Southern Queensland Correctional Centre (SQCC) is located in Spring Creek, approximately 17 kms from the township of Gatton in the Lockyer Valley. The centre provides high security secure placement accommodation for sentenced and remand women that are classified as high or low security. Women who enter the criminal justice system often come from lives characterised by sexual, emotional and physical abuse, domestic and family violence, substance addiction and mental health problems. QCS provides a gender-responsive, trauma-informed approach to managing women with the goal of offering an opportunity to truly rehabilitate and escape the cycle that led to crime. It is important to recognise that to change a woman is to change a generation.

Job details

In this role, you will support women in custody and their children to maintain or reestablish family connections. The Family Support Coordinator will apply a culturally safe, trauma-informed, and gender-responsive approach to coordinate family engagement and referrals. This includes liaising with other government agencies such as the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety (DFSDSCS)- to develop strategies to assist women transitioning from custody to their family and kinship network in the community.

The Family Support Coordinator will work collaboratively with custodial, sentence and case management, offender development, service delivery support and community corrections staff, as well as external service providers, to ensure women are well supported both during incarceration and throughout their transition to community life.

The primary accountabilities of the Family Support Coordinator include:
• Assist women to re-establish and/or strengthen relationships with their children and other family members while in custody.
• Act as a point of contact with agencies such as DFSDSCS and actively work to overcome barriers by facilitating requests for family group meetings, meeting with DFSDSCS officers, requests for visits with children and ensuring women receive copies of orders and case plans.
• Liaise with centre-based staff and provide input into goal setting during all stages of imprisonment to encourage and support women and their families' engagement during all types of contact.
• Supporting pregnant women based on their identified needs, including coordination of individualised birth and escort plans, coordinating post-natal care including breastfeeding support and liaising with relevant centre-based Queensland Health staff including the Nurse Navigator and Child Health Nurse.
• Aid women whose children are residing with them in custody, by completing child accommodation assessments, coordinating child placement activities, engaging with specialised programs and services available for mothers with children in their care, and overseeing playgroup administration.
• Actively collaborate with Sentence and Case Management Services and QCS contracted service providers to ensure women and their families receive integrated support while in custody and upon return to the community.
• Assist with referral to parenting programs in custody and in community.
• Coordinate practical assistance and advice to family members of women in prison to support their understanding of visit processes and help maintain elationships. This includes offering guidance on available supports, transition planning, initiating referrals to relevant community services, and contributing to the delivery of centre-led, family-focused events.

The role description provides the minimum requirements for the role. The incumbent may be required to undertake other duties as required outside of these primary accountabilities.

Mandatory requirements:
• While there are no mandatory requirements, possession of a degree in Social Work, Psychology, Child Development, Counselling, Mental Health, Social Welfare, Human Services or Criminology, is highly desirable.

Other conditions and requirements:
There may be instances where the incumbent will be required to work hours outside the normal work hours, undertake travel to other locations, or temporarily work from an alternate location.

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.

Documents

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

• Final_-_Applicant_information_guide,-v2.0-May2025 (PDF, 957KB)
  
  
  694131 26 Role Description v1 (PDF, 272KB)