Workforce Support Unit

 

The Social and Emotional Well Being (SEWB) Workforce Development & Support Unit at Nunkuwarrin Yunti is tasked with providing work support to you alongside what your management and agency are offering. The Workforce Development & Support Unit (WDSU) organise events annually that are attended by members of the Social and Emotional Well Being workforce. These events are designed for peer networking, sharing best practice information and hearing guest speakers.

What we do

The WDSU aims to assist in sustaining and developing a culturally appropriate and effective Social and Emotional Wellbeing Workforce. The National Indigenous Australian’s Agency provides funding for the WDSU to monitor and coordinate training and professional support to the SEWB workforce, which comprises of DPMC-funded Bringing Them Home and Link-Up Counsellors, Link-Up Case Workers, Mental Health Workers and Substance Abuse Workers.

The WDSU supports the SEWB workforce through:

  • Peer support;
  • Development of cross-sector linkages;
  • Inter-agency cooperation;
  • Identification of training needs;
  • Coordination of mental health and SEWB training delivery with Registered Training Organisations;
  • Sourcing additional avenues of funding;
  • Supporting agencies in which SEWB workers are employed.

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How do these services help?

  • By ensuring that the SEWB workers have attained or are working towards the minimum qualification required for their role;
  • Facilitating training towards recommended qualifications;
  • Increasing access to additional training and development;
  • Reducing levels of burn-out;
  • Reducing staff turnover;
  • Supporting healthier workplaces.

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WDSU actions and involvement

  • Agency visits;
  • Annual state forums and role-specific network meetings;
  • Training needs analyses;
  • Connection to professional development;
  • Connection to cultural mentors;
  • Linkages to RTO and other agencies;
  • Connection to supervisors;
  • Supporting workplace development.

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General support

The WDSU Project Officers are there to back you when you need them. In addition to more formal actions and services, you can call on them to help you sort out day-to-day personal and professional challenges, such as finding time to undertake training, developing a rapport with people in the local community or managing the personal challenges of working in a remote location.

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Who are your Project Officers?

Jenny Lo
(08) 8168 8300
jennyl@nunku.org.au

Toni Arundel
(08) 8168 8300
tonia@nunku.org.au

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Forums and network meetings

As a part of the funded Social and Emotional Well Being workforce, you are required to attend at least two (2) of the Workforce Development & Support Unit organised events annually.

There are three role-specific meetings and there are two state forums organised annually. These meetings and forums (online or face-to-face) are designed for peer networking, professional development, sharing best practice information and hearing guest speakers.

You will be sent information about these events as we plan them. The Workforce Development & Support Unit covers travel, accommodation and catering for the face-to-face network meetings for workers funded by the Commonwealth National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA). Other social and emotional wellbeing workers may be considered. Applicants are required to advise your manager about your interest to attend and negotiate time off to attend (well in advance).

Network Meetings for 2022-2023: – date/location to be advised

• Caseworkers Network Meeting
• AOD Network Meeting
• 1st State-wide Forum
• 1st Managers Network Meeting
• Counsellors Network Meeting
• 2nd State-wide Forum
• 2nd Managers Network Meeting

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Training

SEWB Workforce Development & Support Unit at Nunkuwarrin Yunti is tasked with providing work support to you alongside what your management and agency are offering. This support is mandated by the National Indigenous Australian’s Agency .

A part of our task is to find out the professional needs of each member of the workforce in terms of the skills required to enable workers to better handle their specific role as outlined in their Job Description. This is done through the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) survey that we do with all members of the SEWB workforce once a year.

A list of relevant short courses has been compiled in the following training calendar:

 SEWB workforce training calendar

Your agency is also aware that we need to upskill all members of the workforce to a minimum of Certificate IV level qualification in your specific service area. The Certificate IV in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care is one course that could be considered.

The Workforce Development & Support Unit’s role is to work with your management in supporting you through pathways towards that minimum qualification (if that has not been attained).

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Tools and resources

The ‘Feeling Deadly, Working Deadly’ Resource Kit is aimed at reducing stress and burnout, and enhancing wellbeing amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander alcohol and other drug (AOD) workers. It forms part of NCETA’s work on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Worker Wellbeing. It was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health.

A new Infocus report collated by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has highlighted the characteristics of, and outcomes for, the Stolen Generations aged 50 and over.

This Framework provides a dedicated focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing and mental health. It sets out a comprehensive and culturally appropriate stepped care model that is equally applicable to both Indigenous-specific and mainstream health services. It will help guide and support Indigenous mental health policy and practice over the next five years and be an important resource for policymakers, advocates, service providers, clients, consumers and researchers. Designed to complement the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan and contribute to the vision of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2012-2023. It, therefore, forms an essential component of the national response to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

Designed to complement the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan and contribute to the vision of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2012-2023. It, therefore, forms an essential component of the national response to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

This Framework provides a dedicated focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing and mental health. It sets out a comprehensive and culturally appropriate stepped care model that is equally applicable to both Indigenous-specific and mainstream health services. It will help guide and support Indigenous mental health policy and practice over the next five years and be an important resource for policymakers, advocates, service providers, clients, consumers and researchers.

Designed to complement the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan and contribute to the vision of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2012-2023. It, therefore, forms an essential component of the national response to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023 were developed to provide an overarching framework which builds links with other major Commonwealth health activities and identifies areas of focus to guide future investment and effort in relation to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework monitors progress in Indigenous Australian health outcomes, health system performance and broader determinants of health.

The PHN and ACCHO Guiding Principles recognise the commitment by Primary Health Networks and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations to work together to improve access to health services and improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

This document is designed to assist schools in responding to a traumatic incident, such as a suicide death or attempted or suspected suicide within their student community, a process known as postvention. It aims to support communities in grief and to guide schools in recognising and responding to the risk of suicide contagion. Important to achieving both these purposes is the requirement for sensitive information sharing between government and non-government schools, Department for Child Protection, mental health agencies and families.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project (ATSISPEP) was established to evaluate the effectiveness of existing suicide prevention services and programs. ATSISPEP aim to:

    • prioritise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of working
    • establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth forum
    • strengthen the evidence base for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide prevention
    • develop an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural framework for suicide prevention services and programs.

Four more regions across Australia with higher than average suicide rates will be the latest communities to take part in a $46 million trial aimed at delivering better mental health services.

The ICF is a classification of health and health-related domains. As the functioning and disability of an individual occur in a context, ICF also includes a list of environmental factors. To view the online ICF browser, click here.

Clinical supervision

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