Do you want to play a key role in the support of children and young people in our care?
Do you want to be paid to receive a formal qualification and on-the-job training?
Then consider a rewarding career as a Child & Youth Worker.
About the Role:
At DCP we’re committed to nurturing the potential of every young person. Our mission is to provide a safe, supportive space where young individuals can grow, learn, and develop essential life-skills.
As a Child & Youth Worker, you will play a crucial role in guiding and empowering these young minds to become confident and capable. Your dedication and commitment will contribute significantly to creating a more inclusive and compassionate society, ensuring that children and young people in care have access to educational opportunities and can actively participate in social, sporting, and cultural activities.
You will be part of a team that contributes to:
- Guiding and assisting with personal care needs, including meals, meal preparation and hygiene
- Planning or attending activities and following daily routines to promote life skills
- Offering trauma-informed care, and supporting children and young people to manage challenging behaviours
- Assessing the individual needs of children and young people
- Ensuring appropriate levels of safety and supervision are maintained at all times
- Developing the social and living skills of children and young people to facilitate their effective transition into the community and/or reunification or reconnection with their families.
Benefits of working with DCP:
In return for your dedication, we provide:
- Job Satisfaction: through making a real difference in young people’s lives within a values-driven organisation
- Training: we pay you to complete the nationally accredited Certificate IV in Child, Youth and Family Intervention
qualification, as well as provide on-the-job training and mentoring
- Leave: up to 5 weeks annual leave
- Superannuation and relevant shift penalties
- Recognition and Rewards: recognition for your hard work through our annual DCP Recognition Awards
- Ongoing learning and development opportunities
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP): for you and your family
About You:
The ideal person for this role will be flexible, adaptable, and open to learning as no two days are the same. Working with children and young people displaying highly complex and challenging behaviours requires you to build rapport quickly and remain non-judgemental. This also requires you to have resilience and good professional boundaries.
To excel in this role, you should have:
- Relevant job or volunteer experience with young people or possess transferable skills from working in a related field (for example, childcare, aged care, community service, SSO in schools, or disability support)
Essential requirements:
- South Australian Driver’s Licence P2 or above
- South Australian Working with Children Check
- First Aid certificate – HLTAID012 – Provide Emergency First Aid in an Education Setting
- Complete an 8-week, full-time induction program
- Work shifts: AM, PM, nights, weekends, and public holidays.
Applicants who prefer to work night shifts only (full-time, part-time, or casual) are welcome to apply. Please indicate this on your application form.
Visa requirements:
- We welcome applications from individuals holding a valid Australian working visa with a minimum of 2 years’ full working rights from the time of joining the Employment Pool.
- Candidates with a Student Visa (subclass 500) are eligible for employment
only if they are not bound by the work restriction of 48 hours per fortnight.
About our recruitment and selection process:
- Application behavioural questions
- Telephone screening
- Medical and psychological assessment (paid for by the Department)
- Reference checks
- Engagement and Assessment Centre
We hire Child & Youth Workers year-round. Successful candidates are placed into an Employment Pool and offered employment as vacancies arise.
- Successful candidates will be expected to complete an 8-week, full-time induction program upon receiving a job offer
- If you have selected to work only on the night shift roster, you will still be required to undertake the same selection process as those working a shift roster and complete the required 8-week full-time induction program.
Further information relating to this process is included in our
Frequently Asked Questions.
What else do you need to know?
Our residential care properties do not close. The children and young people in our care require attention and supervision at all times.
Shifts rotate and include AM, PM and active night shifts, with varying start and finish times. Shift work includes weekends and public holidays, so you are encouraged to consider this aspect of the role and whether it suits your circumstances.
Before applying, review all the essential requirements and special conditions in the attached
Role Description, and read the Child & Youth Worker Job Demands Information Sheet. Please also refer to the
Frequently Asked Questions and other information about this role on the
DCP Career Portal.
If our Frequently Asked Questions have not answered your query, and you would like further information about this role, please email us on
DCPRecruitment@sa.gov.au.