South Australian Public Service
DEPARTMENT FOR CORRECTIONAL SERVICES
POSITION DESCRIPTION
1.
POSITION DETAILS
Position Title
Assessment Clinician
Classification Code
AHP-2/PO2
Position No
CS1902; CS1903; CS0571
Discipline
Relevant Tertiary Qualification
Directorate
Offender Development Directorate
Date Created
October 2010
Branch/Unit
Sentence Management Unit
Date Approved
Reports To
Manager Assessment and Sentence
Planning
2.
POSITION CONTEXT
Organisational
Overview
The Department for Correctional Services has a central role in the criminal justice process in South Australia,
which is reflected in the Department’s purpose and aim to “contribute to public safety, the reduction of crime,
and the protection of victims through the effective, safe and humane management of offenders under our
supervision and the provision of opportunities for rehabilitation.” The professional operation of prisons and
Community Corrections is directed to achieving this vision.
The Offender Development Directorate develops, implements and monitors forensic assessments, programs
and psychological interventions based on best practice standards. The Directorate also develops and
implements policies and procedures designed to enable interventions with offenders to occur in a coordinated
manner which targets criminogenic needs and promotes community safety. The Directorate also utilises a
framework across the Department for providing supervision and maintaining the quality of assessments,
programs and interventions.
With a focus on assessment and intervention, the Directorate oversees the development of initial offender
assessments, case management plans, the delivery of individual or group-based intervention in custodial and
community settings, as well as the targeting of services to assist offenders with their reintegration and
transition into the community. The implementation and monitoring of services through the Offender
Development Directorate occurs through procedures, policies and frameworks developed in consultation with
other directorates within the Department.
The Directorate comprises the functional units of Rehabilitation Programs Branch, Offender Assessment
Programs and Planning Unit, and the Sentence Management Unit.
The Sentence Management Unit provides risk assessments and coordinates professional oversight of the
assessment and case planning functions across the Department. In addition, the Unit maintains records of
prisoner movements between institutions and release details.
Position Purpose
The overall purpose of the position is to provide comprehensive prisoner assessments which fulfil
Departmental policies, procedures and legislative requirements. The position of Assessment Clinician is
required to conduct scientifically based criminogenic risk/needs assessments focusing on the factors that
contribute to criminal offending. The position will conduct case formulations and develop suitable rehabilitation
plans for individual offenders.
This position of Assessment Clinician is responsible for providing comprehensive assessments of prisoners
across all custodial institutions. The client group consists of both male and female offenders, including sex
offenders, violent offenders, and offenders with substance abuse and mental health issues. Due to the overrepresentation of Aboriginal prisoners within the Department for Correctional Services (DCS), there is an
expectation that the client work load will include a significant number of Aboriginal offenders.
Key Interactions/
Relationships
This position is administratively responsible to the Manager Assessment and Sentence Planning. The Assessment
Clinician is required to work within a multidisciplinary context with other members of the Directorate and in liaison
with other Departmental staff as part of the Case Management process. All staff within the Sentence Management
Unit are accountable to the Director, Sentence Management Unit.
Special Notes

The Department, pursuant to Section 47 of the Public Sector Act may from time to time determine the
duties of a person as an employee of the agency and the place or places at which the duties are to be
performed;

The incumbent is required to satisfactorily complete a National Criminal History Check;

Some out of hours work may be required and intra-state travel may be required. – The Assessment
Clinician may be required to travel to regional prisons to conduct assessments.

A current South Australian driver’s licence is essential
A requirement to understand, observe, conform and adhere to:
Assessment Clinician
October 2010
3.

Legislative requirements that apply to the role. This includes but is not limited to the Public Sector Act;
Correctional Services Act, Work Health & Safety Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Act, the Workers
Rehabilitation & Compensation Act and various relevant industrial awards and enterprise agreements.

General public sector principles/practices including the SA Public Sector Code of Ethics and DCS Human
Resource policies/guidelines including personnel management standards, employee conduct standards and
DCS Employee Code of Conduct and DCS values system.

Work health and safety and injury management requirements as set out in Departmental policies and
procedures, including complying with any reasonable instruction associated with these documents.
PRIMARY OUTCOMES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
KEY RESULT
AREA
KEY INDICATORS

Conducting professional and comprehensive prisoner interviews in the custodial environment;

Conducting comprehensive assessments for the purpose of evaluating risk, identifying criminogenic needs
and guiding clinical formulation and treatment delivery to prisoners/offenders;

Preparing comprehensive written reports that inform the management and treatment of prisoners/offenders;

Providing realistic and evidence-based recommendations for prisoners/offenders that are consistent with a
risk-based approach to offender rehabilitation.

Developing tailored and targeted treatment plans for individual prisoners that provide both custodial and
community based recommendations.

Conducting criminogenic risk and need assessments of prisoners as part of the Case Management
process;

Providing an expert resource to Case Management staff, including participating in the development of
Individual Development Plans and contributing to the Serious Offender Committee;

Assisting the Directorate in the ongoing review, development and evaluation of assessment tools and
processes.

Ensuring that the special needs of Aboriginal prisoners/offenders are met by employing a model of cultural
competency within assessments and treatment plans

Maintaining awareness and up to date knowledge of developments in the literature regarding risk
assessment and therapeutic interventions for prisoners/offenders of best practice within an offender
population;

Identifying needs and assisting in the training and development of Departmental staff.
Professional
Development

Undertake ongoing developmental opportunities for individual professional development and growth.
Administration

Maintaining and developing client records and recording all contact with prisoners

Maintaining quality documentation of risk assessments and decision making processes.
Offender
Assessment
Prisoner/Offender
Management
Program
Development
4.
PERSON CAPABILITY PROFILE
OPERATIONAL CAPABILITIES
Essential
Qualifications
Relating and
Communicating
Achieving
Objectives
Personal Drive
and
Professionalism

For AHP2: A degree level qualification in either social work or psychology giving eligibility to membership
with the relevant professional association.

For PO2: Appropriate tertiary qualifications in community services, sociology, criminology, justice,
correctional practice, social sciences, human services, health or related field

Proven experience in the area of offender assessment and report writing.

A Driver’s license is essential. Some out of hours travel may be required for which time off in lieu can be
negotiated.

Demonstrated ability to conduct professional and comprehensive assessment interviews.

Demonstrated ability to work with a culturally and socially diverse group of prisoners, and to apply a culturally
responsive framework to guide assessment and treatment planning.

Proven experience in communicating clearly, both verbally and in writing.

Demonstrated ability to produce quality reports in an efficient and professional manner.

Demonstrated ability to undertake comprehensive criminogenic needs assessments, including criminogenic
case formulation, risk assessment, needs assessment and treatment planning.

Demonstrated ability to apply a high level of clinical judgement to determine risk factors and treatment
priorities.

Demonstrated ability to work with a minimum of direction and to effectively communicate with and work
collaboratively as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
Assessment Clinician
October 2010
Continuous
Improvement

Knowledge and understanding of Departmental Core Values (Code of Ethics) and the Employee Conduct
Policy.

Knowledge and understanding of the Risk/Needs Model of Offender Rehabilitation as it applies to prisoner
assessment and treatment planning.
JOB SPECIFIC CAPABILITIES
1.
Respect Cultural Diversity – by taking actions and providing services that are inclusive of Aboriginal people and other
offenders from culturally and linguistically diverse back grounds as well as engaging in learning about other cultures to
better establish relationships and improve services.
2.
Assessing and Minimising Client Risk – understand and evaluate the factors that contribute to offender/family/community risk
and develop action plans to reduce or eliminate the risks.
3.
Coaching and Developing Others – provide advice, support to mentoring and disseminate agency knowledge and experience
across the team.
4.
Logical Thinking – examine current methodologies and trends within the work environment and develop solutions that are easy
to implement.
5.
Professionalism – continuously develop professional knowledge base, promote profession across DCS and display ethical
behaviour consistent with industry/standards guidelines.
5.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Chief Executive/
Delegate
Assessment Clinician
Signature
Date
October 2010