Sue Dawson

Combined role across Aminya Residential Aged Care Centre & Independent Living Village

• Leadership & Pastoral Care: Lead the spiritual, emotional, and social support services for residents, families, staff and volunteers across both a 90-bed Residential Aged Care facility and a 92-unit Independent Living Village
• Assist current Chaplaincy Manager with team meetings and training sessions.
• Regularly requested to buddy new chaplains
• Provide holistic care that nurtures the whole person, fostering a compassionate and inclusive environment
• Multi-disciplinary Collaboration: Work closely with site managers and multidisciplinary teams (including Quality of life team) to ensure integrated spiritual care across all areas of service delivery seeing successful results at recent unannounced visit from the Aged Care Commission
• Champion the emotional and spiritual well-being of residents and staff by contributing to bi weekly management meetings and working closely with the care team to develop and review care plans
• Spiritual Care: Develop and deliver regular devotion services, memorials, and special services (including Anzac Day, Christmas, and Easter). Contribute to monthly newsletters with inspiring written content
• Palliative, end of life and bereavement care: Provide emotional and spiritual support to residents and families, ensuring dignity and comfort at the end of life
• Team Leadership & Volunteer Support: Lead and support a team of volunteer pastoral care visitors, providing ongoing training, mentorship, and fostering effective communication to maintain high-quality spiritual care across both facilities
• Faith Community Liaison: Collaborate with various faith leaders, including local priests, to ensure residents’ spiritual needs are met. Coordinate and facilitate monthly Mass and other faith-specific rituals
• Program Development & Facilitation: Successfully promoted and delivered specialized group programs, including Spiritual Reminiscence and Emotional Well-being Groups (Elizabeth McKinlay and Wisecare curricula), aimed at enhancing the emotional and spiritual health of residents which were run across multiple sites
• Staff Support: Provide emotional and pastoral care to staff, offering support during times of grief and distress, and fostering a supportive and compassionate workplace culture
• Inclusive Community Engagement: Lead both faith-based and non-faith-based activities, promoting inclusivity and connection within the village and RAC community
• Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD): Actively contributed to BaptistCare’s first case of Voluntary Assisted Dying, providing spiritual and emotional support to the resident and their family as well as staff directly involved. Collaborated with residential manager and chaplaincy manager to ensure the process was handled with dignity, respect, and compliance with legislative requirements and BaptistCare policy. Collaborated to improve process with Chaplain VAD feedback form
• Support RAC chaplains through accreditation
• A love of learning and commitment to continuous improvement - regularly attending short courses and webinars

• Managed day-to-day operations of the Chaplaincy service, including team coordination, recruitment including use of Page up, initial interviews, onboarding and training of new Chaplains and volunteers
• Providing leadership and support to chaplaincy team working efficiently and productively with all team members
• Adaptable and proficient in learning new concepts quickly and efficiently
• Demonstrated strong organizational and time management skills while managing multiple projects

• as above

• Provided pastoral care for a network of 175 congregation members, including management of complex pastoral cases, counselling, and support during times of grief and loss
• Led and developed a large volunteer team, providing oversight, recruitment, and ongoing training for over 120 volunteers
• Oversaw budgeting, strategic planning, and church operations, contributing to the vision and direction of the pastoral care ministry
• Led integration of new church members, mentoring pastors and volunteers, and creating a seamless pathway for faith development across multiple campuses
• Managed Pastoral Office and team of administrators, ensuring efficient operation of church services and member care
• Provided leadership and facilitation for pre-marriage courses, weddings, and funerals