Regather Australia Pty Ltd – Bundaberg West QLD

We're Regather, a small social work practice here in Bundaberg. Our name comes from the idea of helping people gather the pieces of their lives back together and move towards a more positive future.

We provide counselling, social work and support to adults, older people, adolescents and children, both from our Bundaberg office and, where appropriate, in the community.

We're growing and are looking for an experienced, kind, organised and grounded person to join our team full-time as an Allied Health Receptionist.

At Regather, we deeply value compassion, honesty, fairness, advocacy, inclusiveness and genuine relationships. The person at our front desk plays an important part in bringing those values to life.

A Bit About Us

We focus on providing genuine care and support to people navigating difficult or complex circumstances.

We work with clients through programs including NDIS, My Aged Care, Victims Assist, Redress Scheme, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and Medicare, as well as private clients.

We're a small and busy practice, but we strongly value being a supportive team. We work closely together, have regular team meetings and believe in helping each other when things become busy or challenging.

Because of the nature of social work, our workplace can also be emotionally demanding. Some clients are experiencing significant distress, trauma, family and domestic violence, relationship breakdown, grief, disability-related challenges or other complex life circumstances.

We believe it is important that anyone considering this role understands that part of the environment from the outset.

What the Role Involves

As our receptionist, you'll often be the first person a client speaks to and the first person they see when they arrive.

That makes you an important part of both our team and our clients' experience.

Your day-to-day responsibilities will include:

- Greeting clients warmly, respectfully and professionally when they arrive.
- Answering phone calls and responding to enquiries in a kind and helpful way.
- Managing appointments and maintaining an organised and efficient schedule.
- Processing payments, acquitting invoices and billing across different funding arrangements, including NDIS, Medicare, WorkCover/Victims Assist, and private clients, etc.
- Using our practice management software, Zanda (Power Diary). Previous experience would be highly regarded, but training will be provided.
- Maintaining accurate and confidential client information, including service agreements, correspondence, scanning and data entry.
- Liaising with referrers, health professionals, supporters, government agencies and other services when information is required for client care.
- Supporting our social workers with administrative tasks and helping the practice operate smoothly.
- Following up on invoices, acquittals and other outstanding administrative matters.
- Managing daily administrative priorities and helping identify tasks that require follow-up.
- Assisting our Principal Social Worker with general administration and occasional marketing-related tasks.
- Work collaboratively to run the front office with the Principal Social Worker, including coordination of office supplies, cleaning and general functioning.

This can be a busy role, so being able to prioritise, switch between tasks and remain organised when several things are happening at once is important.





The Emotional Demands of the Role

We want to be very clear about this part of the position.

Because Regather is a social work practice, you will regularly interact with people who may be going through very difficult periods in their lives.

Clients or callers may sometimes be:

- tearful or highly distressed;
- overwhelmed or anxious;
- frustrated or angry;
- experiencing significant personal or family difficulties;
- affected by trauma, family or domestic violence or abuse;
- involved in complex relationship or family situations;
- experiencing crisis or heightened emotions; or
- discussing information that may be confronting or emotionally difficult to hear.

Occasionally, a person's behaviour may also become agitated, challenging or unpredictable due to being unwell or feeling overwhelmed.

As the first point of contact, you may hear sensitive or distressing information before one of our social workers becomes involved.

An inherent requirement of this position is the ability to continue performing the receptionist role safely, calmly and professionally in this type of environment.

This includes being able to:

- communicate calmly and respectfully with someone who is distressed or highly emotional;
- maintain appropriate qualified boundaries;
- avoid becoming drawn into providing counselling or advice outside the scope of the receptionist role;
- recognise when a situation needs to be escalated;
- follow Regather's safety, escalation and client management procedures;
- seek assistance from a social worker or senior staff member when required;
- maintain confidentiality and discretion when dealing with highly sensitive information;
- manage competing administrative responsibilities during periods of increased pressure; and
- use appropriate workplace support when an interaction has been particularly challenging or confronting.

You are not expected to be a counsellor

This is significant.

The receptionist is not responsible for providing counselling, assessing clinical risk or managing a client crisis independently.

Where a situation requires clinical judgement, therapeutic support, risk assessment or intervention, the receptionist's responsibility is to recognise this and involve an appropriate social worker or senior team member.

You will not be expected to manage difficult situations alone.

Supporting You in the Role

We recognise that working around people experiencing trauma, crisis and significant life difficulties can sometimes have an emotional impact on staff.

We believe psychological safety is a shared workplace responsibility, not something an employee should simply be expected to manage on their own.

We support our team through:

- clear roles and professional boundaries;
- established escalation and safety procedures;
- access to senior and clinical staff when client situations require additional support;
- regular communication within the team;
- team meetings;
- appropriate induction and training for the role; and
- a workplace culture that encourages staff to raise concerns and seek support early.





We expect the person in this role to use these supports when needed.

Who We're Hoping to Find

We're looking for someone who:

- Has experience working as a receptionist or in a similar administration role, ideally within medical, allied health, community services or another people-focused environment.
- Genuinely enjoys helping people and approaches others with kindness and respect.
- Is organised, reliable and pays close attention to detail.
- Communicates clearly, calmly and warmly.
- Can interact professionally with people experiencing distress, heightened emotion or challenging circumstances.
- Can maintain strong professional boundaries while still being compassionate and helpful.
- Shows good judgement about when an issue can be handled administratively and when it needs to be escalated to a social worker or senior staff member.
- Can remain effective and professional in an environment where sensitive, confronting or emotionally difficult situations may sometimes arise.
- Is comfortable asking for assistance or support when a situation requires it.
- Can work independently when needed while also enjoying being part of a small team.
- Is comfortable working in a busy environment and managing competing priorities.
- Understands the importance of privacy, confidentiality and appropriate handling of sensitive client information.
- Is comfortable using computers and learning new systems.
- Has experience with medical or allied health software and billing processes such as Medicare, NDIS or private billing, or is willing to learn these systems.
- Ability to hold a blue and yellow card.
- Current drivers licence, ability to travel locally for occasional work related duties.

Experience with Zanda (Power Diary) would be helpful but isn't essential.

What We Offer

- A genuinely supportive and helpful small-team environment.
- A well-organised practice with established systems and processes.
- Support from experienced social workers when client situations require clinical involvement.
- Regular team meetings.
- Opportunities for team building.
- Birthday celebrations.
- The opportunity to make a meaningful difference for people in our community.
- Standard office hours of 8.30 am to 5.00 pm.
- A two-week break over Christmas and New Year.
- Fair remuneration based on your experience and skills.
- Team-based bonuses when the practice performs well.

An Significant Note About the Role

This is an office-based position.

Being physically present at reception is essential because you are the first point of contact for clients attending our practice. For this reason, the position isn't suitable for work from home.

Reliability and consistent attendance are important.

We also ask applicants to carefully consider the emotional demands described above.

You don't need to have all the answers or manage difficult situations on your own. What matters is that you can remain professional, maintain appropriate boundaries, follow procedures, recognise when assistance is required and work effectively within an environment where people may sometimes be experiencing significant distress.

Our recruitment process may include behavioural and situational questions about how you have managed stressful, emotionally demanding or challenging interactions in previous roles.

Sound Like You?

If this sounds like a role where you could make a positive contribution, we'd love to hear from you.

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📌 Allied Health Receptionist (Bundaberg East)
🏢 Regather Australia
📍 Bundaberg East