About MHCN

MHCN is the peak body for mental health carers in NSW. Founded as ARAFMI in 1974 by social worker Margaret Lukes, she believed there needed to be more support for families, friends and carers of people living with a mental illness.

Mental health carers are people who support friends, partners, members of their family, kinship groups or communities, when they experience mental illness.

MHCN advocates for a vision of safe and competent mental health services and systems that recognise and respect carers as partners in care planning and delivery, to achieve recovery.

MHCN’s Mission is to support, empower, capacity build, and advocate with mental health carers to ensure their voices and experiences are heard.

About the Role

Are you passionate about mental health reform and ensuring people’s voices are heard for systemic change? Do you get excited about coordinating policy projects, organising stakeholder meetings and consultations, and supporting policy and advocacy research? Are you interested in a pathway to a Policy Officer or a Policy Advisor role?

We are excited to announce that we are seeking a full time Policy Program Coordinator!

The role will provide administrative, coordination and secretariat support for the Policy Manager and Policy and Advocacy Team (PAT) with the implementation and running of the Disability Advocacy Futures Program (DAFP) and Mental Health Carer Advocacy Network.

The role plays a support, albeit important, role in the scheduling, coordinating and documentation of DAFP projects, stakeholder meetings and consultations, a secretariat role at relevant meetings, supporting research for policy positions, briefs and reports and monitoring of reporting and submission timelines.

The PPC reports to Policy Manager and will work as part of MHCN’s Policy and Advocacy Team (PAT).

Benefits of working with MHCN

• A full-time fixed-term position to 30 June 2024, with possibility of extension and a competitive salary: Social, Community, Home Care & Disability Services Award Level 3 Pay Point 1 – Level 3 Pay Point 4, plus Super & Option of Salary Packaging to increase take home pay.
• Additional days off, above the Award leave, (between Christmas and New Year’s Day).
• Flexible working arrangements such as flexible start/finish times, and working from home options.
• A workplace wellbeing program which includes membership of Uprise Wellbeing and EAP services and regular wellbeing events.
• Work for a peak-body organisation with a systemic approach to raising the voice of carers to create change.
• Opportunity to work at Collective Purpose, a modern workspace shared by five likeminded
  community-managed organisations in a city-location.
• Welcoming and inclusive culture encouraging diversity and equal opportunity.

MHCN is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from all qualified applicants and strongly encourages applications from people with diverse backgrounds including First Nations people, LGBTQIA+ people, culturally and linguistically diverse people, people living with disabilities and people with a lived experience of or caring for someone living with a mental health condition and/or psychosocial disability.

MHCN encourages applicants to request reasonable adjustments to facilitate the recruitment process. MHCN will consider reasonable adjustments requests to facilitate employment of the right candidate.

For further information or discussion, please contact Laura Knight at MHCNadmin@mentalhealthcarersnsw.org

Interested?

Download and read the Recruitment Kit below, and send your application (CV and responses to all Essential Selection Criteria as listed in the Kit) to Laura Knight at mhcnadmin@mentalhealthcarersnsw.org

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Applications close 11.59pm Monday 31st July 2023.