Child protection jobs - employment pathways

As a child protection practitioner, you can make meaningful change to the lives of children at risk of abuse or neglect. In this statutory role, you will use your social work or welfare qualifications in a supportive and hard-working team who share a common goal.

The work is diverse and ever-changing. You’ll get an excellent experience across the child and family services system, while managing a variety of complex matters.

A typical day in child protection

The work in child protection is varied and a typical day might involve:

• supervising access visits between children and their families,
• transporting children to services and visits,
• supporting the provision of in-home support to families
• documenting case notes under the direction of an experienced practitioner.
• managing cases
• working with other professionals in the community to assess reports of child abuse and neglect
• at times presenting matters to the Children's Court of Victoria.

Career pathways

DFFH is proud to offer various pathways for those seeking employment in child protection including:

• For students: Child Protection Student Placement program offers students the opportunity to gain broad knowledge of the child protection industry while applying theory to practice.
• For students and recent graduates: Child Protection Employment Program to work alongside experienced practitioners to experience the child protection role in a structured and supportive learning environment. This is a paid employment program.
• For people with no previous experience in the sector: Switch to Child Protection program that supports successful candidates to complete a Graduate Certificate in Child Protection from La Trobe University with tuition fees fully covered while receiving on the job learning and an industry standard wage.