Integrated Violence Abuse and Neglect Lead - Incentives Offered

Lead a trauma-informed team delivering critical VAN services across Northern NSW - shape care, support communities, and drive change

Remuneration: $77,358 – $133,156 per annum (dependent on qualifications) + superannuation + salary packaging + rural incentives
Location: Inverell Community Health Service
Employment Type: Temporary Full Time – Until December 2025
Position Classification: Clinical Psychologist, Counsellor, Psychologist, Social Worker Level 4
Requisition ID: REQ592249
Applications Close: Monday 28th July 2025

At Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD), enjoy a career where you're challenged by interesting work and surrounded by spectacular locations. Join the team enriching health in millions of ways every day:

• Be rewarded with up to $10,000 in the first 12 months PLUS up to $5,000 each year thereafter in fortnightly payments under the Rural Health Workforce Incentive Scheme.* 
• Sustainable Healthcare: Together towards zero 
• Proximity to shopping and other services
• ADO's each month (for full time employees)
• Salary packaging options
• Fitness Passport
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for staff and family members
• Opportunity to work and collaborate with a range of non-clinical and clinical professionals

About the role:

Step into a pivotal senior position where you’ll set the clinical vision for a small but highly skilled iVAN team while still providing hands‑on therapeutic care. You will:

• Provide day‑to‑day leadership and supervision - directing workflow, mentoring staff, troubleshooting complex cases and ensuring a seamless, culturally safe service across the Northern Tablelands.
• Deliver high‑level, integrated counselling for adults, young people and children who have experienced, or are at risk of, sexual assault, domestic violence and other forms of abuse or neglect.
• Represent NSW Health at Safety Action Meetings (SAMs), acting as the senior health voice in a multi‑agency forum that addresses serious domestic and family violence threats.
• Coordinate outreach clinics to Glen Innes, Tenterfield and Warialda, strengthening local pathways and reducing the need for clients to travel.
• Respond after hours as part of the paid Tier‑2 iVAN crisis roster (including psychosocial care for recent sexual‑assault presentations if the service re‑commences).

As the iVAN Lead, you’ll play a key role in both shaping and driving service innovation and system-wide collaboration. You will lead the development of a new integrated service model that aligns NSW Health’s Sexual Assault, Child Protection Counselling and VAN frameworks, while championing culturally safe care through the rollout of the NSW Health VAN Aboriginal Action Plan and Cultural Safety Roadmap. Your clinical expertise will guide quality improvement and engagement initiatives - from case audits to consumer feedback - and support advanced care for children under the age of criminal responsibility who display harmful sexualised behaviours. In parallel, you’ll provide expert consultation to frontline staff across multiple sites, actively contribute to interagency forums and policy work, co-design and deliver statewide child protection training, and support data-driven improvements through timely reporting and service evaluation.

About you:
 

• Proven senior‑level experience in sexual assault, domestic/family violence or child protection counselling.
• High‑level interpersonal skills - able to build trust with children, families, Aboriginal communities, LGBTIQ+ clients and other diverse cohorts.
• Expertise in psycho‑social & risk assessment, safety planning, case coordination and trauma‑informed advocacy.
• Demonstrated ability to coach clinicians, facilitate reflective practice and lead change within a multidisciplinary setting.
• Sound knowledge of NSW legislation, policy and evidence‑based frameworks guiding VAN work - or the capacity to acquire it quickly.
• Current unrestricted Class C driver’s licence and willingness to travel across the district.

Requirements:

• Must hold a qualification: Psychology, Social Work, Counsellor which provides eligibility or membership of the relevant professional association / provisional or general registration through the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. 
• The knowledge, skills and experience to meet the requirements of a Level 4 Allied Health Clinician. 
• Current unrestricted NSW Driver’s Licence and ability to travel as part of the role within an outreach capacity.

Additional Information:

• * Based on a minimum 18-month commitment to the position or the agreed duration of your contract. All payments to part-time and contract employees will be made on a pro-rata basis in accordance with the terms of your contract, including any approved extensions. Please note: if your contract ends before the agreed completion date, you may be required to repay a portion of the incentive. To check your eligibility, visit the Rural Health Workforce Incentive Scheme. For further information or to discuss your circumstances, please contact HNELHD-RuralIncentives@health.nsw.gov.au. 
• To be eligible for employment in this position you must be an Australian Citizen, or permanent resident of Australia, or a New Zealand citizen with a current New Zealand Passport, or hold an appropriate visa that allows you to live and work in Australia. Employment of a temporary visa holder will only be offered in line with the conditions and expiry date of your visa. 
• An eligibility list will be created for future temporary full or part time vacancies.  
• We are unable to accommodate visa sponsorship for applicants requiring a visa for this position.   
• Hunter New England Health is dedicated to fostering a child-safe environment that respects and upholds the rights of children and young people, aligned with NSW Health’s commitment to implementing the Child Safe Standards. We aim to ensure that children and young people feel safe, supported, and included in their care. All current and prospective staff are expected to prioritise the safety, welfare, and well-being of children and young people, actively working to protect them from harm and abuse. 

Need more information?

  1) Click here for the Position Description
  2) Find out more about applying for this position

For role related queries or questions contact Belinda Robinson on Belinda.Robinson@health.nsw.gov.au