18 Feb 2021

If you know for sure you wanna have a fulfilling career where you can make a difference to the quality of people’s lives everyday, then check out these roles in the community sector. They’re certainly challenging, but you’ll reap the rewards from working in one of the most rewarding careers there is. 

 

1. Youth support

Youth workers work closely with vulnerable young people, supporting them through difficult issues from grief through to alcoholism, homelessness, and domestic violence. 

No two days are the same, but often you’ll organise groups and projects that help build self-esteem and confidence, provide basic counselling and make assessments about the health and well-being of young people.

2. Child safety support 

A child safety support officer is super passionate about protecting children and plays a crucial role in safeguarding children who are at risk of harm. 

A day in the life of a child safety support could be working with families to help them improve their situation. There’s also a high chance you’d be working with child offenders, to support them and improve their lives. 

3. Homelessness support

In Australia there are over 116,000 people who are considered homeless. That’s 116,000 people with nowhere to call home who are potentially sleeping rough on the streets, in boarding houses, couchsurfing, or packed into overcrowded dwellings.

Homelessness is terrifying no matter what walk of life, but it’s especially on the rise for young Australian’s under 25. If you wanna combat this major problem, then homelessness support might be the path for you. 

It’s actually a pretty broad role. It involves supporting people to help them find housing, live independently and maintain their tenancy. There’s even the possibility to work in sheltered accommodation, a hostel for the homeless or even as a residential warden. 

4. Drug support

Drug and alcohol support workers guide those with substance abuse through their recovery and make a successful transition away from it’s dependency. To work in this field you need a high level of empathy and have an extremely open mind.

You may work in a drop-in centre or call centre where they provide a range of services and information to clients, even group meetings. 

5. Family violence support 

Family violence describes a broad range of violent, threatening, coercive or controlling behaviours within a family. A common type of family violence is domestic violence. This is an extremely confronting and often upsetting role, but you’d be making a great deal difference by keeping people safe. 

You have the potential to work at either end in this field. You could be sourcing accommodation and referrals to support services for victims. But you could also be providing support to the perpetrators, so they can take responsibility for their actions, and assist them to develop strategies to end their use of violence. 

 

If you’re keen to be one of the unsung heroes in the community sector, DaV'ange offers a range of courses that can help you get there. Their Certificate IV and Diplomas in Child, Youth & Family Intervention and Community Services can lead you to any of the careers we just mentioned. 

There’s heaps of other specialisations in the community sector we didn’t get a chance to mention either. These include Australian Indigenous welfare, disability, healthy ageing, mental health and multicultural welfare. If any of these tickle your fancy, DaV'ange’s Diploma is a pathway course to a Bachelor of Human Services at CSU giving you 18 months credit to continue on your studies.