Are you passionate about making a difference in the lives of children and families? Join Goodstart Early Learning as a Child & Family Practitioner, working across Victoria North.

This is your opportunity to bring your expertise in social work, psychology, or infant mental health to an integrated Allied Health team, supporting vulnerable children and families in their natural early learning environments. With a realistic workload, a not-for-profit ethos, and a strong commitment to safety and wellbeing, you'll see the impact of your work every day.

Role: Child & Family Practitioner

Location: Victoria North - covering from Melbourne Inner Northern Suburbs Central to Echuca, Shepparton and Bendigo

Employment Type: Permanent, Full time.

• Be part of a unique and expanding national Allied Health team working in the early learning sector!
• Realistic and achievable workload
• Work with children in their natural setting in our centres
• Use your social work, psychology and/or infant mental health qualifications

As a Child & Family Practitioner at Goodstart Early Learning, you will get to see the impact of your work daily through the eyes of children, families and Educators.

Searching for a meaningful career in Allied Health?

At Goodstart, we're all about laying the foundation for better lives through amazing early learning experiences, and we know that we can't do that without great people! Our team of Allied Health professionals work together with our centre staff to make a real difference for children in those crucial early years.

We're not-for-profit; so you can be confident children - not shareholders - are our first priority. Our vision is for Australia's children to have the best possible start in life.

Safety, health and wellbeing are more than just words to us, they are a personal commitment and a promise we make to our children, our families and each other every day.

As a Child and Family Practitioner you will have work in an integrated and holistic way to enhance the outcomes of children. In partnership with the Centre Director, Educators and families. You will engage and support the most vulnerable children and families and focus on targeted capacity building strategies to enhance every child's social and emotional learning.

You will also focus on closing the gap for our most vulnerable children who have experienced childhood trauma, by enhancing their mental health outcomes, through evidenced based trauma-informed practice.

Your Impact:

• Implement evidence-informed capacity building approaches to enhance outcomes for children and families within the early learning and care setting.
• Work alongside Centre Directors, Educators and other key stakeholders to observe, identify and support the progression of children's learning, development and well-being.
• As a key member of the care team around the child, communicate and engage regularly with families to support the inclusion and participation of their child.
• Build linkages with local services and streamline referral pathways into and out of the centre.
• Attend and participate in Centre Team meetings and contribute to the development of a strong, cohesive team.
• Maintain close liaison and attend regular supervision with the National Manager - Child and Family Service or Child and Family, Team Leader
• Deliver professional development and contribute to reports, briefings, resources as required.
• Ensure that all administrative requirements are met and maintained in accordance with Goodstart Early Learning policies and procedures.

You'll bring to the table:

• Tertiary qualifications in social work or psychology
• Strong understanding and ability to apply attachment theory, Circle of Security (COS) and trauma informed practice.
• Strong understanding of child development (birth - 5 years) and evidence-based trauma informed practice
• Good understanding of relevant early childhood frameworks and standards
• Demonstrated high level of interpersonal, communication, negotiation and coaching skills to achieve improved outcomes for children and families.
• Ability to document, analyse and report on relevant key performance indicators.

What Goodstart can offer you:

• Fully Maintained Company Car or Car Allowance and Laptop
• Flexible work arrangements giving you choice about when and how work will be done in order to better manage your work and non-work needs
• Salary Packaging benefits which reduce your taxable income to increase take home pay
• Access to discounted childcare (up to 15%)
• Fitness Passport - access to gyms and pools for you and your family at a heavily discounted price
• Discounted health care and access to employee wellbeing program with BUPA
• Exclusive discounts on travel, gym memberships, Apple and Dell products, and more.
• Free annual flu shot (optional)
• Option to purchase extra leave for even greater work life balance
• First Nations Support and Cultural Leave
• Work for a company that has an aspiration to be globally recognised for early years practice and learning outcomes
• Gain significant investment in your growth and development with support, tools, training and experiences that will truly enhance the progress and outcomes for children in their earliest years.

How to apply

Click ‘Apply Now' and submit your application.

We review applications as they are submitted. We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible for your best chance to progress to the next stage of the process.

We strongly encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for all positions

Have a question? Contact our Talent Acquisition Team via email [email protected]

If you are a placement agency or external recruiter, please refrain from submitting resumes to Goodstart unless you have a signed staffing agency agreement with us. Goodstart will not be responsible for or pay any placement fees for candidates submitted by agencies that are not approved suppliers. Any resumes received from agencies or external recruiters without an agreement will be reviewed by Goodstart and may be shared with our internal recruiting team for their reference.

Supporting our people and protecting our children

We're an equal opportunity employer that is proud of our inclusive and diverse work environment. We know that Goodstarters from diverse cultures, backgrounds and experiences strengthen our teams and help us grow. We're also deeply committed to Reconciliation and creating an environment where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People feel a strong sense of belonging and connection.

Safety is our priority and we will take any action necessary to ensure that all children can feel safe and be safe, and are safeguarded from abuse, neglect and harm. As a Child Safe Organisation, all of our candidates must have or obtain a valid working with children check.