Overview

Work Type: Ongoing - Full-time

Salary: Salary not specified

Grade: Education Support - Level 1, Range 4

Occupation: Health and allied health

Location: Melbourne - Western suburbs

Reference: 1543785

Selection Criteria

- Ability to implement a range of small group and whole-school mental health prevention and promotion activities aimed at improving student mental health and wellbeing, including the delivery of capability building and awareness raising activities for staff and/or students on key mental health and wellbeing issues affecting the school’s student population.
- Demonstrated ability to input into the development, implementation and evaluation of processes and strategies aimed at enhancing mental health and wellbeing prevention, promotion and early intervention.
- Demonstrated experience in assessing, conceptualising and analysing wellbeing issues, and providing evidence-based direct counselling support to clients with a range of mental health needs.
- Demonstrated experience in coordinating supports for young people with complex needs including referrals to a range of specialist services as appropriate.
- Highly developed communication, networking and interpersonal skills including the ability to liaise effectively with a wide range of people.
- Transparent understanding of legislative requirements regarding privacy of health information.

Role

The Mental Health Practitioners (MHP) initiative was announced by the Minister for Education in late 2018 to expand mental health and wellbeing support in government schools. The initiative provides for a suitably qualified mental health skilled in all government secondary school campuses and specialist school (with secondary-aged enrolments) settings. Operating in collaboration with the relevant Department of Education Regional Mental Health Branch, this role has the following functions:

- Enhancing mental health prevention and promotion activities in the school by contributing to whole-school health and wellbeing plans, building the capability of teaching staff and school leadership to address matters relating to student mental health and wellbeing, and helping to develop and deliver appropriate programs and strategies in the school according to specified school priorities
- Providing early intervention services (including short-term counselling) for individual students and groups identified as at-risk and/or experiencing or demonstrating mild to moderate mental health concerns; and
- Coordinating supports for students with complex needs both within and external to the school, including proactively working with regions, local mental health service providers and other health professionals to engage further support as required.

Education support class level 1 range 4 The successful applicant will be an experienced professional who will carry out their duties and responsibilities, relative to their professional discipline, with a high level of autonomy and with minimal reliance on professional supervision. The successful applicant will be responsible for the development and implementation of professional support programs within an educational environment, including guidance to other professional staff.

As an education support class position, this role supports the educational services being provided to students, but will not include duties of teaching as defined in clause 2.6.1 of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic).

For more information on the responsibilities of an Education Support class level 1 range 4 employee, please visit the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2022: https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/industrial-agreements/resources

Responsibilities

- Providing advice and professional learning to others, including teachers and other school wellbeing staff, to build the capacity of schools to improve students wellbeing, learning and developmental outcomes.
- Delivering professional support services in a school, including mental health prevention and promotion activities and early intervention activities (including short-term counselling) for students with a range of mental health needs, applying sound theoretical knowledge and practical expertise.
- Planning and implementing evidence-based intervention strategies for students with complex needs including collaborating with families, other professionals and agencies when appropriate to effectively manage risk.




- Working collaboratively with the school to enhance mental health prevention and promotion across the school by contributing to policies and operational practices that will guide the work of others, including other school wellbeing staff and teachers.
- Liaising with other department areas (including secondary school nurses and Student Support Services staff) and external service providers where necessary to provide appropriate support to students.
- Maintaining professional competence and continued professional development, including attending professional development activities throughout the year.
- Meeting relevant policies and legislative requirements in relation to student health information, privacy and consent.

Please note: Continued career development is a registration requirement under the National Law, which governs the operations of the National Boards and Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Who May Apply

Required

- Applicants must be qualified as a psychologist, social worker, mental health nurse, occupational therapist or counsellor of a prescribed class. Specifically:
- For Psychologists, applicants must hold full registration with AHPRA
- For Mental Health Nurses, applicants must hold full registration with AHPRA and hold a postgraduate qualification in mental health
- For Social Workers, applicants must be eligible for membership with the Australian Association of Social Workers
- For Occupational Therapists applicants must hold full registration with AHPRA
- For Counsellors applicants must have completed a Bachelor or Master of Counselling and be a practising member (Level 2, 3 or 4) of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) or the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA)

- Demonstrated direct counselling experience
- Evidence of registration with AHPRA, AASW (where applicable), or with ACA or PACFA (where applicable), and a copy of a testamur, certificate or transcript as evidence of appropriate qualification.
- A current Working With Children Check.

Desirable
- For Psychology applicants, specialisation in educational and/or developmental psychology.
- For Mental Health Nurse applicants, holding a Mental Health Nurse Credential and membership with the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses.
- For Social Work applicants, membership with the Australian Association of Social Workers and an Accredited Social Worker Trade Mark.
- For Occupational Therapy applicants, a Better Access to Mental Health Endorsement.
- For Counselling applicants, Level 3-4 registration (ACA) or a Registered Clinical Counsellor endorsement (PACFA).

Diversity and Inclusion

The department is committed to diversity and inclusion and developing a workforce that is representative of the community we service. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQA+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department. The Department recognises that the provision of safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work and diversity across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for staff with disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines). Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander candidates from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via [email protected]

Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.

Child Safe Standards

Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:



https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/child-safe-standards/policy

DE Values

The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/values-department-vps-school-employees/overview

Other Information

This is a unique opportunity to help shape the future of inclusion at Manorvale Primary School, contribute to best practice frameworks, and work alongside a leadership team with extensive disability sector and DIP experience. About You To ensure your success in this role you will bring the following demonstrated skills, experience and knowledge:

- committed to a leadership, mentoring and coaching role
- dedicated to safe best practice & quality student centred care
- an effective communicator, able to develop positive working relationships with various stakeholders
- enthusiastic, compassionate & able to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team
- excited to deliver education and manage specific portfolios or projects

Conditions of Employment

- All staff employed by the Department and schools have access to a broad range of employment conditions and working arrangements.
- Appointment of successful applicants will be made subject to a satisfactory pre-employment conditions check.
- A probationary period may apply during the first year of employment and induction and support programs provided.
- Detailed information on all terms and conditions of employment is available on the Department's Human Resources website at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Pages/default.aspx

Location Profile

At our safe and supportive school we work in teams to support our staff and students to create meaningful life-long impact!!! Manorvale Primary School was established in 1983 and is located on the Werribee River and situated on the site named after the Manor House owned by the Chirnside family. The Werribee River provided a boundary between the territories of the Woiwurong First Nations people to the northeast and the Wathawurrung to the southwest. The school is organised in straight year level structure.

The school is predominantly English speaking but also contains students from a range of cultural backgrounds including refugee and asylum-seeking families. 30% of students come from non-English speaking background including refugee students. 45 of our students are indigenous Australians.

Staffing profile consist of 24 Teaching Staff and 14 Education Support Staff.

The school continues to use and examine data to inform and guide teacher practice. The school is undergoing a transformation process where we have embedded the principles of the Science of Learning, guided by Rosenshine, and school wide operational expectations resulting in a calm and consistent learning environment.

The school is undertaking a $12.1 million capital works project to supply new buildings. At the 2026 student census the school had 290 students.

We are a mainstream primary school who welcomes all neighbourhood children to enrol and operates with an inclusive mindset to reduce barriers and provide access to learning. We are proud to foster a strong, inclusive school culture grounded in respect and explicitly teach the school values of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience, Aspiring. MPS strives for high academic achievement for all students and supports our teachers with developing learning sequences using the support of high-quality external materials such as Ochre, EMP, Corrective Reading Decodable Readers Australia, MulitLit & Maths Mastery.

We are critical consumers of the resources we engage with and tailor their use to the needs of our students.

We are proud to have partnered with La Trobe University and the Momentum Project, Classroom Mastery and Bronwyn Ryrie-Jones in 2025 and in the future.

We are seeking team member who is enthusiastic about contributing to a school community that embraces innovation, continuous improvement, and a deep commitment to every learner¿s success, including our teaching team. The role for 2027 will focus on supporting the development of our teams in embedding high quality pedagogy which is aligned with our vision for our school.

Applications close Monday 28 September 2026 at 11.59pm

Posted

15 September 2026

📌 Mental Health Practitioner - Behaviour Analyst (Melbourne)
🏢 Victorian Government
📍 Melbourne