The Office of Professional Practice is seeking internal expressions of interest for a Specialist Practice Leader. In this role, you will provide expert advice and leadership to support the application of the Department for Child Protection’s (DCP) Practice Approach, with a focus on issues affecting children and young people involved in the child protection system.

This is an opportunity to use your practice expertise to influence how we work across DCP. You will contribute to significant reforms, including implementation of the Children and Young People (Safety and Support) Act 2025 and the development of a contemporary approach to reunification practice. Through this work, you will support ongoing improvement across the organisation and help ensure reform leads to meaningful and lasting improvements.

You will be responsible for:

- Providing expert leadership on child protection and youth justice legislation, policy and practice
- Applying the DCP Practice Approach to improve service delivery in response to legislative reform
- Leading critical enquiry processes to investigate issues, understand their causes and develop evidence-based solutions
- Reviewing policies and procedures to ensure staff have access to high-quality practice advice
- Engaging in strategic consultation across DCP and with key stakeholders.

About you:





You bring extensive clinical experience working with vulnerable children, young people and families across the child protection and/or youth justice systems. In this work, you apply culturally sensitive and safe child protection practice, with a solid understanding of the needs of those you support.

Innovation and problem-solving are key strengths of yours, particularly when working with children and young people with dual involvement. Your experience leading projects enables you to turn ideas into practical outcomes, while working with limited direction and exercising sound judgement to prioritise competing demands.

Strong interpersonal and communication skills enable you to build relationships, manage contentious issues and provide clear, evidence-based advice to a wide range of stakeholders.

Essential Qualification:

- A degree level qualification in Social Work which gives eligibility for full membership of the Australian Association of Social Work.

Persons of Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, who have the appropriate background and skills but do not have the essential qualification, may apply for and be engaged/assigned to the role of Social Worker and will be entitled to apply for any Allied Health Professional roles requiring a qualification in Social Work within the Department for Child Protection (DCP).

📌 EOI - SPECIALIST PRACTICE LEADER (Adelaide)
🏢 Department For Child Protection
📍 Adelaide