Senior Peer Worker, Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Service

Employment Type -  Permanent Part Time

Job Category - Other Professionals - Lived Experience

Req Id - 9358 

• Use your lived experience to inspire hope, connection and recovery.
• Join a valued peer workforce across a range of MHDAS services.
• Support and mentor Peer Workers while helping shape better mental health care.

About the role 

Barwon Mental Health, Drugs and Alcohol Services (MHDAS) has a number of exciting opportunities for Senior Peer Workers to join our teams across a range of community and residential services. Current opportunities include positions within CRF/PARC, Hospital in the Home (HITH), Outreach, the Geelong West and Corio Community Mental Health Teams with part-time appointments ranging from 56 hours per fortnight to 64 hours per fortnight.

As a Senior Peer Worker, you will draw on your personal lived experience of accessing tertiary mental health and/or alcohol and other drug services, together with your professional lived experience expertise, to support consumers in their mental health and recovery journeys. Through individual peer support and the facilitation or co-facilitation of peer and therapeutic groups, you will promote recovery principles including hope, choice, self-determination and connectedness.

Working as a valued member of a multidisciplinary team, you will bring a lived experience perspective that complements the professional knowledge and skills of other team members. You will also contribute to strengthening the understanding and application of peer work across MHDAS through education, service development and participation in the development of programs, policy and models of care.

Key Responsibilities

• Use your lived experience and professional peer work expertise to provide individual and group-based peer support that promotes hope, choice, self-determination, connection and recovery.
• Provide expert lived experience perspectives within multidisciplinary teams, contributing to service development, programs, policy and models of care that are responsive to the needs and experiences of consumers.
• Work with a high level of independence while providing guidance, orientation and mentoring to Peer Workers, and championing greater understanding and utilisation of peer work across MHDAS.

What We Are Looking For

• We are looking for experienced Peer Workers who can thoughtfully and purposefully use their lived experience to build connection, support recovery and contribute to high-quality, person-centred mental health care. You will bring strong interpersonal skills, an understanding of peer work principles and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively within multidisciplinary environments.
• Demonstrated ability to use personal lived experience of tertiary mental health and/or alcohol and other drug services safely and purposefully within a professional peer work framework.
• Experience in peer work, with the capability to mentor and support other Peer Workers and contribute a strong lived experience perspective to service improvement and multidisciplinary practice.

Position Description CRF/PARC

Position Description MH HITH

Position Description Outreach

Position Description Corio CMHT

Position Description Geelong West CMHT

Please note Barwon Health will only contact you via our official email and never use unconventional means, such as text messaging or other services.

Barwon Health staff benefits

• Excellent working conditions and a strong sense of job satisfaction
• A vibrant staff wellbeing program and access to our 24/7 Employee Assistance Program
• Extensive professional development opportunities
• Attractive salary packaging benefits
  • Living expenses capped at $9,010
  • Meals and entertainment capped at $2,650

For more information about working at Barwon Health, please click Here

Diversity and Inclusion

Barwon Health is an inclusive and welcoming employer, committed to reflecting the diverse communities we serve. We value and celebrate people of all genders, sexual orientations, cultural backgrounds, faiths, abilities, family structures, and identities, and encourage applications from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and members of the LGBTIQA+ community.

Child Safety

We are strongly committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. Click here for further information on the Victorian Government’s Child Safe Standards: About Child Safe Standards | Victorian Government (www.vic.gov.au)

Additional information

If you need adjustments to participate in the recruitment process, please contact us at peopleassist@barwonhealth.org.au

All appointments are subject to:

• Satisfactory Police Record Check
• Immunisation Status Clearance
• Working with Children Check (if applicable)

To apply, you will need a resume and a tailored cover letter outlining your skills, experience, and suitability for the position in line with the requirements of the position description. Please note: We do not accept resumes via email.

Contact person: Anna Sowden, Lived Experience Director | MHDAS | Barwon Health

Email: anna.sowden@barwonhealth.org.au

Phone: (03) 4215 2521

Application closing date: 18 September 2026