Community and social services graduate program

The Community and Social Services Graduate Program (the Graduate Program) is a whole-of-sector graduate program for community and social services.

Community services workers are highly skilled professionals who work in challenging, expert roles. Retaining and developing new starters is essential to building a skilled and experienced workforce. However, unlike other social services professions, community services does not routinely offer a dedicated graduate program to attract, prepare and develop early career professionals.

It can be difficult to support new starters to develop their skills and experience. Especially with high demand for services and workforce shortages. To build the social services workforce of the future, the Victorian Government is working with the social services sector. The Graduate Program invests in early-career cohorts to build practice and skills.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for employers who want to help develop the future community and social services workforce by:

investing in the skills and experience of new graduates
supporting new graduates to thrive in challenging and rewarding roles, and
developing their capacity to recruit and support early career professionals.

A well-supported early-career experience can set people up for a long and rewarding career. Investing in a rich and rewarding graduate experience will help us keep more new workers in the sector. It will help us grow the skilled workforce that community and social services need to meet current and future demand.

Why participate as an employer

Investing in graduates is important to build and retain a sustainable workforce

The community and social services workforce needs to grow to meet demand for essential services, both now and into the future. The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing is partnering with community services organisations to invest in developing this future workforce.

The structured 12-month Graduate Program aims to keep more workers in their early years of employment.

It will also provide a simple and visible pathway for new graduates from study to work. It will attract more people to the sector and improve their confidence

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing will provide funding to organisations participating in the Graduate Program. This funding will help graduates engage in the structured 12-month Graduate Program. It will contribute to the cost to employers of investing in the learning and development of graduates.

Your organisation will commit to:

support the graduate to engage in a range of learning, development and peer networking opportunities provided by the Program
provide professional supervision and mentoring to graduates, to provide them with a supportive developmental environment
provide access to additional professional learning opportunities within your organisation, and
provide regular reports on your organisation’s activities under the program and take part in an independent evaluation of the program.

Growing the workforce

There are two pathways for your organisation to participate.

Employ a newly qualified graduate looking to start their career in community services.
New graduates are being recruited to the sector via the Graduate Resource Centre (GRC). The GRC makes it easier for graduates to access information and get connected with community services careers. The GRC will support you to find a graduate that is a good fit for your role and organisation.
OR
Nominate an existing employee who meets the eligibility criteria above and was recently employed by your organisation (within 12 months).

The Graduate Resource Centre (GRC)

The GRC is a key resource for the Graduate Program. RMIT’s Workforce Innovation and Development Institute (WIDI) operates the GRC.

The GRC will support participating employers with a centralised and streamlined recruitment process. If you’re looking to take on a new qualified graduate, the GRC will provide your organisation with a new pool of motivated graduates with the right qualifications and a genuine interest in working in the sector.

The GRC will coordinate and oversee graduates’ participation in the Graduate Program.

The GRC will:

support you by assessing applicant qualifications and suitability for job role
do employment screening for shortlisted candidates
help you and your graduates access training, resources and peer networking activities to enrich their early career experience.

You will be able to decide who you employ. And you will have the option to undertake further recruitment activities to ensure graduate candidates are the right fit.

For more information on the Graduate Resource Centre, visit the RMIT Workforce Innovation and Development Institute (WIDI) webpage.

Employer eligibility

Victorian community and social services organisations are invited to participate in the program. These include:

family violence services
sexual assault services
child and family services
child protection
home-based or residential out-of-home care services
disability services
social or community housing
homelessness services
any of the above services provided by an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation.

To participate, organisations must:

Deliver services that are in scope of the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) and monitored through a service agreement with DFFH or in other ways (e.g. Victorian Housing Registrar)
commit to employing graduates for at least an initial period of 12 months
provide a work environment that supports graduates in a range of professional development opportunities, and
commit and adhere to program guidelines that outline program expectations and accountability requirements.