I see a purpose in my job to protect
children it's very rewarding currently I
consider it as my vocation my name is
Santos I work in child protection my
role title is Aboriginal family L
decision making
convenor I moved to Australia in 2012 it
was new to me when coming to Bendigo
there's nobody I knew but I had great
supports from my colleagues building
relationship is much easier are in rural
setting because you see the same sort of
people a child protection practitioner's
life every day is different I convene
meetings with families involving a lot
of positive people in the children's
life we start off with consultation from
Child Protection I'll be getting
information from schools incorporating
the community conveners so they're all
being consulted before we get into a
formal meeting to get a holistic view of
the family and the situation it's like a
informal family gathering organized by
me and then the department will come up
with a plan the role of a child
protection practitioner requires a lot
of critical thinking there are scenarios
where we can use a lot of empathy so if
anybody can be empathetic towards
someone's feelings or someone's needs I
think that's a right profession for you
I'm at the back end of child protection
where I can see the families come
together and make the right decision for
the children and sometimes the children
will say say thank you thank you for
helping me on that situation I really
wanted positive outcomes for the
families and children and that fits in
with my social work values which is
helping families and helping the people
in need
Updated