A heritage of caring



Lucy Kippist

Keeping families and children together is what matters to Cecily Lyons.

Based in the country town of Leeton, Ms Lyons “never loses sight of that goal” in her role as a casework manager for the NSW Department of Community Services.

Growing up in near-by Narrandera, a river town in far south-western NSW, Ms Lyons says her parent’s commitment to community was a strong influence on her career choice.

“When I was growing up my parents raised a lot of foster children. I always wanted to understand why they couldn’t live with their own families and I always knew that I wanted to help people,” said Ms Lyons.

Ms Lyons started her career with DoCS as a case worker ten years ago. Today she manages a team of caseworkers helping families from a range of backgrounds including indigenous families.

She says her own indigenous heritage has been an advantage in her work with the Leeton community.

“I’ve got a good understanding of the cultural aspects of our community and I’m also passionate about working with Koori agencies and Koori families, especially in light of the past issues with stolen generations,” she said.

Koori – also spelt Koorie – is a word indigenous Australians in NSW and Victoria use to identify themselves.

Ms Lyons says life as a DoCS case worker can be emotionally charged and confronting.

“However, these issues can be overcome with patience, a passion to make a difference, a good sense of humour and the ability to be respectful of cultural and personal differences,” she said.

The positive impact of her cultural understanding has been so great that Ms Lyons “strongly encourages” anyone with an indigenous or non-English speaking background to consider working for DoCS.

“It’s a great thing to bring to this role and it’s also part of our training. Everyone who starts with us gets cultural training before they are sent out on visits within the community. It helps us to be really well prepared,” she said.

Ms Lyons says it was the support of her manager and the department’s focus on career development that took her career ambition, “to help other people” to management level.

“As manager of case workers I am responsible for supporting the caseworkers. I need the ability to draw information [about the client’s] from case-workers and brief and de-brief them.

“It’s important to us [DOCS] that no one makes a decision in isolation so my job is about talking through scenarios with the caseworkers to work out the best plan of action.

“I’ve also grown into my position and I want to help my caseworkers do the same,” she said.

Ms Lyon’s role also draws support from other government agencies and community groups from Leeton and even across NSW. Interagency meetings take place monthly.

“We do a lot of community development to share information and services and to get an understanding of any gaps in information between our key agencies and partners,” she said.

“We collaborate well. We all turn up to meetings and we all have a commitment to community development. It’s also one of the great things about working in a small community,” she said.

Increasing the visibility and the understanding of DoCS’ work is one of the challenges of Ms Lyons’ role and a top priority for her team.

“There has been some negativity [about DOCS] that has come out in the past and this is an ongoing issue.

“But we address it by looking at community networking not just at meetings, but also through attending [schools] and community events like NAIDOC Week,” she said.

NAIDOC stands for the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee.

“We want to show people that we’re not just about removals. We’re here to support families before [a situation] becomes critical,” she said.

Anyone interested in a career with DoCS can view current vacancies on the Department’s online job board.

Tertiary qualifications are mandatory for caseworker positions at DoCS more information is available on their site.

Aboriginal applicants are exempt from this requirement in recognition of the skills and knowledge they contribute to DoCS work with Aboriginal families.

Article from CareerOne.com.au.