Youth Officer

Youth Justice

Youth Justice NSW is part of the Child Protection and Permanency, District and Youth Justice Division under the Department of Communities and Justice. Youth Justice supervises and provides custodial and community-based services for young people, encouraging them to make positive changes to their behaviour and build their skills to reduce their risk of reoffending.

Youth Officers work as part of a multidisciplinary team made up of Caseworkers, Psychologists and Centre Management Team members across Youth Justice centres in Grafton, Wagga Wagga, Dubbo, Sydney and Gosford.

Youth Officers supervise young people in custody and ensure their needs are met on a daily basis by practicing pro-social modelling and motivating young people to participate in day to day activities, while maintaining the safety and security of the centre. The activities include educational, vocational, recreational and therapeutic programs which are guided by individual case plans.

Working either a 24/7 rotating shift roster (Monday to Sunday) or as a day worker from Monday to Friday, the operating environment requires Youth Officers to be proactive in managing and accessing risks, and responding to challenging behaviours to maintain a safe workplace.

Working as a Youth Officer

• Supervise young people to ensure physical and psychological wellbeing is maintained
• Maintain safety, good order and security by being proactive and making risk based decisions
• Encourage participation of young people in case plan goals, programs and activities
• Ensure young people are treated fairly and with dignity
• De-escalate situations, negotiate and provide support to young people
• Prepare and maintain a range of operational and case management records and reports
• Developing productive work relationships with colleagues and stakeholders
• Supervise young people on medical, court or casework visitations
• Deal with a diverse range of challenging behaviours
• Demonstrate and encourage pro-social behaviour to maintain a safe and secure environment
• Ensure strategies and actions are recorded accurately.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders People

Youth Justice provides services to various communities across the state, making it important to have a diverse and inclusive workforce that contributes to safer outcomes for our communities.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make a significant impact to the organisation by improving the way we interact with Indigenous communities and help inform and shape cross-cultural services.

Key skills

• Display resilience and courage by staying calm in challenging situations
• Act with Integrity by behaving in an honest, ethical and professional way
• Communicate effectively through listening, speaking and writing
• Think and solve problems by identifying issues and finding appropriate solutions
• General knowledge of computers, office software and communication equipment.

Role requirements

• Possession of ‘Apply First Aid Certificate’ (HLTAID003)
• Possession of a minimum Provisional 2 NSW Driver’s licence.
• Possession of a MR Driver’s licence for Metropolitan (Court Logistics) Youth Officer roles
• Current NSW Working With Children Check Clearance
• Knowledge of and Respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures
• Required to undertake work as a “Shift Worker” working over 24 hours on a rostered basis including week-end and Public Holidays or as a “Day Worker” working a 38 hour week from Monday to Friday inclusive.

Pre-employment checks

• NSW Working With Children Check Clearance
• Reference checks (minimum of 2 referees)
• Conduct and performance checks (for existing public service employees).
• Medical assessment.