Research Associate in Rural Mental Health

Job no: 0056087
Location: Wangaratta region
Role type: Part time (0.6 FTE); Fixed-term to 31 December 2023
Faculty: Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences
Department/School: Department of Rural Health, Melbourne Medical School
Salary: Level A – $77,171 – $104,717 p.a. (pro rata) plus 17% super or Level B - $110,236 - 130,900 p.a. (pro rata) plus 17% super

Founded in 1853, the University of Melbourne is Australia’s #1 university and is consistently ranked amongst the leading universities in the world. We are proud of our people, our commitment to research and teaching excellence, and our global engagement.

About the Department of Rural Health
The Department of Rural Health is a rural health workforce program aimed at supporting, enhancing and increasing the recruitment, retention and quality of the rural health workforce in Victoria. The University Department of Rural Health (UDRH) is a rural workforce programme and part of the Commonwealth funded Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training programme. The UDRH is funded to support nursing and allied students to undertake a rural placement, to support the rural and Aboriginal workforce, and to develop evidence on effective rural health workforce initiatives.

About the Role
Recently, the UDRH received additional funding to implement an innovative student placement program focused on mental health. This program will be implemented in Wangaratta and the rural communities to the east of Wangaratta as well as the communities in and around Halls Gap. Senior Psychology students will provide individual support to clients and other nursing and allied health students will provide health promotion in rural communities.

This position has been developed to evaluate this student placement program. Working with project partners, including senior researchers at Melbourne, La Trobe, Monash and Deakin universities and also our health service partners (Gateway Health and Budja

Budja Aboriginal Cooperative), an evaluation model will be developed. This position will coordinate the evaluation and ensure data collection with students, supervisors, clients and placement sites. Analysis of data and support to program improvement is also part of this role. The position reports to Professor Lisa Bourke (UDRH Director) and is based in Wangaratta.

In a typical week at work, you may:

• Assist with design of the evaluation of the Mental Health Student Placement program
• Undertake data collection with students, supervisors, clients, community residents and other stakeholders as required
• Analyse previously collected data
• Support and participate in the Mental Health Student Placement program evaluation steering committee and others relevant to the project

About You
Your excellent verbal communication skills allow you to collaborate and engage with team members and research participants as well as to effectively present research findings to various stakeholder. You will have excellent writing skills, including the ability to independently prepare and write reports. Additionally, you will have experience in project management and coordination to ensure the evaluation is undertaken consistently and regularly. Finally, you also have a high level of cultural competency and experience working with First Nation's people progressing the evaluation in a community-controlled setting.

You will further have:

• Masters or Honours degree in an area related to mental health, public health, evaluation research, nursing and/or allied health
• Experience in reviewing literature and summarising key information about a topic
• Experience in data collection with participants and stakeholders

To ensure the University continues to provide a safe environment for everyone, this position requires the incumbent to hold a current and valid Working with Children Check.

Benefits of Working with Us

In addition to having the opportunity to grow and be challenged, and to be part of a vibrant campus life, our people enjoy a range of rewarding benefits:

• Flexible working arrangements and generous personal, parental and cultural leave
• Competitive remuneration, 17% super, salary packaging and leave loading
• Free and subsidised health and wellbeing services, and access to fitness and cultural clubs
• Discounts on a wide range of products and services including Myki cards and Qantas Club
• Career development opportunities and 25% off graduate courses for staff and their immediate families

To find out more, please visit https://about.unimelb.edu.au/careers/staff-benefits .

Be Yourself
At UoM, we value the unique backgrounds, experiences and contributions that each person brings to our community, and we encourage and celebrate diversity. Indigenous Australians, those identifying as LGBTQIA+, females, people of all ages with disabilities and culturally diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply for our roles. Our aim is to create a workforce that reflects the community in which we live.

Join Us!

If you feel this role is right for you, please submit your application including a brief cover letter, your resume and your responses against the selection criteria^ (found in the Position Description) for the role.

^For information to help you with compiling short statements to answer the selection criteria and competencies, please go to http://about.unimelb.edu.au/careers/selection-criteria

Should you require any reasonable adjustments with the recruitment process, please contact the Talent Acquisition team at [email protected] .

Due to the impacts of COVID-19, we are currently prioritising applications with current valid working rights in Australia and candidates who are not affected by travel restrictions. Please see the latest updates to Australia's immigration and border arrangements: https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/

The University of Melbourne is required to comply with applicable health guidance and directions issued from the Victoria Health Minister. The University of Melbourne requires all University of Melbourne employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless an exemption order applies. All applicants therefore must meet this requirement when submitting an application.

Position Description