Diploma of Community Services

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to work respectfully with people from diverse social and cultural groups and situations, including Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. This unit applies to all workers. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand standards and industry codes of practice.

The unit describes the skills and knowledge required to identify Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety issues in the workplace, model cultural safety in own work practice, and develop strategies to enhance cultural safety. This unit applies to people working in a broad range of roles including those involved in direct client service, program planning, development and evaluation contexts. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand standards and industry codes of practice.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to research information about compliance and ethical practice responsibilities, and then develop and monitor policies and procedures to meet those responsibilities. This unit applies to people working in roles with managerial responsibility for legal and ethical compliance in small to medium sized organisations. There may or may not be a team of workers involved.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to assess the diverse and multi-faceted needs of people and determine both internal and external services required to meet those needs.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to evaluate and enhance own practice through a process of reflection and ongoing professional development. This unit applies to workers in all industry sectors who take pro-active responsibility for their own professional development. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand standards and industry codes of practice.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to engage consumers, analyse service needs of particular groups and develop programs and services to meet those needs. This unit applies to workers coordinating or managing teams and operations in varied service delivery contexts.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to recognise situations where people may be in imminent crisis, and then to work collaboratively to minimise any safety concerns and make plans to access required support services. This unit applies to any community services worker involved in crisis intervention. Management of the crisis may involve face-to-face, telephone or remote contact with persons involved. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand standards and industry codes of practice.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to promote trauma informed care, and to develop strategies to address people’s specific trauma needs. Trauma informed care involves providing services that are informed by the knowledge and understanding of the impact of trauma, in particular interpersonal violence and varying service practice to reduce the likelihood of re-traumatisation. This unit applies to work with people with mental illness in a range of community services work contexts.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to assess capacity to support people with co-existing mental health and alcohol and other drugs issues and to work collaboratively to provide support and facilitate links to other services. This unit applies to work with people with co-existing mental health and alcohol and other drugs (AOD) assessments in a range of community services work contexts.

This unit describes the knowledge and skills required to identify and respond to the needs of clients who may be experiencing domestic and family violence, including responding to immediate intervention and support needs. This unit applies to health and community service workers providing services according to established organisation procedures. These workers may not be specialised family violence workers. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand Standards and industry codes of practice.

This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to identify children and young people who are at risk and report in line with legislative requirements. This work occurs within legislative and policy frameworks and carries a duty of care responsibility. This unit applies to workers in a range of job roles providing services to children and young people including in community services and health contexts. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State or Territory legislation, Australian standards and industry codes of practice. No occupational licensing, certification or specific legislative requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.

This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to work collaboratively with people to plan and make informed decisions for the provision of services and resources aimed at maximising and enhancing their independence and quality of life. Workers at this level will demonstrate autonomy, well-developed judgement, adaptability, and responsibility and are typically already experienced in working intensively with people with complex and diverse needs. This unit applies to work in a broad range of contexts where a high level of collaborative planning skills and knowledge is required to develop a plan based on needs that have been pre-determined in an assessment process. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State or Territory legislation, Australian standards and industry codes of practice. No occupational licensing, certification or specific legislative requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to maintain health and wellbeing by preventing and managing personal stress. This unit applies to work in a range of health and community services settings, in particular work roles that operate in high stress situations and circumstances.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to monitor and support workers. This includes implementing support processes to manage stress and emotional wellbeing of self or colleagues working in varied health and community service contexts. It also involves facilitating structured debriefing sessions to colleagues following incidents with the potential to impact on health and wellbeing. This unit applies to leadership or management roles where the individual provides peer to peer support to colleagues and refers to specialised support services in line with organisation guidelines as required.

This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge to take a leadership role in the delivery of quality case management. This includes disseminating information and providing advice on practice issues relating to case management within the organisation. Workers at this level provide supervision to others according to organisational policies and procedures. This unit applies to work in a range of health and community services contexts. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State or Territory legislation, Australian standards and industry codes of practice. No occupational licensing, certification or specific legislative requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to use a structured approach to counselling to determine, establish and confirm the nature of the counsellor client relationship according to the agency’s counselling model. This unit applies to individuals whose job role involves working with clients on personal and psychological issues within established policies, procedures and guidelines. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand Standards and industry codes of practice.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to use advanced and specialised communication skills in the client-counsellor relationship. This unit applies to individuals whose job role involves working with clients on personal and psychological issues within established policies, procedures and guidelines. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory legislation, Australian/New Zealand Standards and industry codes of practice.

This unit of competency describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to analyse impacts of sociological factors when undertaking community work and associated services. The unit describes the application of knowledge of the broad social and cultural context in which work is planned and implemented in the community services industry. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State or Territory legislation, Australian standards and industry codes of practice. No occupational licensing, certification or specific legislative requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.

This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to plan, monitor and review case management. Workers at this level work within organisational policies and procedures and may work autonomously or in consultation with supervisor or team leader. This unit applies to work in a range of health and community services contexts. The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State or Territory legislation, Australian standards and industry codes of practice. No occupational licensing, certification or specific legislative requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.

This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to implement and monitor work health and safety (WHS) policies, procedures and work practices as part of a small work team. This unit applies to workers who have a key role in maintaining WHS in an organisation, including duty of care for other workers.