we receive from our generous community of supporters and corporate partners.

At Rural Aid our values guide our behaviour and are the foundation for how we do business:  

•  Empathetic & compassionate (in everything we do and everyone we deal with); 
• Transparent & accountable (being open, honest and outcomes focused); 
• Supported & empowered (to achieve community and personal growth); 
• Ambitious & adaptable (in order to find solutions to new and diverse challenges); and 
• Commercially responsible (to ensure the long-term future of the charity). 

Compliance with our Code WH&S policies and procedures and contributing to and promoting a safe and healthy work environment is paramount. 

About the role

We currently have an exciting opportunity for a Counsellor and Community Representative, in the Longreach & Winton region, to join our team. Forming a key part of our national Mental Health & Wellbeing team, reporting to the Manager, Mental Health & Wellbeing.

The Counsellor and Community Representative will offer counselling support to farmers and farming families, while building trust and rapport, listening to their story and exploring how they are coping at present, assessing their safety and those around them.

They will divide their time between providing counselling on site with rural farmers, travelling within rural communities, representing Rural Aid within community events and activities and remote counselling services working from home.

In this role you will collaboratively identify options for further support and facilitate access to relevant resources and referrals, when required.

You will also represent Rural Aid and its varying number of services to individual clients and community stakeholders. Building a diverse network that facilitates referral processes and further support to registered farmers and farming families. You will have the opportunity to contribute to local community development initiatives and support disaster recovery responses with a focus on farming families.

This is a great opportunity to have a positive impact on the community in which you live. This role supports people and communities in and around the Longreach & Winton region and would therefore welcome applications from suitable candidates within 200km of this location.

You will play a key role in supporting positive mental health outcomes for rural Australians.

About you

You will have:

• Degree qualification in Counselling, Social Work or Psychology and must be registered with the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) or your relevant professional registering body.
• At least 2 years of proven experience as a Registered Counsellor.
• An understanding of the following therapeutic approaches: Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Person-Centred Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and experience in group facilitation with children and young people.
• Experience working in community-based organisations and knowledge of community development principals.

You pride yourself on your collaborative and supportive approach with internal clients and stakeholders.

We’d love it if you had some experience working in rural and remote areas, and or experience in the agriculture sector.

This is a hybrid role allowing you to work some of the time from home, with a requirement for regional travel to visit clients, support disaster recovery, community events, delivering group programs and training.

If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you.

Please note: You will be required to undertake a Police Check and Working with Children check.