Barnardos
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    Barnardos
    (26 reviews)
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    Company Reviews

    Working at Barnardos

    3.526 ratings in total
    5
    8
    4
    6
    3
    6
    2
    3
    1
    3
    81%
    Rate salary as high or average
    69%
    Employees recommend this employer to friends
    Work/Life balance
    3.7(26 ratings)
    Career development
    3.0(26 ratings)
    Benefits & perks
    2.8(26 ratings)
    Management
    3.2(26 ratings)
    Working environment
    3.5(26 ratings)
    Diversity & equal opportunity
    3.7(26 ratings)
    Ratings for Barnardos are shared as-is from employees in line with our community guidelines

    Reviews

    Showing 26 reviews sorted by most recent
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    4.0
    Hippy tutor
    Dec 2025
    Warrawong NSW 25021 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Fantastic atmosphere, great people and a sense of community in the office space.
    The good thingsThe people and culture
    The challengesAdvancement opportunities
    2.0
    Kinship Case Manager
    Jul 2025
    Canberra ACT 260012 to 13 years in the role, former employee
    Do not work in OOHC at Barnardos, you will be overworked and not appreciated and deemed replaceable. They do not care about staff welfare at all.
    The good thingsI initially started working in Family Preservation and really enjoyed providing early interventions to assist children and young people to remain where possible in the family home.
    The challengesI changed my position to working within the Out of Home Care role in 2022 as a Kinship Case Manager. The expectations around this position were not sustainable it became all about meeting KPI's with most staff working extra hours with no pay to meet these expectations. High case load and little support from Management who unless you are within their friendship group so treated differently.
    5.0
    Software Tester
    Nov 2024
    Ultimo NSW 20071 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Great People, Great Environment to work in
    The good thingsGood. Great Support and great people !
    The challengesGood Learning and great platform for new opportunities
    5.0
    Case Manager
    Nov 2023
    Canberra ACT 26005 to 6 years in the role
    Barnardos will prioritise your well-being, but you also need to prioritise your well-being.
    The good thingsFlexible working arrangements, Management support personal and professional development goals, intrinsic reward of helping others and being with like minded colleagues. Training opportunities to support professional development and to build up employability are abundant. If you are clear about your capacity and your boundaries you won’t be pushed and self-care is prioritised.
    The challengesThe key challenge is that when you work in the community services industry it takes at least 6-12 months to feel confident that you are making a difference and this role requires stick-ability and optimism. Work Culture varies depending on the people but is fluid. If your help seeking capacity is low and you isolate yourself you will find the role more challenging.
    1.0
    Residential Youth Worker
    Dec 2022
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Horrible. Poor treatment of staff. Staff get treated differently depending on race.
    The good thingsYou get to do a fulfilling job
    The challengesVery horrible management.
    3.0
    Case Manager
    Mar 2022
    An important role, but with its challenges (including low pay)
    The good thingsWell-documented processes and procedures, good opportunities for lateral movement, great managers, good budget, and good support from some teams
    The challengesLow pay, high case load, complex cases, poor team cohesion, poor inter-team culture, long annual reviews, and limited ability to visit clients
    3.0
    Program Manager
    Nov 2021
    After a long career working with migrants and young people in the welfare sector, I would like to seek new employment in immigration law and help those with immigration issues.
    The good thingsTo assist children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in integrating into the community and becoming productive members of society.
    The challengesIt would be a demanding occupation that requires a vast knowledge of understanding the needs of young people in terms of physical, mental and emotional issues and having compassion in helping them resolve their life issues.
    5.0
    Caseworker Brighter Futures
    Dec 2020
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    wonderful would do it all over again
    The good thingsI learnt so much was provided ongoing training & support
    The challengesworking on my own, high turn over in youth workers
    1.0
    Recruitment Consultant
    Mar 2020
    1 to 2 years in the role, former employee
    Best to stay out of the politics.
    The good thingsABRS are a NFP agency
    The challengesTop tier managers and Team leader. No positive in put, no understanding of management skills
    3.0
    Hold a job
    Mar 2020
    current employee
    So far best place I have worked if you can stay out of staff politics.
    The good thingsFlexibility, family focus & client focus. I have great team
    The challengesManagement and lack of overview at individual sites from head office. Poor communication filters down
    4.0
    Support Worker
    Mar 2020
    3 to 4 years in the role, current employee
    Great place to work!
    The good thingsEngaging, rewarding, flexible for my work/life balance.
    The challengesBeing not for profit, sometimes resources run low.
    4.0
    Case Manager
    Nov 2019
    Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Great team leaders, work can be rewarding, sometimes stressful.
    The good thingsGreat team leaders, unfortunately not enough support staff. The case load is reasonable
    The challengesLack of support staff, the case load could escalate quickly.
    3.0
    Senior Accountant
    Sep 2019
    Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Good work life balance but managers to discipline delinquent workers
    The good thingsSome staff are friendly
    The challengesOther staff not so nice and lacks basic knowledge
    4.0
    Office Administrator
    Sep 2019
    Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    Great
    The good thingsI worked in a fantastic office full of very experienced and hard workers
    The challengesNot much room for progression in a regional office
    3.0
    Case Manager
    May 2019
    5 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    Barnardos was eye opening for my career and strongly supported my professional development and leaning but when it came to workplace culture and internal policies that protects workers they dropped the ball.
    The good thingsTraining opportunities
    The challengesManagement and workplace culture and wellbeing policies
    2.0
    OOHC
    May 2019
    Wouldn’t work there again but don’t regret working there
    The good thingsDirect line manager was good.
    The challengesLack of support when clients are violent
    1.0
    FAF
    May 2019
    Ground staff are dedicated and excellent workers. Management and decision making is poor. Reactive and not proactive.
    The good thingsWorking with the children
    The challengesWorking with the management and constant management changes. Decisions that are money driven and not child focused
    1 person found this helpful
    5.0
    Youth Worker
    May 2019
    1 to 2 years in the role, current employee
    Learnt a lot at my current job around policies and procedure. I have also developed my knowledge on WHS
    The good thingsI have met good people
    The challengesCultural diversity sometimes
    5.0
    Social Worker
    Mar 2019
    Working for Barnardos has been life changing for me. I have never experienced an agency that works so well together to support their workers. They recognise that to be good social workers for our families we need to be looks after by our agency. That is a
    The good thingsGreat opportunities to work with a variety of cultures and needs
    The challengesThere are challenges with every work place, but I feel that Barnardos is very supportive when challenges arrive and are very open to helping and co-working through tough times.
    5.0
    Corporate Engagement Support
    Jan 2019
    Less than 1 year in the role, former employee
    A work with purpose.
    The good thingsGreat environment and company spirit with staffs who are dedicated to the company's mission and vision. Lots of charity events to attend to during your time. Very helpful manager and very rewarding. Flexible hours, great office and kitchen environment. Friendly staff across different departments.
    The challengesCan have days that are busy with lots of work to do.
    3.0
    Caseworker
    Jul 2018
    5 to 6 years in the role, former employee
    It changed my life but I'm really glad I dont work there anymore!
    The good thingsThe people that I worked with including the clients were amazing, Staff were very supportive of each other.
    The challengesManagement needs more development in how to treat staff appropriately. Lots of people on the management team have been with the org for a very long time and appear to lack the ability to change and be progressive. Some managers have an \"old school\" approach to staff and band together to look after each other. The org has some good policies they just dont follow them!
    4.0
    Youth Worker
    Feb 2016
    Less than 1 year in the role, current employee
    rewarding
    The good thingsWork ethics and values
    The challengesWorking with diverse community and culture
    5.0
    Manager
    Feb 2016
    Less than 1 year in the role, current employee
    Enjoy working for a great agency
    The good thingsGreat team, passionate people
    The challengesCommunication between departments
    4.0
    Digital Producer
    Oct 2015
    Challenging but inhave learnt a lot.
    The good thingsSense of purpose, flexibility, challenging, lots of responsibility
    The challengesNo money, long hours, lots of different projects happening all at once, limited by client confidentiality
    1 person found this helpful
    2.0
    Project Officer
    Sep 2015
    3 to 4 years in the role, former employee
    Loved the industry did not pprciate bad management
    The good thingsThe general staff were very caring and a good team to work for
    The challengesThe management was poor , misguided and poor communicators. Expect too much from employees on base salary
    1 person found this helpful
    5.0
    Family Support Worker
    Sep 2015
    3 to 4 years in the role, current employee
    Great organisation to work for and very rewarding.
    The good thingsGreat staff support and very rewarding career.
    The challengesNone
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