Team Leader - Mental Health and Counselling

Role: Team Leader - Mental Health (internally known as Complex Care Lead)

Reports to: Senior Manager Mental Health and Counselling Services

Employment type: Ongoing, full time

Salary: $55.72 - $58.18 per hour

Great mental health leadership is about more than having the clinical answers. It?s about creating the conditions for people to do their best work.

Ballarat Community Health is looking for an experienced mental health professional to lead a multidisciplinary team delivering mental health and counselling services across our community.

We?re looking for someone who brings a steady presence, strong clinical judgement and a genuinely collaborative approach to leadership. Someone who is comfortable with complexity, approachable when people need support, and willing to ask, ?Could we do this differently??

You might have developed your clinical experience in community mental health, forensic services, family violence counselling or another setting where complexity, risk and sound clinical decision-making are part of the work.

What matters to us is that you can bring that experience into leadership: coaching people, building confidence and capability, supporting good clinical decisions and helping a multidisciplinary team find practical solutions.

About the job

As Team Leader ? Mental Health and Counselling (internally titled Complex Care Lead), you will lead a multidisciplinary team of approximately 12 people working across complex mental health and counselling services.

This is primarily a leadership and management role, rather than a clinical caseload position. You?ll provide both line management and clinical leadership, creating an environment where people feel supported, challenged and trusted to do great work.

You?ll work closely with the Senior Manager Mental Health and Counselling Services and have the autonomy to lead day-to-day operations while contributing to the broader direction of BCH?s mental health services.

You?ll be someone who can keep an eye on the bigger picture while also making sure the fundamentals are working well ? people, quality, risk, demand, workflows, outcomes and service delivery.

A typical week might see you:

- coaching and supporting clinicians across different disciplines




- providing guidance around complex presentations, clinical risk and decision-making
- leading intake, clinical review and multidisciplinary discussions
- working through operational challenges and finding practical solutions
- strengthening systems, pathways and ways of working
- supporting a psychologically protected, collaborative and accountable team culture
- working alongside lived experience colleagues and supporting genuine multidisciplinary practice
- building relationships with community partners and other services to improve continuity of care
- monitoring performance, outcomes and service data.

About you

You are an experienced mental health professional who enjoys leading people as much as practising your profession.

You bring clinical credibility, but you don't need to be the person with every answer. Your leadership style is more likely to involve asking good questions, helping people think through challenges and building their confidence to make sound decisions.

You are calm when things become complex. You're comfortable navigating clinical risk and competing priorities, and you know when something needs escalation. Just as importantly, you're approachable ? someone people feel comfortable coming to early rather than waiting until a problem becomes a crisis.

You?l probably recognise yourself in many of these qualities: steady, flexible, curious, solutions-focused and collaborative. You can provide clear direction when it is needed, but you also create space for others to contribute. You value evidence-informed practice while being prepared to question established ways of working when there is a better way.

Previous leadership and clinical supervision experience is important, along with experience supporting people with complex and enduring mental health presentations.

Why BCH?

At Ballarat Community Health, mental health doesn't sit in isolation.





You'll be part of a community health organisation working across health and wellbeing, with a strong commitment to addressing health inequity and providing accessible, person-centred care.

For the right leader, this role offers something particularly valuable: the opportunity to influence how services work, not simply manage what already exists.

You'll have the opportunity to help shape our model of care, strengthen multidisciplinary practice, work alongside our lived experience workforce, improve pathways between services and contribute to innovative approaches to community-based mental health care.

We value people who bring ideas, build solid partnerships and are prepared to test better ways of doing things. And we want a leader who can create the same environment for their team ? one where people feel supported to learn, contribute and make a difference.

If you're an experienced mental health clinician ready to bring your clinical expertise into a leadership role or an established leader looking for the opportunity to have greater influence on how community mental health care is delivered, we'd love to hear from you.

Further information, applications, and accessibility

For further enquiries about this role please contact Leanne Duggan, Senior Manager Mental Health and Counselling Services on telephone 0491 767 ***

Applications close at 11.59pm on Sunday 18 October 2026

Interviews will take place on Wednesday 21 October 2026

BCH is committed to inclusive and accessible recruitment. If you require adjustments during the recruitment process, please contact the People and Culture team at ***************@bchc.org.au and let us know.

Safety and Inclusion

BCH takes the safety, dignity and wellbeing of children, older people and vulnerable people seriously. We expect all staff to uphold these standards in their work.

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. We value different life experiences and perspectives and provide care to all members of our community, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, cultural background, disability or sexual orientation.

Bring your clinical expertise, your leadership and your humanity to a role where you can make a difference for both the people we support and the people who support them.

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📌 Team Leader - Mental Health and Counselling (Ballarat East)
🏢 Ballarat Community Health
📍 Ballarat East