Senior Emergency Mental Health Clinician

The Hospital:

The Royal Children’s Hospital’s (RCH) Vision is “A world where all kids thrive”.

RCH is a cornerstone member of the Melbourne Children’s Campus, partnering with Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, The University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics and The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation.

RCH has cared for the children and young people of Victoria for more than 150 years since it was founded in 1870. A full range of paediatrics and adolescent health services are provided plus tertiary and quaternary care for the most critically ill and medically complex patients in Victoria, Tasmania, southern NSW and other states around Australia and overseas. The Hospital has more than 6,000 staff, a budget of $850M, 12 wards and 350 beds. Annually, the RCH has 300,000+ Specialist Clinic appointments, 90,000+ Emergency Department presentations and 20,000 elective surgeries.

The RCH is committed to the Child Safe Standards. 

RCH enjoys high employee engagement and is committed to staff safety and a positive culture through enactment of our Compact.

For further Information on RCH is available here.

About the Role:

We have casual positions available within the Emergency Mental Health Department. We are seeking Senior Mental Health Clinicians who can cover day (8:00-16:00), evening (15:00 - 23:00) and night shifts (19:30 - 06:00) on a casual basis. You will be responsible for working collaboratively with Emergency Department staff in managing mental health presentations, providing support to families and carers, liaising with emergency services, contributing to research and evaluation activities, and facilitating mental health promotion and education. 

Classification for this multidisciplinary position will be as follows: Grade 3 Occupational Therapist (YB51-YB55); Grade 3 Psychologist (PL1-PL4); Grade 3 Social Worker (YC46-YC50); Grade 3 Speech Pathologist (YB51-YB55) or Grade 4 Registered Psychiatric Nurse (NP75-NP77).

What you’ll achieve:

• Purposefully and expertly engage children, adolescents and their families in high quality recovery-focused care through assessment and intervention
• Provide leadership through modelling a high standard of professional and interpersonal skills, attitudes and behaviours
• Build and maintain relationships with Emergency Department staff, Consultant Psychiatrists, community agencies and to maximise service coordination and cooperation
• Complete accurate, timely and professional clinical record keeping and documentation

Your skills and experience:

• Demonstrated clinical skills and at least 5-7 years of experience in the provision of effective and efficient child and adolescent triage, assessment and mental health care
• Demonstrated expert clinical skills and experience in the provision of child and adolescent mental health care within a trauma-informed framework.  Extensive experience working with families/carers would be desirable
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain working relationships with key stakeholders to maximise service coordination
• Capacity to provide systemic containment, education and support predominantly to medical systems of care, DFFHS, and youth residential care services

If this sounds like you, click here to view the position description.

About the Royal Children’s Hospital Emergency Department:

The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) provides urgent medical care to children and adolescents. The department operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Approximately 90,000 patients, ranging from newborns to teenagers, are seen each year; this equates to 250 patients per day on average.

The RCH Emergency Department (ED) is staffed by a medical team, nurse practitioners, nursing team, clerical, allied health (i.e. social work, mental health workers etc.) and administrative staff as well as ward service assistants.

What we offer:

• Salary packaging option with our partner, SmartSalary – Increase your take home pay by up to $11,500 per annum!
• Looking for a new set of wheels to get you to the office? We offer Novated Leases through our partnership with SmartSalary
• Workplace culture of continuous improvement, support and training
• Discounted Private Health Insurance
• Support for working mothers including two on-site Early Learning Centres, flexible working arrangements, breast feeding and pumping facilities 
• Help when you need it most! Staff counselling, financial coaching, legal support, nutritional support and specialist helpline services, and more through our EAP partner, Converge
• Unlimited access to select fitness facilities in your local area via Fitness Passport
• Retail discounts & more!

Other requirements:

• Current National Criminal Record Check, or willing to obtain
• Valid Working with Children Check
• Compliance with RCHs “Staff Immunisation - Prevention of Vaccine Preventable Diseases” procedure

Application process:

To apply, you will need a resume and a tailored cover letter outlining your skills, experience, and suitability for the position in line with the requirements of the position description.

Shortlisting for this position will commence immediately, we encourage you to apply promptly!

For more information about this position please contact either Sarah Dordevic, Emergency Mental Health Co-ordinator via email on: mh-ed-coord@rch.org.au

Why work at the RCH?

RCH enjoys high employee engagement and is committed to staff safety and a positive culture through enactment of our Compact. We offer the opportunity to work in world-class facilities, surrounded by Royal Park and only a short tram trip from the heart of Melbourne city.

We also offer discounted staff parking, salary packaging, and an award-winning health and wellbeing program.

The RCH is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and/or linguistically diverse background, all members of the LGBTQI community and people with disability.

It is a requirement of your employment that you be vaccinated against Influenza annually for Category A and B roles, in compliance with any public health orders in place at the relevant time, unless you have a medical exception in line with those public health orders, which has been accepted by The Royal Children’s Hospital.  Applicants will be required to provide their Australian Government Immunisation History Statement, it is a requirement of the RCH to collect, record and hold vaccination information.

It is also a requirement of your employment that you comply with any direction given by The Royal Children’s Hospital that you be vaccinated against, or prove immunity to, any other disease, unless you have a relevant exemption, and offers of employment are conditional on successful completion of background checks including reference checks. 

Are you ready to join our team? 

 Apply online by clicking on the “Apply” button

Applications close 22 May 2026.