Job description

Please apply by emailing:

Male Support Worker and Practical Skills Mentor

Location: Rankin Park, Newcastle NSW Hours: Consistent five-hour daytime shifts, five or six days per week Positions available: One or two workers

About the Role We are seeking one or two reliable male support workers to provide consistent, practical and capacity-building support to a neurodivergent adult living in Rankin Park.

The participant enjoys practical, hands-on activities and is most engaged when involved in designing, building, repairing and completing meaningful projects.

His interests include:

• 3D printing
• CAD and design
• Electronics
• Repairs and maintenance
• Construction and building projects
• Handyman activities
• Tools and practical problem-solving
• Technology and maker-style projects

This role combines disability support with practical mentoring. The worker will act as a positive male role model and support the participant to develop greater independence, structure, confidence, practical skills and work readiness.

This is not a passive supervision role. The successful worker will be expected to actively engage, teach, coach, encourage and participate alongside the participant.

Hours and Availability

The participant requires consistent five-hour daytime shifts, five or six days per week.

Possible shift times include:

• 9.00 am to 2.00 pm
• 9.30 am to 2.30 pm
• 10.00 am to 3.00 pm

The precise start and finish time may be negotiated according to worker availability and the participant’s agreed routine.

Once shifts have been established, workers must be able to maintain a consistent and predictable schedule.

The available hours may be shared between one or two suitable workers.

Key Responsibilities

The role may include supporting the participant to:

• Establish and maintain consistent daily routines
• Plan and complete practical projects
• Break larger tasks into manageable steps
• Develop technical, trade and work-related skills
• Build confidence completing tasks independently
• Develop organisation, planning and task-completion skills
• Attend and participate in work-style activities
• Prepare meals and develop healthy eating habits
• Maintain hydration and healthy daily routines
• Organise tools, materials and project areas
• Use tools, equipment and personal protective equipment safely
• Identify and follow safe work practices
• Develop budgeting and purchasing skills for projects and materials
• Complete administrative tasks connected with projects or paid work
• Record work completed, skills developed and progress made
• Build independence rather than becoming reliant on workers completing tasks for him

The worker will be expected to provide guidance and structure while supporting the participant to remain involved in decisions and complete as much of each task as possible himself.

Essential Experience and Approach

Applicants should have experience supporting people with:

• Autism and other neurodivergent presentations
• A PDA profile, also described as persistent drive for autonomy or pathological demand avoidance
• Executive functioning difficulties
• Psychosocial disability
• Anxiety, emotional dysregulation or periods of overwhelm
• Difficulties engaging with direct demands, rigid routines or controlling approaches

Workers must understand that behaviour can communicate stress, anxiety, unmet needs, loss of control or difficulty processing demands.

The successful applicant must be able to use a:

• Neuro-affirming approach
• Trauma-informed approach
• Low-arousal and low-demand approach
• Strengths-based and capacity-building approach
• Calm, respectful and non-confrontational communication style

Experience supporting people with complex neurodivergent and psychosocial presentations will be strongly preferred.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal applicant will be:

• Male
• Energetic and actively engaged
• Proactive and able to show initiative
• Reliable, punctual and consistent
• Patient, calm and emotionally regulated
• Comfortable providing clear structure and guidance
• Able to encourage participation without becoming forceful or controlling
• Able to recognise and respond appropriately to signs of anxiety, overwhelm or disengagement
• Confident redirecting attention back to agreed activities respectfully
• Able to follow through with plans and unfinished tasks
• Interested in practical, technical or hands-on activities
• Able to maintain clear and appropriate professional boundaries
• Able to work collaboratively with family members and the broader support team
• Willing to provide brief records of activities, progress and outcomes following each shift

Consistency, relationship-building and the ability to develop trust will be essential to successful engagement.

Desirable Practical Experience and Interests

Applicants with experience, qualifications or personal interests in any of the following areas are strongly encouraged to apply:

• Building and construction
• Carpentry
• Handyman or maintenance work
• Engineering
• Electronics
• 3D printing
• CAD or design
• Technical projects
• Mechanical repairs
• Property maintenance
• Trade-related work
• Maker spaces or workshops
• Disability, mental health or community support

Formal trade qualifications are not essential. Practical competence, reliability, initiative and the ability to teach skills respectfully are highly valued.

Support Approach

The successful applicant must understand how to provide structure without creating unnecessary pressure, confrontation or power struggles.

This includes:

• Building trust and rapport before increasing expectations
• Using collaborative language rather than repeated instructions
• Offering meaningful choices wherever possible
• Explaining the purpose of activities and routines
• Allowing appropriate processing time
• Avoiding unnecessary demands and rigid communication
• Using calm and respectful communication
• Supporting autonomy and involvement in decision-making
• Recognising early signs of anxiety, distress or disengagement
• Adjusting communication and expectations when required
• Maintaining consistent professional boundaries
• Supporting skill development without taking over
• Remaining calm and regulated during challenging situations
• Following agreed behaviour support and risk-management strategies

The worker must be able to balance flexibility with the need to maintain predictable routines, safe practices and meaningful progress.

Capacity-Building Focus

The purpose of the role is to build the participant’s independence and practical capability.

Workers should be able to demonstrate how they would:

• Teach a skill rather than complete the task themselves
• Use practical interests to increase motivation and engagement
• Develop routines around meaningful activities
• Support projects from planning through to completion
• Encourage responsibility for tools, materials and work areas
• Build work readiness and confidence
• Support gradual development of emotional regulation and problem-solving skills
• Measure and record progress over time

The worker’s ability to connect through shared practical interests while understanding the participant’s neurodivergent and psychosocial support needs will be central to the role.

Requirements

Applicants must have, or be willing to obtain:

• NDIS Worker Screening Check
• Working with Children Check, where required
• Current First Aid and CPR qualifications
• Current Australian driver licence
• Reliable and insured vehicle
• Relevant insurance when working as an independent contractor
• Australian Business Number when working as an independent contractor
• Appropriate disability, mental health or community support experience
• Professional references

Applicants must be willing to communicate appropriately with the participant’s family and broader support team and follow agreed.