Commencing Date: Monday, 14 July 2025
Salary Range: $107,470- $132,764 per annum pending experience
Tenure: Full Time, Permanent
Closing Date: Monday, 23 June 2025
Townsville Catholic Education supports a diverse region extending from Townsville to the Burdekin and Whitsunday regions in the south, and north to Ingham and Halifax, south-west to Winton, and west to the border with the Northern Territory, encompassing Mount Isa and several small, isolated western towns and east to Palm Island.
Townsville Catholic Education provides a supportive, flexible working environment where care for the individual is an important part of our ethos. We employ motivated people who want to work together to produce excellent outcomes for our students. Our staff are recognised as being central to achieving our mission.
Townsville Catholic Education is currently seeking a experienced and dedicated Guidance Counsellor/Psychologist. The role is full time, permanent. This role is based in the Burdekin and supporting Burdekin Catholic High School and St Francis Catholic School, Ayr.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Facilitate proactive, preventative and evidence-based practices and initiatives that promote student social, emotional, and educational development and the mental health and wellbeing of students.
• Facilitate effective working relationships and partnerships with parents, school staff and external support agencies, involving a multidisciplinary approach, to provide a comprehensive support, case management and referral service that optimises students’ access and engagement in educational programs. Undertaking necessary prioritisation and triage of referrals and service requests within each school context.
• Assess presenting issues and conduct activities such as intakes, student observation and psychoeducational assessment to determine the nature of student learning difficulties, disability, developmental levels, or psychological and emotional status to make recommendations for educational adjustments and interventions.
• Provide recommendations and support to teachers and leadership, as part of tier one and two levels of a multi-tiered system of support, regarding supporting whole-school wellbeing planning, classroom support and behaviour management that indirectly contribute to student wellbeing and learning at school.
• Manage the provision of counselling and consulting services for students (with personal, social, emotional, and educational needs) with a focus on prevention, intervention, and student learning.
• Ensure policy and procedures for student protection, educating students with disabilities, behaviour support, the containment of critical incidents and mandatory record keeping are implemented. This may involve the development, monitoring and review of individual student plans with teachers, staff, and families.
• Balance the ethical issues of consent, privacy, and confidentiality for each student with the appropriateness of sharing information with others and maintain a comprehensive and professional record-keeping system that complies with policy and the legal requirements for access to these official records.
• Prepare and implement professional and personal skill development programs and in-services for teachers, school officers and parents. Participate in regular professional supervision sessions and relevant professional development.
• Provide leadership and specialised support in response to student protection issues, critical incidents, and emergencies, including the development and implementation of responsive programs for school and student needs. For example: anxiety and stress management, grief and loss incident responding, risk management and behaviour support planning for students.
• Maintain standards of practice that are consistent with registration boards and membership of professional associations.
• Complete other duties that are directed as service needs change or grow, if the duties are consistent with the purpose of this position and any relevant legal and/or industrial obligations.

The position of Guidance Counsellor/Psychologist will provide professional expertise, leadership and support to the school community in the development, implementation and evaluation of plans and programs to assist students in achieving positive educational, developmental and lifelong learning outcomes.
The position will collaboratively negotiate, develop and implement programs for student that have a focus on preventative and early intervention strategies; are responsive to identified personal, social, emotional and educational needs; and aim to foster resilience and personal skills development.
Guidance Counsellors are guided by a specific theoretical orientation influenced by their global view of the school and the services available to it. Any intervention with Primary and Secondary school students has to take particular notice of the student within the context of the family. The focus is on the student within this and other contexts, realising that the responsibility for each student’s welfare and progress remains within the family and local school. A particular emphasis will be to empower school communities to assist students in crisis or with diverse learning needs.
Townsville Catholic Education has standards of conduct for workers to maintain a safe and healthy environment for children. Our commitment to these standards requires that we conduct working with children checks and background referencing for all persons who will engage in direct and regular involvement with children and young people and/or adults-at-risk. The organisation is fully committed to child safety and has a zero tolerance to abuse of children or adults-at-risk.