Applications close 8am Monday, 15 August 2022
Teen and Youth Mental Health Instructors
Live4Life Southern Grampians is seeking enthusiastic and passionate community members to undertake Teen and Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor training.
The Live4Life approach ensures communities build their own capacity to support each other. Investing in local people to become Mental Health First Aid Instructors strengthens local sustainability.
People working in local organisations who are suited to become instructors include school staff, social workers, youth workers, council staff, councillors, health promotion workers and other suitably qualified community members.
Through the delivery of evidence-based suicide prevention and mental health education across the Southern Grampians, this opportunity aims to ensure consistent, research-based messages, knowledge and language circulates within Southern Grampians. This is essential to reducing stigma, increasing mental health literacy and encouraging positive help-seeking behaviours.
Learn about Live4Life’s core values and principles of practice.
Becoming a Mental Health First Aid Instructor
The instructor training would be a commitment of training in Melbourne as follows:
Teen Mental Health First Aid - 4 days training plus travel
Youth Mental Health First Aid - 5 days training plus travel
For more information about both courses please visit the Mental Health First Aid Australia website here
Training, accommodation and travel costs will be covered by Live4Life Southern Grampians and Youth Live4Life Ltd.
Once trained you would be required to support Live4Life Southern Grampians to deliver Teen Mental Health First Aid (TMHFA) and/or Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) courses in local secondary schools and across the community at no cost to Live4Life Southern Grampians throughout 2022-2024.
Teen Mental Health First Aid
Your 2022-2024 contribution (voluntary) would include running a minimum of four to six complete Teen MHFA courses with two age cohorts, Junior (year 8) and/or Senior (year 10 students) at some of the following schools:
· Balmoral K-12 College
· Baimbridge College
· The Hamilton and Alexandra College
· Monivae College
· Good Shepherd College
· South West Tafe
· Parklands School
Time commitment includes: 3 x 75 minute sessions plus preparation and administration time (approximately 3 hours) per complete course.
Youth Mental Health First Aid
Your 2022-2024 contribution (voluntary) would include running a minimum of two complete Youth MHFA courses with school staff and community members in the area of Southern Grampians.
Time commitment includes: 1 x 14 hours course plus preparation and administration time (approximately 6 hours) per complete course.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be required with all successful applicants which will outline the key roles and responsibilities of the instructor, endorsing employer (if applicable), Live4Life Southern Grampians and Youth Live4Life. This MOU will need to be signed prior to completing the instructor training.
Delivery of Mental Health First Aid Courses
It is intended that you would continue to deliver the training, at no cost to Live4Life Southern Grampians, into the future (or through a work release arrangement) to Live4Life Southern Grampians. Travel costs may be subsidised to deliver training, this should be discussed with the Partnership Group.
If your circumstances changed during 2022-2024 and you were no longer able to deliver the training, there would be an expectation, depending on your specific circumstances, that you would repay a portion of the cost of the instructor training to Live4Life Southern Grampians, so a replacement Instructor could be funded. This would be negotiated based on the number of courses you had delivered and your specific circumstances. The full value of Teen MHFA Instructor Training is $2,110 and YMHFA Instructor Training is $3,550.00.
Beyond 2024, delivery of training would need to be negotiated with the local Live4Life Partnership Group, the intention is that local trainers are able to undertake training as part of their current work commitments on an ongoing basis in community for free.
Selection criteria for applications
Demonstrated experience of working with young people and adults and able to build safe and supportive environments.
Demonstrated ability to deliver the training within your current work commitments (as described above). Please discuss this with your employer as a letter of support from your employer may be required if you are successful in your application.
Demonstrated high skill level in public speaking and being able to communicate with different audiences, such as professionals, parents and secondary school aged students.
Demonstrated experience in facilitating and managing groups.
An understanding of adolescent development, youth mental health and an understanding of support systems in your community is desirable.
Demonstrated high level of emotional intelligence and critical reflection.