Welfare Officer jobs

This varied, people-focused role is integral to the care and support of employees recruited from the Pacific Islands under the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, who are employed directly by Costa. The Welfare and Wellbeing Officer (WWO) ensures workers wellbeing, safety, and overall experience during their time in Australia. The position is a fixed term position.

About Costa:

Costa is Australia’s leading grower, packer and marketer of premium quality fresh fruit and vegetables. We nurture our people, cultivate our growing sites and invest in ongoing research and development.

All of the products we grow and sell are fresh, nutritious, unprocessed and grown on our very own farms or those of our partner growers.

The Costa Berry Category is at the forefront of genetic growing and innovation. We export to some of the most demanding markets in the world, so food safety is paramount. In all that we grow, we are committed to sustainable production and growing.

People are at the heart of the Costa business and across our regions we are a major employer with more than 6,000 workers during our peak seasons.

In this role you will be responsible for the following:

• Assist with preparing accommodation before the cohort’s arrival and after their departure.
• Conduct regular accommodation inspections to ensure cleanliness and coordinate maintenance as required.
• Ensure worker-related reports and documentation are accurate and compliant.
• Coordinate fleet vehicle maintenance to ensure workers are transported in safe and roadworthy vehicles, including lodging and coordinating vehicle insurance claims where required.
• Organise and support recreational trips.
• Collaborate with farm teams on individual worker performance and provide support where needed.
• Conduct welfare and wellbeing checks with individual workers.
• Provide practical support to workers attending routine and emergency medical appointments, where required.
• Ensure workplace injuries, incidents and health-related concerns are reported and escalated promptly to the relevant stakeholders.
• Coordinate medical and health insurance claims with the relevant medical health insurer.
• Assist with worker arrival and departure requirements in accordance with the Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) and Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) requirements.
• Coordinate fortnightly PALM team meetings to build rapport, encourage open communication and provide workers with an opportunity to raise questions or concerns.

About you:

The successful candidate needs to be able to demonstrate high levels of commitment and performance and will have;

• A drivers license and their own reliable vehicle
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, both spoken and written
• The ability to work with sensitive information in a confidential environment with a high degree of integrity
• Attention to detail and ability to manage compliance
• Preferably previous experience in a similar role working with SWP or PALM workers – however this is not essential
• Comfortable working autonomously and collaboratively with a variety of stakeholders across the business
• The ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds
• Excellent reporting and administration skills

The Welfare and Wellbeing Officer will participate in an after-hours on-call arrangement to ensure support is available when needed, with rostered coverage and appropriate time off. The role also requires flexibility to work in line with the group’s needs. To build strong relationships, the successful candidate will regularly spend time with the group during early mornings and evenings, as well as on some weekends.

Costa is seeking applicants who can demonstrate their behaviour in line with the Costa Values (About - Costa Group)

Applications will close once the right candidate has been selected, so if you wish to be considered, apply now!