Regional Intake Services are responsible for receiving, recording & assessing child protection concerns from notifiers regarding harm, or risk of harm to a child, or risk to an unborn child after birth, in accordance with legislation, policy & practice. Intake staff assess child protection concerns, engaging with notifiers, providing information about the role of Child Safety & local support services, engaging with families to offer appropriate support & providing referrals to universal, specialist & secondary services to help meet the needs of families. Inclusion of First Nations intake staff is a critical building block towards reducing cultural bias, achieving better, culturally sensitive information gathering, culturally insightful decision-making processes & improved support and outcomes at the earliest point for First Nations children coming into contact with the department.

Job details

Your contribution

• The First Nations Intake Officer undertakes the Child Safety Officer intake role for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families.  
• The department recognises that the over-representation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children begins at intake and has agreed to a new way of working for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families who come to the attention of Child Safety.
• As a First Nations Intake Officer, you will be an authorised officer delegated under the Child Protection Act 1999 to make decisions for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children and families.
• The First Nations Intake Officer will have strong ties to culture and community and work closely with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander family support agencies to ensure that Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families receive timely, safe and supportive intervention to prevent children entering the child protection system.
• The First Nations Intake Officer will assess risk and ensure that children who are reasonably suspected of being in need of protection are provided statutory support.
• A Child Safety Officer is responsible for delivering statutory child protection services such as investigating and assessing allegations of suspected child abuse and neglect and intervening to ensure the safety of children in accordance with legislation and practice guidelines.
• Child Safety Officers work in teams based in service centres covering specific geographical areas.  Child safety services are delivered within an environment of competing priorities and varied resources, requiring responses such as those that are planned and long-term, to those that are immediate, and crisis driven.

The First Nations Intake Officer key responsibilities are:

• Deliver accountable and collaborative integrated child protection services that respect the culture and context of each child, young person, family and community in accordance with departmental policies and procedures, statutory responsibilities, and the child protection practice framework. 
• As part of a multi-disciplinary team (which may include representation from other agencies), undertake high quality strengths-based child protection practice in regional intake services for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children and families. 
• Participate and contribute productively as a team member to form culturally appropriate, professional working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders, Non-Government Organisations, and other service providers. 
• Foster a culture and philosophy of quality frontline service delivery based on collaboration, cooperation, commitment to excellence and professional ethics. 
• Maintain quality case records in accordance with departmental case management requirements. 
• Participate and contribute to a culture of continuous learning, training and professional development, to ensure practice knowledge and skills are contemporary and evidence based. 
• Draw on demonstrated provisional expertise in one or more disciplinary areas in order to undertake more complex and/or demanding workloads and/or provide coaching, advice and support to other staff (when appropriate). 

Delegations

First Nations Intake Officers have a range of statutory delegations and are authorised officers under the Child Protection Act 1999 including the Child Protection Reform Amendment Act 2017.

Job Ad Reference: QLD/643657/25

Closing Date: Tuesday, 1st July, 2025

Further information

We are committed to building inclusive cultures in the Queensland public sector that respect and promote human rights and diversity.

Please ensure you download all attachments and follow the instructions on how to apply.

Two positions available.

Documents

Before applying for this vacancy please ensure you read the documents below.

• 643657-25-Role Profile (Word, 842KB)