Support worker job description template
Two participants in a morning, each with their own plan and their own routine, and notes written up before the next appointment. Written for community and in home support rather than a facility.
| Section | What it says |
|---|---|
| Position | Support worker |
| Reports to | Coordinator |
| Employment type | Part time, 25 ordinary hours a week over agreed days, with additional shifts offered |
| Where the work happens | Participants’ homes and the community, with travel between appointments |
| Hours and roster | Mornings and afternoons, Monday to Friday, with some weekend and sleepover shifts offered separately. The roster is published a fortnight ahead and changes are discussed rather than imposed. |
| What the job involves | Provide the support set out in each participant’s plan, which may include personal care, meal preparation, medication prompting, household tasks and getting to appointments. Support community access, such as shopping, exercise and social activities. Follow the plan rather than improvising, and raise a change with the coordinator. Write progress notes after each appointment, and report incidents the same day. Keep participant information private, including from other clients and from family who are not authorised. |
| A typical shift | First appointment 7:00: personal care, breakfast, medication prompted and signed, notes written by 8:45. Travel 20 minutes. Second appointment 9:15: household tasks, then a shopping trip and a walk. Home by 11:30, notes written, receipts photographed. Message the coordinator about a step in the plan that is no longer working, and finish at 12:00. |
| Skills and experience | Has supported people in their homes or the community. Patient, unhurried, and steady when a routine is disrupted. Writes clear notes that somebody else can act on. |
| Tickets and certificates | A driver licence and a reliable car for community shifts. The worker screening, police check and first aid the service requires, which differ between states and between funding types. |
| Physical demands | Assisting with transfers and mobility, driving between appointments, and working alone in other people’s homes. |
| Pay and award | Paid at the rate in your letter of engagement. Disability and home care support is usually covered by the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award, and the award’s coverage clause decides whether it applies. The classification decides the rate, and broken shifts, travel and sleepovers are dealt with by the award’s own clauses. |
| How the job is reviewed | A supervision session each month with the coordinator, and a formal review once a year. |
| Review date of this description | Reviewed each March, and whenever a participant’s plan changes what the role does. |
What is in the file
- Template, blank, with each section down the side and room for the answer.
- Example, the same sheet filled in for Kingsway Community Support.
- How to use, with the steps and the mistakes below.
How to fill it in
- Describe the support in the words of the plans your service actually holds, without naming a participant.
- Read the award’s clauses on broken shifts, travel and sleepovers before setting hours or a rate.
- Say which checks are required, who pays for them and how often they are renewed.
- Be clear about what a worker decides and what goes to the coordinator.
Common mistakes
- A description that lists tasks but never mentions notes, which is the record the funding depends on
- Travel between appointments left out of both the description and the hours
- Treating a broken shift as an ordinary one without checking what the award says about it
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
Roster Flow records each appointment as its own shift with its own location, so travel between participants is visible on the roster instead of disappearing into a single block of hours.
Questions
What is on the support worker job description template?
13 sections down the side, running from position to review date of this description. The example beside them is filled in for Kingsway Community Support: support in a participant’s home and community, with the records the funding relies on.
Does the support worker job description template work anything out for you?
No. It is a document with 13 sections to answer in your own words, not a calculator. Nothing on it is a formula.
Can I use the support worker job description template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open support-worker-job-description.xlsx from Google Drive, or use File, then Import, then Upload with support-worker-job-description.csv. The document and its example come across either way.
Is the wording in the support worker job description template ready to use as it is?
The support worker job description template is a starting point for Kingsway Community Support or any business like it, to adapt rather than sign. The wording was checked against the official sources on 22 September 2026, it is not legal advice, and it has not been through a workplace relations professional.