Job Description:

Mental Health Occupational Therapy Graduate Program 

Dec 2026 Commencement 

• Grade 2 Occupational Therapist (new classification as per 2024 - 2028 Mental Health Enterprise Bargaining Agreement)
• Strong reflective practice, professional development and learning opportunities
• Supported learning across a range of mental health settings
• Two-year position, with support for career progression to permanent employment at St Vincent’s Health towards the completion of the program.

About St Vincent’s Mental Health

St Vincent’s Mental Health Service is an area-based mental health service operating in the inner-city areas of Yarra and Boroondara. It includes a range of inpatient, residential and community-based programs, providing treatment to adults and older adults who experience acute and complex mental health issues.  Multidisciplinary teams provide a range of clinical and therapeutic interventions underpinned by a strong commitment to recovery focused practice and person-centred care. 

About the Roles

As a participant of the St Vincent’s Mental Health Occupational Therapy Graduate Program, you will be provided with the opportunity to participate in a rotational program. This program is designed to support new graduate occupational therapists to develop mental health competencies and successfully transition to practice in mental health on completion of the program. The position is fixed term and will end after twenty-four months.

The positions are supported by an established Allied Health graduate program with a strong focus on growth learning, reflective practice, supervision and self-care. The positions are embedded in clinical settings, working closely with Grade 3 and Senior Occupational Therapists as part of multi-disciplinary teams.  These positions will rotate through various areas of St Vincent’s Mental Health Service and will include Adult Community Mental Health Clinics, Residential Recovery Services as well as Adult and Older Adult Acute Inpatient Units. Rotations are either 6 or 12 months in length across two years. Rotations seek to enable learning and development in real-life practice settings in positive and supported environments.

Extensive learning and development opportunities are provided by an Occupational Therapy Educator. This will include regular individual and peer supervision, localised mentoring and regular professional development opportunities within the wider Mental Health Occupational Therapy Team.

Following the two-year graduate program you will be supported to apply for ongoing employment opportunities within St Vincent’s Mental Health.

Inline with Recommendation 57 from The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, these positions seek to build the capacity of the public mental health workforce, to attract Occupational Therapists who are passionate about a career in mental health. The roles also provide an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the lives of consumers with a mental illness, and their families and carers.

Classifications for this position will range from Occupational Therapist Grade 2 YB20 - AJ10 ($74,885 - $91,098 per annum)

The Allied Health Graduate Program offers: 

• Regular rotations, offering experiences in a variety of mental health clinical settings 
• Regular individual and group reflective supervision and support from an Occupational Therapy Clinical Educator and the Allied Health New Graduate team
• Regular targeted professional development opportunities and support to develop individual learning  
• Opportunities to engage in meetings, networking and professional development with your colleagues from the wider Mental Health Service and Occupational Therapy team.

Why Work in Mental Health at St Vincent’s? 

• Be a part of service-wide implementation of Victoria’s Royal Commission recommendations in Mental Health 
• Work with people who are passionate about recovery.  
• Experience a positive work culture within an historical, values-based organisation originally established to serve socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in the local community
• Participate in career development, training, and progression opportunities  
• Receive support from staff who are continually motivated to provide the best possible care for consumers by building a confident and capable workforce 
• Flexible working arrangements 
• Discovery Days to experience a range of teams within our service 
• Salary Packaging – increase your take home pay
• Great inner-city location. Easily accessible via public transport, extensive car parking options and close to Gertrude and Brunswick Streets in the heart of Fitzroy 
• Employee Assistance Program 
• Ability to join Fitness Passport - your pass to an extensive choice of fitness facilities 
• Discounts and promotions are available through our Foundation 

Your Contribution

• A qualification in Occupational Therapy within the last twenty-four months.
• A strong interest in mental health and well-being Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills, both verbal and written
• An ability to work as a team member and contribute to team decisions, as well as the willingness to learn from those around you
• An interest in understanding the range of issues experienced by people experiencing mental illness presenting with high level needs, and a commitment to helping meet the needs of consumers and families/carers
• A desire to actively participate in your knowledge development and progression as an Occupational Therapist and mental health clinician
• Computer literacy
• Current registration with AHPRA (Occupational Therapy Board)
• Current driver’s license.
• A valid Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check, or willing to obtain

Application

• Please attach your resume and cover letter to your application.

For more information please contact:  

Mary Kiss-Rigo

Occupational Therapy Educator

mary.kiss-rigo@svha.org.au

0423 632 154

We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and abilities.  Inclusion is essential to our mission and diversity reflects the community we serve. 

Please visit our website, for further information regarding our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment at SVHM

SVHA has a duty of care under work health and safety legislation to eliminate and/or control the risk of transmission of vaccine preventable diseases in healthcare settings. You may therefore be required to undergo mandatory immunisations/vaccinations (including flu vaccinations).

St. Vincent’s Mental Health (SVMH) provides high quality, recovery-oriented services across an adult and aged mental health service for the inner city areas of Yarra and Boroondara.  The service utilises the Strengths Model of recovery and this model is embedded across all parts of the mental health service. In addition, the acute inpatient service utilises the Safewards Model. St Vincent’s is also committed to the ongoing development of a strong peer support workforce.

The adult mental health service components are:

• 44 bed Acute Inpatient Service (AIS) located on the St. Vincent’s Hospital site. The Acute Inpatient Service includes 5 beds designated to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and are linked to the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service.
• 20 bed Footbridge Community Care Unit (CCU).
• North Fitzroy PARC.
• Two community mental health services (CMHS) at Hawthorn (Hawthorn CMHS) and East Melbourne (Clarendon CMHS). Community mental health services comprise the Triage and Crisis assessment and Treatment (CAT) service, Continuing Care (CCT), Mobile Support and Treatment (MST) and Homeless Outreach (CHOPS) services.  The Primary Intervention and Care Team (PICT) includes Primary Mental Health, Extended Triage and HOPE (Suicide Prevention).
• Consultation & Liaison Service.
• NEXUS Dual Diagnosis Advisory Service.
• Body Image and Eating Disorders Assessment and Treatment Service (BETRS).
• De Paul House – Drug and Alcohol Detox Service
• Normanby House – Older Adults Acute Inpatient Service
• State-wide services are the Victorian Dual Disability Service and the Victorian Transcultural Mental Health.

St Vincent’s Mental Health is committed the recruitment and retention of high quality staff.  We aim to support staff to maintain and develop their skills to provide excellent clinical care and to meet their own personal and career goals.  The service has a strong education and research focus, in addition to affiliations with a number of universities and educational institutions.  All St Vincent’s Mental Health clinical staff are expected to be familiar, and practice in a manner consistent with the National Practice Standards for the Mental Health Workforce.

As a participant of the two year St Vincent’s Mental Health Occupational Therapy Graduate Program you will be provided with the opportunity to participate in a rotational program designed to support newly graduated occupational therapists to consolidate their discipline specific skills and develop mental health competencies to enable successful transition to practice in mental health.

The positions are supported by a newly developed graduate program with a strong focus on growth learning, reflective practice, supervision and self-care. The positions are embedded in clinical settings, working closely with Grade 2 and Senior Occupational Therapists as part of multi-disciplinary team.  These rotational positions will include Adult and Aged Mental Health Community and Acute Inpatient settings.   This will enable learning and development in real-life practice related content in a positive and supported environment.

Extensive learning and development opportunities are provided in the graduate year by an Occupational Therapy Clinical Educator. This will include regular individual and peer supervision, localised mentoring and regular professional development opportunities within the wider Mental Health Occupational Therapy Team.

An individualised learning plan will be designed to work towards meeting targeted competencies for occupational therapists in the mental health program.

Following the two year graduate program you will be supported to apply for ongoing long term employment opportunities within St Vincent’s Mental Health.

• Skilfully engage consumers, carers, families and supporters to co-create goals, occupational therapy assessment and intervention plans to enable occupations and participation in daily life.
• Plan, implement and evaluate occupational therapy individual and group based interventions.
• Co-create sensory modulation assessments, intervention plans and reports to enable occupation, improved mental health and wellbeing.
• Compile and document occupational therapy reports for specific purposes/audiences including National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Access requests or NDIS plan reviews.
• Work collaboratively with consumers, carers, families and supporters in the development and implementation of individualized recovery plans designed to promote, foster and sustain personal recovery.
• Provide effective evidence based interventions for consumers with mental health and co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions, forensic histories and/or other complexities.
• Undertake comprehensive mental state evaluation and risk assessment to inform planning and safe practice.
• Contribute occupational therapy expertise to the team clinical reviews, meetings, hand-overs and case conferences.
• Provide occupational therapy consultation and support to other services, teams and agencies as required to promote appropriate service delivery and care.
• Engage with and support community services and resources to facilitate effective community integration and referral.

• Communicate regularly and appropriately with the Occupational Therapy Educator and actively participate in supervised and reflective practice, lifelong learning and further development.  This includes active participation in all graduate professional development sessions, individual and group supervision.

• Actively participate in the Allied Health Mental Health Transition to Practice Program. This includes developing a comprehensive individual learning plan and actively working towards meeting the expected occupational therapy mental health graduate competencies.

• Engage in a broad range of professional development activities to ensure up to date skills and knowledge of contemporary recovery focused interventions in mental health.
• Ensure adherence with all registration standards of the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia and St Vincent’s Health standards and practice guidelines.
• Demonstration of relevant family violence practice according to St Vincent’s MH guidelines. This aligns with the Multi-Agency Risk assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework, the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVIS) and Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) legislative requirements and related St Vincent’s Health guidelines.  

In order to apply for this position, you must be registered with AHRPA

• Bachelor Occupational Therapy or Masters of Occupational Therapy (Prac)

• Strong interest in mental health and well-being and considering a career in mental health.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills, clear communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Ability to work as a team member and contribute to team decisions, as well as the willingness to take advice and direction.
• An interest in understanding the range of issues experienced by people experiencing mental illness presenting with high level needs, and a commitment to helping meet the needs of consumers and families/carers.
• Computer literacy.
• Hold a current driver’s licence.

Commitment to:

• The Values and Health Care Philosophy of the Sisters of Charity
• The Principles of the St. Vincent’s Hospital Patient Care Model
• The Hospital’s Code of  Conduct

Closing Date:

Reconciliation Action Plan:

At St Vincent's we acknowledge the importance of creating a work environment that is welcoming, safe, equitable and inclusive for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Employees. As part of our Commitment to Reconciliation and Closing the Gap in employment related outcomes, we encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

For further information, visit https://www.svha.org.au/about-us/reconciliation or get in contact at indigenouscareers@svha.org.au

View Reconciliation Action Plan

Code of Conduct:

View Code of Conduct