Social workers and customer service officers from Centrelink in Werribee, Mellissa Graham, Craig Roles, Lorraine Woods, Awadia Osman and Charmagne Flore. Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By Xavier Smerdon
HOMELESSNESS, domestic violence and complex mental health issues are the main issues social workers at Centrelink in Werribee deal with.
They also help out with youth at risk, relationship issues, substance abuse, family issues and anyone who rings needing assistance.
With statistics showing one in three Australians will experience a mental health issue at some stage of their lives, the Department of Human Services is raising awareness of support and referral services available, through agencies such as Centrelink, Child Support, Medicare, Australian Hearing and CRS Australia.
At Centrelink in Werribee, senior social worker Melissa Graham and her colleagues Lorraine Woods and Awadia Osman in the ‘telephone access service’ department are passionate about aiding the community.
“The focus in this area is complex mental health issues, homelessness and domestic violence, we can also assist people attempting to flee violent situations,” Ms Graham said.
“We offer a social service anyone can access and be provided with immediate support.
“We’re lucky we can assist people, we’re often the first point of contact during natural disasters.
“Hearing stories people tell us, that in itself is probably the most challenging but also rewarding too.
“It can be hard to hear the difficulties they experience, but it’s also great to be able to help them out and to access services when they come in.
“People can go and see a social worker here and no one needs to know, so there’s no
stigma attached.”
Among the social workers’ duties are referring people to crisis accommodation, aiding with access to counselling or linking them into other services such as Werribee Support and Housing, the Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul and mental health services.
“I absolutely love my job, I’ve been here for 10 years and I think’s it’s just being able to work with a multitude of different people, including people with complex issues, because anyone can walk through the door and access the social work service,” Ms Graham said.
She said “having a really good team to work with makes the job worthwhile too” and the customer service officers she works with “do a brilliant job”.
For more information visit www.humanservices.gov.au or call 13 1794.
