What Does a Case Manager Do in Victoria?

A case manager in Victoria assesses a person’s needs, plans the services that will meet them, coordinates the providers who deliver those services, and stays accountable for the results until the person’s goals are achieved. The role runs across family services, child protection, the NDIS, aged care, housing and homelessness, mental health and youth services — and what the work looks like day to day depends on which Victorian program and practice framework the case manager works within.

This guide walks through the case management cycle, a realistic week in the role, Victoria’s frameworks and settings, and the qualification path in. For the practice explained in full — definitions, phases and how the diploma maps onto them — read ALIT’s guides to case management in community services and what case management is and what CHC52025 covers. Where that path leads in the Melbourne job market is surveyed in ALIT’s guide to Diploma of Community Services jobs in Melbourne.

The case management cycle

Case management is a loop, not a referral. It starts with intake and screening — working out who the service is for, how urgent the situation is and what risks sit underneath the presenting problem. Assessment follows: a structured picture of the person’s needs, strengths, goals and supports, capturing co-existing needs rather than one issue at a time. The plan is built around the person’s own goals — what they want to achieve, not what services happen to have places. Coordination engages the providers who will deliver the plan, and monitoring and review keep the plan honest as circumstances change, until the goals are met, the case closes, or the person transitions elsewhere. Documentation runs through every phase: case notes, plans, reviews and records that would survive scrutiny.

A realistic week in the role

A Victorian case manager’s week is a mix of direct contact and the work that supports it. Face-to-face time — home visits, office appointments, joint visits with other services — sits alongside case notes and file management, phone calls and advocacy with housing providers, health services, schools and income support, multidisciplinary meetings and case conferences, risk reviews, and crisis response when a case escalates. Caseload size varies with the program: family services and housing roles carry smaller, more intensive caseloads; aged care and community roles larger, more stable ones. The balance between client contact and administration shifts accordingly, but the accountability for the whole case — the thing that separates a case manager from a support worker — never does.

Where case managers work in Victoria, and under which frameworks

Victoria’s system gives the practice its local shape:

• Family services — Department of Families, Fairness and Housing-funded services work to the Best Interests Case Practice Model, with The Orange Door network as the front door for families needing support, including family violence.
• Family violence — the MARAM Framework sets shared responsibilities across services for recognising and responding to family violence risk, so case managers in this space carry structured risk assessment duties.
• Child protection — statutory child protection is delivered by departmental practitioners under the Children, Youth and Families Act, a government workforce with its own tertiary requirements rather than community-sector case management.
• The NDIS — support coordination helps participants implement and use their plans; it is related work but distinct from case management, which is not defined by any one scheme.
• Aged care — case managers and care coordinators arrange and review packages of services for older people living at home.
• Local government and community health — councils assess and coordinate services for younger people with disabilities through programs such as the Home and Community Care Program for Younger People, alongside community health case management.
• Housing and homelessness — case managers support people sustaining or securing tenancies and moving through homelessness services.

Program names and arrangements change as policies are updated, so confirm the current detail with the relevant department or employer for the setting you are considering.

Case manager, support coordinator, support worker

Three titles that get used loosely, but the roles are distinct. A support worker delivers care directly. An NDIS support coordinator helps a participant implement their plan — the role is defined by the scheme and ends where the plan does. A case manager owns the whole loop — assessment, plan, coordination, review — across whatever mix of services the person needs, and is the single point of accountability for the outcome. Many case managers arrive from frontline roles: disability support workers planning the step up will find the roles above support work mapped in ALIT’s guide to the jobs you can get with Cert IV in Disability Support in Victoria, and aged care workers can see the certificate-level progression in ALIT’s guide to the pay difference between Cert III and Cert IV in aged care.

Qualifications, checks and entry

Most community-sector employers ask for a diploma-level community services qualification — commonly the CHC52025 Diploma of Community Services (Case Management) — or equivalent experience; government child protection roles set their own tertiary requirements. Alongside the qualification, roles require a current police check and, where the work involves children, a Working with Children Check. ALIT’s guide to CHC52025 entry requirements in Victoria covers the two entry doors in detail: a Certificate IV in Community Services or equivalent, or two years of relevant industry experience, with English proficiency and the standard admission checks. The full qualification path is unpacked in ALIT’s guide to the qualifications you need to be a case manager in Victoria.

ALIT delivers the diploma at its West Melbourne campus over 81 weeks with monthly intakes, CRICOS approval for international students (course code 114248F) and recognition of prior learning for workers with existing units or experience. The elective set carries the Case Management specialisation — goal-directed planning, implementing case management practice, case management in a child protection framework and case management supervision — so the qualification is awarded with the specialisation named. Current fees and intake dates are on the Diploma of Community Services course page.

FAQ

Do I need a social work degree to be a case manager in Victoria?

Not in community-sector roles — a diploma-level community services qualification such as CHC52025, or equivalent experience, is what employers commonly ask for. Government child protection practitioner positions are the exception, with their own tertiary requirements.

Is case management the same as NDIS support coordination?

No. Support coordination is an NDIS-funded role that helps a participant implement their plan. Case management is the broader practice of assessing, planning, coordinating and reviewing services over time — it can include NDIS services but is not defined by the scheme.

What award covers case managers?

Community services case management roles are generally covered by the SCHADS Award, though the sector, program and employer matter; some services have enterprise agreements. Check the applicable instrument for any specific role.

Can I move into case management from support work?

Yes — it is the most common route. Frontline experience plus the CHC52025 diploma, with credit for prior learning where applicable, is the standard pathway from delivering services to coordinating them.

How much client contact does the role involve?

It varies by program: family services and housing roles are visit-intensive; aged care and coordination-heavy roles run more through reviews and provider liaison. Every version of the role includes documentation time, and employers recruit for both skills.

Confused about where one role ends and the other begins? This case manager vs support worker roles compared breaks the two jobs down side by side.