Senior Social Worker

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Date: 23 Feb 2026

Location: 50 Flemington Rd, AU

Company: theroyalch

The Hospital:

The Royal Children’s Hospital’s (RCH) Vision is “A world where all kids thrive”.

RCH is a cornerstone member of the Melbourne Children’s Campus, partnering with Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, The University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics and The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation.

RCH has cared for the children and young people of Victoria for more than 150 years since it was founded in 1870. A full range of paediatrics and adolescent health services are provided plus tertiary and quaternary care for the most critically ill and medically complex patients in Victoria, Tasmania, southern NSW and other states around Australia and overseas. The Hospital has more than 6,000 staff, a budget of $850M, 12 wards and 350 beds. Annually, the RCH has 300,000+ Specialist Clinic appointments, 90,000+ Emergency Department presentations and 20,000 elective surgeries.

The RCH is committed to the Child Safe Standards. 

RCH enjoys high employee engagement and is committed to staff safety and a positive culture through enactment of our Compact.

For further Information on RCH is available here.

About the Role: 

This is an ongoing Full-Time position at 1FTE (80 hours per fortnight) within the Social Work Department.  

You will be responsible for clinical and professional leadership to Social Workers within the Social Work department, whilst also also providing assessment and intervention to patients of RCH and their families as an integral member of the wider multidisciplinary team.  

Classification for this position will range from SC31 - SC34 Grade 3 Year 1 to Year 4 (FTE base salary $102,091.60 to $116,646.40 per annum, plus superannuation). 

  

What you'll achieve: 

  

  • High-level of clinical reasoning and advanced casework skills 

  • Lead and contributes to timely decision making, transition or discharge planning and referral to community providers 

  • Support and counselling for children and families in crisis situations including severe trauma, family violence and bereavement 

  • Mentor less experienced staff in knowledge of wider organisation and paediatric community 

  

Your skills and experience: 

  

  • Eligibility for membership of AASW and meet AASW CPE accreditation standards 

  • Clinical experience recognised in closely related field of practice 

  • Demonstrated capacity to respond to vulnerable children, trauma and bereavement 

  • Demonstrated leadership and supervision experience 

  • Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills 

  • Ability to work in a multidisciplinary team and effectively articulate the social work role 

  • This position also includes some out of hours work in the on-call after hours social work service to the hospital 

  

If this sounds like you, click here to view the position description. 

 

About the Department:

The RCH Social Work Department is a growing team of 46.6 EFT and over 65 employees and is the largest Allied Health team at RCH. Social workers work in collaboration with Medical, Nursing and Allied Health staff across the hospital as well as provide community liaison to ensure delivery of great psychosocial care for patients and families

 

What we offer:

  • Salary Packaging – Increase your take home pay!
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • Ability to join Fitness Passport - Your pass to an extensive choice of fitness facilities

 

Other requirements:

  • Current National Criminal Record Check, or willing to obtain
  • Valid Working with Children Check
  • Compliance with RCHs “Staff Immunisation - Prevention of Vaccine Preventable Diseases” procedure

 

Application process: 

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. 

Shortlisting for this position will commence immediately, we encourage you to apply promptly! 

For more information about this position please contact Jennifer Burn, Social Work Workforce Development Manager Ph: 03 9345 6111 Email:jennifer.burn@rch.org.au  

 

Why work at the RCH?

RCH enjoys high employee engagement and is committed to staff safety and a positive culture through enactment of our Compact. We offer the opportunity to work in world-class facilities, surrounded by Royal Park and only a short tram trip from the heart of Melbourne city.

We also offer staff benefits such as discounted staff parking, salary packaging, and an award-winning health and wellbeing program.

The RCH is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and/or linguistically diverse background, all members of the LGBTQI community and people with disability.

It is a requirement of your employment that you be vaccinated against Influenza annually for Category A and B roles, in compliance with any public health orders in place at the relevant time, unless you have a medical exception in line with those public health orders, which has been accepted by The Royal Children’s Hospital.  Applicants will be required to provide their Australian Government Immunisation History Statement, it is a requirement of the RCH to collect, record and hold vaccination information.

It is also a requirement of your employment that you comply with any direction given by The Royal Children’s Hospital that you be vaccinated against, or prove immunity to, any other disease, unless you have a relevant exemption, and offers of employment are conditional on successful completion of background checks including reference checks. 

 

Are you ready to join our team?

Apply online by clicking on the “Apply” button

Applications close 5 March 2026