Rehabilitation counsellors assist people with disability or medical conditions
or who are experiencing social disadvantage to attain individual
rehabilitation goals, including return to paid employment. They assist people
with physical or psychological disabilities, refugees, ex-offenders,
disadvantaged youth and those experiencing long-term unemployment.
Rehabilitation counsellors work as case managers and may be part of a team
comprising medical, therapy and related rehabilitation personnel.
How much can I expect to earn?
Full-time employed Rehabilitation Counsellor earn an average of $1222 per
week. The [average annual salary for this job is $63544 excluding super.]
Personal requirements
good communication skills
good problem-solving skills
a supportive and tactful approach to people’s problems
able to work independently or as part of a team.
This job also involves:
Mainly indoor work
Workers performing these jobs would usually be expected to spend more than
three-quarters of their day indoors, in an office, factory or other enclosed
area protected from the weather.
Reading or writing
These jobs require moderate or better reading and writing skills. Workers may
be expected to prepare, understand or act on written materials, such as
letters or reports. People may wish to avoid these jobs if their reading or
writing English skills are limited to a small range of words or phrases and
symbols. Jobs remaining may still require very basic reading or writing
skills.
This occupation offers jobs at the following skill levels:
Professional Jobs
Jobs in this group usually require completion of a recognised Bachelor Degree,
or extensive relevant experience. Some jobs also require post-graduate study,
such as a Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Master Degree.
Study requirements
At school, you can study these subject(s) to get a good foundation for this
occupation:
Biology
School subjects that include some aspect of BIOLOGY provide a useful
background to these jobs. In some cases a biology-related subject is a pre-
requisite for entry to courses that provide the training for the job.
Duties and tasks of a Rehabilitation Counsellor
Rehabilitation counsellors may perform the following tasks:
counsel clients adjusting to disability
undertake comprehensive assessment of the client’s vocational, social, medical, educational, personal and psychological needs in order to develop an individual rehabilitation plan
plan, develop, implement and monitor individual client rehabilitation programmes, ensuring appropriate services are provided within these programmes
refer clients for medical examinations and psychological or psychiatric evaluations
use a variety of assessment tools, tests and strategies to assess a client’s particular interests, abilities, skills, motivation, attitude, values and knowledge in order to establish life or vocational goals
provide career development services to clients
analyse and use labour market information when making decisions about a client’s vocational choices
arrange formal or on-the-job training for clients as part of their rehabilitation goals
check a client’s progress in training or employment phases of the rehabilitation programme
evaluate the effectiveness of redeployment and recommend further action
manage the placement of clients into suitable paid employment or back into the community after coordinating the client’s required training
negotiate and manage a gradual return or introduction to a job to ensure a smooth transition
talk to insurance companies, medical practitioners, community organisations and other professionals to ensure all parties are consulted regarding the client’s individual rehabilitation programme
provide an information and advisory service to organisations that assist people with disability or social disadvantage.