Social Worker - Cairns West State School

Cairns West State School invites you to apply for a Social Work vacancy in their Wellbeing Workforce Team. This Social Work role sits within a greater regional multidisciplinary Wellbeing Workforce which provides evidence informed therapeutic intervention, targeted mental health and wellbeing supports to students and their families enrolled at the Cairns West State Primary School Prep to Grade 6. This part time position enables the Social Worker to enjoy a work life balance and the ability to plan school holiday leave. The role includes regular access to individual supervision and peer supervision, as well as other learning and development opportunities.

This is a PO2 progression position as per the Role Description. The successful applicant will be appointed to the PO2 classification with eligibility for progression to the PO3 once specific criteria have been met or demonstrated. Please note salary rate shown is reflective of PO2 to PO3 classification range.

About The School

Cairns West State School is a large primary school with a diverse student population situated in the densely populated suburb of Manunda. The school's multicultural demographic consists of children with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural backgrounds as well as refugee and non-Indigenous children. An Intensive Language Centre supports refugee children from countries including Bhutan, Rwanda, Congo Myanmar. Our school values the diverse community represented by its student population and the focus of our teaching across all year levels is the sound development of standard Australian English and numeracy skills as well as a strong emphasis on social emotional learning in an inclusive, trauma informed learning environment.

About The Role

As the Social Worker you will:

Provide evidenced based interventions and counselling to support students mental health and wellbeing.
Operate in an advisory and advocacy capacity providing services specific to the social work discipline.
Respond to the needs of the student population and school community to provide personal and family counselling, therapy and group work, facilitation of referrals to other allied health professionals, and service and care coordination for the purpose of assisting student's wellbeing and mental health.


The Social Worker is a school-based position that will report to the Principal for operational and administrative matters, and a Senior Social Worker in the region or other senior regional staff as determined by the Regional Director on all professional practice and clinical matters.

Responsibilities Include

Undertake individual and group counselling with students, parents and families to assist them in resolving personal or relationship concerns.
Provide professional social welfare assessments, interventions and follow up support to students, parents/carers and individuals as required.
Identify needs and participate in the referral and planning of services for children, parents and families to community agencies such as health and welfare.
Develop and implement strategies to provide information, support and encourage awareness of, and participation by, parents/carers and the community in school activities and programs.
Act as the contact for parents/carers and the community to determine relevant issues for improved relationships between the school and community.
Participate in the planning, development and delivery or organisation of public presentations designed to inform and educate parents and community members/groups about social issues affecting the learning capacity of students.


This role is a Permanent, Part-time position of 50.75hours per fortnight or 0.7FTE.

Please view the Role Description for a full list of responsibilities.

Please refer to the attached role description for any mandatory requirements for this position.

Appointments in the public sector are merit-based and will be assessed by looking at what you have done previously—the knowledge, skills and experience you have built, your potential for development, and your personal qualities.

Interested? To Apply:

Attach a brief resume including contact details for 2 referees (referees should have an understanding of your relevant work history).
Attach a 2-page written statement in response to the attached role description.


We welcome all applicants to share any support needed to ensure our recruitment process is inclusive.

Applications remain current for 12 months from the closing date and may be considered for appointment to identical or similar vacancies within the Department.

Applications from recruitment agencies will not be accepted.

When working in regulated employment an employee must have a current Working with Children Clearance (blue card) issued by Blue Card Services.

Salary rate shown is reflective of full-time (1.0 FTE).

The Department of Education is a family inclusive workplace.  Click here to find out more about our Inclusion and Diversity strategies.

Occupational group Education Training Read more