Core Social Worker, Taunaki - Child & Adolescent Mental Health Team

Full time, Permanent – South Auckland
Remuneration as per PSA Allied Health MECA guidelines

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health system that serves all New Zealanders.

Are you a passionate Social Worker who wants to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children, young people, and their whaanau? Join the Taunaki Child & Adolescent Mental Health Team and contribute to delivering high-quality, recovery-focused mental health services to tamariki, rangatahi, and their whaanau across South Auckland.

About the Role

As a Core Social Worker, you will provide comprehensive social work services to service users and their whaanau within a supportive, multidisciplinary mental health team. You will undertake psychosocial assessments, develop and implement treatment and care plans, and provide evidence-based interventions that promote recovery, resilience, and wellbeing.

Working in partnership with service users, whaanau, and other health professionals, you will help coordinate care, advocate for individual needs, and connect families with appropriate community resources and support services. You will also contribute to risk assessment and management, family support, and child protection matters where required.

This is an opportunity to use your social work expertise to support positive outcomes for children and young people experiencing mental health challenges, while contributing to a collaborative team committed to culturally safe, equitable, and person-centred care.

About You

You are a motivated and compassionate Social Worker with sound clinical skills and a commitment to working collaboratively with children, young people, and their whaanau. You can build trusting relationships, manage competing priorities, and adapt your approach to meet the needs of individuals and families from diverse backgrounds.

To be successful in this role, you will have:

• Current registration with the NZ SWRB and a valid Annual Practising Certificate (APC).
• Experience in psychosocial assessment, risk assessment and management, problem-solving, and care planning.
• Knowledge of mental health conditions, recovery principles, and evidence-based social work interventions.
• Strong communication, interpersonal, organisational, and time-management skills.
• A commitment to culturally safe practice, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and working effectively with Māori, Pacific peoples, and people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
• The ability to work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team while managing your own caseload and professional responsibilities.
• A full driver’s licence.

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Maori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to apply

To apply please click 'apply now'. All applications must be submitted through our online career’s portal by 09 November 2026. To review the position description, please click here.

For more information on this role, please contact Theresa on Theresa.NuU@TeWhatuOra.govt.nz or Amy on amy.lin@TeWhatuOra.govt.nz.

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process, before the closing date of this advert.

At Counties Manukau Health people and their lives matter to us. We are a values based and inclusive organisation that is committed to delivering the best health outcomes for our community. To help us achieve this we need a workforce that reflects the population we serve. We strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds who share our values and have a passion to work in our community and would greatly value seeing applicants from our Maaori and Pacific communities. We are also committed to our Disability Strategy, which focuses on people with disabilities; they are our patients, whaanau, community and our staff - all carefully considered in our action plan. Together we will improve the accessibility needs for everyone who has a disability. Our values are Valuing Everyone- Whakawhanaungatanga , Kind –Manaakitanga, Together –Kotahitanga, Excellent- Rangatiratanga. If these are your values too, then join us today.