Senior Social Worker – Aboriginal Identified
- Posted on September 3, 2025
- SCHADS Award Level: Classification Level 6
- Job location at Darwin
- Remuneration: $110,102.72 - $114,983.44 per annum (dependent on skills and experience). Equivalent salary range with packaging approx. $118,831 - $123,712 per annum. As a Public Benevolent Institution (PBI) NAAFLS can offer up to $15,899 per annum of the salary, Tax-free as a fringe benefit (conditions apply).
- Hours of work: Monday to Thursday 8:15am – 4:30pm, Friday 8:30am – 4:00pm
- Employment Type: Full-time, Fixed term position until 30 June 2026
- Superannuation: 12.0%
- Leave Entitlement: 6 weeks per annum plus 17.5% leave loading
- Reports To: Therapeutic Practice Lead
- Special Measures: This position is identified for an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person and is intended to constitute a special measure under section 8 (1) of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), and section 57 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1996 (NT).
- Information for Applicants:Additional benefits include time off in lieu of overtime, travel allowance, annual individual training budget, paid parental leave applicable to primary or secondary carer (6 weeks paid after 12 months service), study leave, defence leave, Monthly Wellbeing Leave day.
- Additional Information: Mandatory employment requirements: Working with children clearance (WWCC), satisfactory Criminal History Check, current ‘C’ Class NT Drivers Licence. Conditions of employment: Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010, National Employment Standards, Fair Work Act.
- Closing date: 12/09/2025
ABOUT NAAFLS
NAAFLS is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) and independent Family Violence Prevention
Legal Service (FVPLS).
We are the only victim-based Aboriginal legal service in remote communities in the Top End region of the NT.
We have offices in Darwin (Larrakia land), Katherine (Jawoyn, Dagoman and Wardaman land) and Nhulunbuy (Yolŋu
land), and service over 40 remote communities within the Top End region spanning from the Tiwi Islands down to
Lajamanu, Wadeye and across to Borroloola. We provide culturally sensitive legal advice, assistance, representation,
and support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Top End communities who have experienced domestic,
family, and sexual violence.
We offer the unique opportunity to work collaboratively alongside client support officers and case workers, which
are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identified roles, to ensure that our service is culturally safe and holistic. This
holistic and culturally appropriate model of service sets us apart; seeking practical community-based solutions to the most complex legal problems and ensures our vulnerable clients are fully supported throughout their journey.
POSITION OVERVIEW
As part of NAAFLS’ strategic plan, an organisational goal is to increase capacity and expertise to deliver support and holistic case management for clients and their families. The Senior Social Worker is a strategic and practice-based role, designed to contribute cultural authority and therapeutic knowledge to the multidisciplinary work of NAAFLS. This role supports safe, evidence-based, ethical, and strengths-based practice grounded in First Nations worldviews.
Reporting to the Therapeutic Practice Lead, the role blends direct practice, cultural integration, and leadership development. This position forms part of NAAFLS’ long-term commitment to developing Aboriginal-led models of care and building a culturally robust workforce. Using both Western clinical approaches and Aboriginal cultural frameworks, the Senior Social Worker will support trauma-aware, culturally responsive services for individuals and families impacted by family violence, grief, and systemic injustice.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Essential
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
-
Culturally Anchored Therapeutic Practice
- Support culturally safe therapeutic responses for clients with high and complex needs, aligned with the NAAFLS Practice Framework.
- Provide secondary consultation and support to legal and non-legal staff managing sensitive client matters, including risk assessments, trauma-informed interviewing, and managing disclosures.
- Where appropriate, offer direct therapeutic engagement with clients, including brief interventions, emotional support, and culturally adapted counselling.
-
Workforce Support
- Co-facilitate debriefing, group supervision, and reflective practice sessions, promoting ethical reflection, accountability, and cultural humility.
- Co-lead internal training, peer learning groups, and program planning to build staff capacity.
- Promote staff wellbeing through vicarious trauma prevention strategies and self-care frameworks.
- Lead practice reviews and debriefs following critical incidents or complex cases.
- Engage in structured professional development to build leadership capability, including training in supervision, strategic systems work, and policy development.
-
Organisational Practice
- Assist in reviewing active non-legal cases to ensure alignment with the NAAFLS Practice Framework.
- Identify trends or gaps in case practice, suggest improvements, and support culturally safe case planning.
- Provide backup supervision or step-in support for Case Workers when Team Leaders are unavailable.
- Respond to ethical dilemmas in practice, including duty of care, informed consent, and mandatory reporting.
- Work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to ensure coordinated responses to risk, including risk assessment, safety planning, and emergency interventions.
-
Stakeholder Engagement
- Maintain respectful and trusted relationships with local Aboriginal organisations, cultural leaders, healing services, and mainstream therapeutic providers.
- Support advocacy efforts aimed at transforming service systems to better reflect Aboriginal worldviews and strengths-based models of care.
- Represent NAAFLS at relevant sector forums, working groups, or community networks.
Essential
- Tertiary qualification in Social Work, Psychology, Counselling, or a related discipline, with eligibility for membership or registration with the AASW, APS, or an equivalent professional body (or working towards).
- Identifies as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person.
- Proven experience in providing cultural case management support or counselling that is client-centred, strengths-based, and trauma-informed.
- Ability to communicate effectively and sensitively with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people in a service delivery environment, including strong relationship-building and advocacy skills.
- Demonstrated ability to maintain high standards of file management and client confidentiality.
- Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Comprehensive understanding of confidentiality, mandatory reporting, and issues relating to family violence.
- Ability to undertake regular overnight travel to the Big Rivers Region (Katherine) and East Arnhem (Nhulunbuy).
- Must obtain a Working with Children Clearance (WWCC) and a satisfactory Criminal History Check.
- Possess a current ‘C’ Class NT Driver’s Licence.
- High-level written communication skills, including the ability to prepare formal reports, assessments, funding applications, and other correspondence.
- Experience using records management systems and digital tools to support innovative service delivery, with the ability to identify and implement processes aligned with best practice.