Director-General

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Applications close: midnight Sunday 19th January 2025

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As Director-General of Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety you will play a significant role in influencing the execution and successful delivery of the Queensland Government’s commitments that reflect the government’s vision for Queensland.

Overview

Your chance to be the difference.

Thank you for your interest in joining Queensland’s largest and most diverse employer – the Queensland Government.

As a public sector, we are passionate about making Queensland better through what we do. We are a team of over 250,000 providing essential services across 4000+ locations in Australia’s most geographically diverse state.

About the Department

The Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety works to keep children, young people, and their families safe and connected to their culture and communities and we lead systemic changes to improve the lives of seniors, carers and people with disability, as well as delivering targeted services and supports to people with disability.

The department will deliver the following services in 2024-25.
- Service Delivery – working with families, foster and kinship carers and funded services to ensure the safety, belonging and wellbeing of vulnerable children and young people in Queensland
- Children and Women’s Safety Commissioning – commissioning, from the non-government sector, the delivery of services for vulnerable children and young people involved in the child protection system and services to support the prevention of domestic and family violence
- Strategy – delivering policy, program, performance and legislative advice/services in relation to child protection, family support, seniors, disability services and the prevention of domestic and family violence
- Child and Family Services – providing a practice and service improvement focus and monitors performance from a compliance, quality and outcomes perspective
- Disability Accommodation, Respite and Forensic Services – managing direct service delivery as a registered National Disability Insurance Scheme provider to Queenslanders with an intellectual disability who reside in one of the department’s supported independent living arrangements
- Families, Disability, Seniors and Carers – delivering and funding high-quality programs, services, and safeguards that promote the inclusion, rights, and social and economic participation of communities, seniors, carers, and people with disabilities
- Corporate Services – providing timely, accurate advice and services and systems supporting frontline services including financial, property, vehicles, procurement, legal, right to information, privacy, information technology, information security, telecommunications, strategic communications, media, people services and professional standards.
The Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety’s vision is for a Queensland where families, children, young people, seniors, carers and people with disability are safe, empowered in their families, communities and culture and thriving socially and economically.
The department’s objectives are to:
- enable families to safely care for their children and young people, and provide services to support the safety, belonging and wellbeing needs of children and young people not able to be cared for by their families
- reduce the disproportionate representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system
- deliver high quality programs, services and safeguards and promote the inclusion, rights and social and economic participation of seniors, carers and people with disability
- deliver highly effective strategies and integrated responses to domestic, family and sexual violence
- foster safe and connected communities and deliver accessible, timely and responsive community services and support for Queenslanders.
- Full-time equivalent employees 5,480
- 2024-2025 Department Budget
  - Capital purchases: $28.9 million
  - Income – Controlled: $2.639 billion
  - Expenses – Controlled: $2.639 billion

Ministerial Charter Letter

The Ministerial Charter Letters detail the Government's commitments and priorities Ministers are responsible for delivering through the agencies within their Ministerial Portfolio.

Organisational Structure

Director-General

Chief executives lead a public service committed to providing the highest standard of impartial, evidence-based advice to their Minister and government in a Westminster-style system.

Accountable to the Premier of Queensland and reporting to the responsible Minister, you will contribute to delivering outcomes for Queenslanders. You will do this through your strategic vision, focused leadership, and transforming the implementation of policies, priorities, services or programs of the elected government.

Your Responsibilities

As Director-General, leading the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety you will:

provide strategic leadership that demonstrates a clear and compelling vision of communication, governance and values-based management to the department and its employees
preserve and build productive working relationships with stakeholders, identifying tactful and diplomatic management practices to support their differing and competing requirements and priorities
mobilise effective and efficient governance, administration and operation of the department, fostering an environment of accountability for the performance of its functions and associated outcomes
coordinate the appropriate services required to ensure the Minister is positioned to deliver the priorities set out in the Ministerial Charter Letter for the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety
pursue with transparency, the administration of the departments legislation as set out below to promote their purpose, encouraging innovation through understanding of the principal responsibilities required to deliver the Queensland Government's objectives
model to the highest level, the standards of ethical behaviour operating with transparency in decision making, establishing consistency for the application of these practices
lead through awareness, demonstrating clear rationale to exemplary problem solving and decision-making practices, encouraging the sectors ongoing commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.

Overarching Legislation

The responsibilities of Ministers and their portfolios are set out in Administrative Arrangements Orders. For each Minister, they detail the principal responsibilities, the Acts they administer, and the departments, agencies and office holders responsible for them.

In addition to legislation relevant to their portfolio, Chief Executives have a range of overarching legislative responsibilities including:

to secure the health and safety of workers and workplaces in accordance with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011
undertaking the role of accountable officer for the department under the Financial Accountability Act 2009
the provision of advice to government through the responsible Minister, regarding the functions, policies and administration of the department under the Public Sector Act 2022 (the Act)
undertaking the role of Chief Executive Officer of the department under the Act
ensuring equity, diversity, respect and inclusion, as required under Chapter 2 of the Act
leading the reframing of the Relationship with Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as outlined in Chapter 1 of the Act
ethical behaviour and integrity required under the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994
decision making that reflects objectives stipulated under the Human Rights Act 2019.

Leadership Competencies

Your application needs to demonstrate the behaviours of the Leadership stream indicated here.
Be prepared to discuss / reflect on these behaviours in the event you are invited to attend an assessment interview.

Candidate Pack

To learn of the requirements and attributes of our ideal candidate for this position, we invite you
to please download the candidate pack below.

Download

How to Apply

Requirements

Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety are committed to inclusive and diverse practices, including recruitment and selection which ensures people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with disability, women, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have equal opportunity to apply and participate.

Candidates who represent diverse backgrounds are encouraged to submit an application. Please see our Equity and Diversity Plan for more information.

To be considered, please provide the following information in your online application, for the assessment of your suitability:

A short (no more than two pages) statement focusing on how you align with the core accountabilities outlined in the role statement below.
Your current CV highlighting your relevant experience, qualifications, and achievements.

If you need assistance with your application please reach out to us.

Download Candidate Pack