Support Specialist-Child and Youth

ABOUT LAUREL HOUSE

Laurel House provides a range of trauma-informed, evidence based, therapeutic services to victim-survivors of sexual assault, and for children and young people who use harmful sexual behaviours. We also develop and deliver a broad range of programs to adults, young people and children including the provision of therapeutic face-to-face counselling at our centres located at Launceston, Devonport and Burnie and through outreach locations across the North and North West Tasmania.  Laurel House is partnering with the Tasmanian Government in the delivery of the North and North West Arch centres (multidisciplinary centres) for victim-survivors of sexual harm. Laurel House delivers the specialist programs for children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviours in North and North West Tasmania.

Our team also provides community education programs focused on the prevention of sexual harm and on supporting parents, carers and service providers to better respond to disclosures of sexual violence. Laurel House is funded by the Australian Government to specifically build capacity of the workforce who support victim-survivors with disabilities to recognise and respond to disclosures of sexual harm, and to assist people with disabilities to understand their rights and responsibilities within relationships.  Laurel House is a child safe organisation committed to upholding the rights of children and young people, and amplifying their voices.

See our team here: https://www.laurelhouse.org.au/our-organisation/team

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‍YOUR NEW ROLE

As a valued member of the Laurel House Therapeutic Services Team, the Support Specialist – Child and Youth provides specialist, trauma-informed and system-focused support to children and young people experiencing complex needs, with a primary focus on children and young people who use harmful sexual behaviours.

This role works primarily with and through the system around the child or young person — including families, carers, kinship networks, care teams and services — rather than providing ongoing direct support to the child. You will play a key role in stabilising, activating and strengthening the broader support network to promote safety, engagement and sustainable outcomes.

Working closely with counsellors and therapeutic practitioners, you will:

• Assess system capacity, risk and alignment.
• Support coordinated safeguarding and safety planning responses.
• Address barriers to participation and engagement.
• Strengthen collaboration across statutory and community services.
• Contribute to multidisciplinary case discussions and reflective practice.

This is a fixed-term part-time (minimum 0.8FTE) position until 30 June 2027, with regular intrastate travel required.

The role requires sound professional judgement in complex and statutory contexts, along with a strong commitment to trauma-informed, child-centred and culturally safe practice.

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‍DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU?

• Do you have experience providing trauma-informed, child-centred support within complex child and youth contexts such as harmful sexual behaviours, child safety, family violence, disability or out-of-home care?
• Are you confident working with and through families, carers and service systems to strengthen safety and coordination — rather than stepping in to replace existing supports?
• Can you assess risk, identify gaps or misalignment within a system, and help activate formal and informal supports to create sustainable, non-duplicative responses.
• Do you bring strong advocacy, communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work respectfully across statutory services, community organisations and multidisciplinary teams?
• Are you calm, grounded and able to exercise sound professional judgement in high-complexity or high-stress situations?
• Can you manage sensitive information with discretion and integrity, maintaining clear professional boundaries and child safety obligations?
• Do you demonstrate a genuine commitment to trauma-informed, intersectional feminist and culturally safe practice, valuing lived experience and promoting equity in your work?

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‍WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

As a valued member of the Laurel House team, you will be supported in your role. We offer:

• A challenging and rewarding role, working alongside highly skilled team members to support victim-survivors of sexual assault.
• Flexible working conditions.
• Competitive salary and not-for-profit salary packaging provisions.
• Paid Parental Leave as per Laurel House Policy.
• The opportunity to extend your skills and knowledge through generous training budget and regular professional supervision (both internal and paid external).

As a Public Benevolent Institution, Laurel House employees receive tax-effective salary packaging opportunities including $15,899 each year tax free.  This means you can increase the value of your take-home pay.

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LAUREL HOUSE’S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY

Laurel House values the expertise, lived experience and cultural wisdom of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, LGBTIQA+, migrant, culturally and linguistically diverse, people with disability and those who have experienced sexual and family violence. Applicants from these groups are strongly encouraged to apply, as are people with parenting or caring responsibilities.

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STATEMENT OF COMMITMENT TO THE SAFETY OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE  

Laurel House is a Child and Youth Safe Organisation.  We have a zero tolerance for child abuse and have systems to protect children and young people from abuse. We take all allegations and concerns very seriously and respond to them consistently in line with our policies and procedures. We actively work to listen to and empower children and to providing an inclusive and safe environment for all children and young people. In particular, we are committed to promoting cultural safety and to ensuring that the diverse needs of children and young people are met.

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FURTHER ENQUIRIES

Contact Kerri Collins (Therapeutic Services Manager) at kerri.collins@laurelhouse.org.au or 03 6431 9711;

or Claire Tonks (Operations Manager) at claire.tonks@laurelhouse.org.au or 03 6334 2740.