Support Practitioner

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.

Position: Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner - Behaviours of Concern project, RCH Campus Mental Health Strategy 

• Work for Australia's leading Children's Hospital
• Challenging and rewarding work environment
• Pro-active and supportive leadership

About the Role

This is a Fixed Term Part Time or Full Time (0.5 - 1.0 FTE) position until 30/06/2027 at 80 hours per fortnight (ability to create 2 positions with job share flexibility)

Classification for this position will range from:

• Psychologist Grade 3 Year 1 – Year 4 (PL1-PL4)
• Occupational Therapist/Speech Therapist/Social Worker – Grade 3

$103,885.60 - $123,905.60 per annum pro rata

What You will Achieve:

Reporting to the ISAID (Improving Support for Autism and Intellectual Disability) Clinical Lead, this role works with the broader BOC project team to support clinical staff across the hospital to adopt evidence-based behaviour support practices to improve quality of care, reduce BOCs and reduce/eliminate restrictive practices.

The role develops behaviour support plans, and provides education, training, supervision, mentorship, consultation, and capacity building to embed positive behaviour support practices in routine care.

As a member of the BOC project team, the Behaviour Support Practitioner will contribute to this key project by providing subject matter expertise on evidence-based behaviour support approaches and liaise with nursing/allied health/medical/psychology education and interprofessional learning teams to develop education programs to support staff to confidently apply behaviour support approaches in routine practice.

Role Context

Launched in 2021, the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Campus Mental Health Strategy coordinated a comprehensive program of integrated, evidence-based approaches to mental health research, education, and care. The RCH Campus Mental Health Strategy is in its final stage of delivery.

Children and adolescents who present with behaviours of concern (BOC), and children and adolescents who are neurodivergent can experience preventable distress, fear, and trauma during healthcare encounters because hospital systems, environments, and models of care do not consistently anticipate, recognise, and respond to their individual developmental, emotional, sensory, communication, behavioural, and psychosocial needs. This can compromise the care experience, contribute to avoidable behaviour escalation, and negatively impact health outcomes, future engagement with healthcare, and the wellbeing of patients, families, and staff. This project aims to improve patient and family experiences by enabling early identification and documentation of behavioural support needs in relevant children and adolescents presenting with BOC, and children and adolescents who are neurodivergent, within the EMR, enabling proactive care planning, tailored coping strategies, and trauma-informed approaches.

The Behaviour Support Profile (BSP) Tool in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system documents and addresses the emotional needs of patients, including communication preferences, sensory sensitivities, and distress coping strategies. The BSP helps staff tailor care to each patient, reducing distress and enhancing their sense of safety and wellbeing whilst receiving medical care.

The Strategy’s final phase of work will deliver sustainable reform by building staff capability and embedding behaviour support resources within the EMR, as part of a comprehensive approach comprising fit-for-purpose digital infrastructure, people-centred workflow redesign, clinical leadership, workforce enablement and culture change.

Your skills and experience

Essential:

• Tertiary Qualification or equivalent in relevant discipline
• Current Registration as an Occupational Therapist or a qualified Social Worker or Speech Pathologist or a Psychologist
• Registered or eligible for membership with Behaviour Support Practitioners (BSP) Australia
• Be a Certified Behaviour Analyst (CBA) by the Association for Behaviour Analysis Australia (ABAA) 

Desirable

• Postgraduate clinical mental health experience
• Additional formal training in trauma-informed assessment and management
• Demonstrated experience in teaching and supervision of multi-disciplinary clinical staff
• Demonstrated effectiveness in working in partnership with multi-disciplinary teams

For Social Work applicants:

• Hold a degree in Social Work from an accredited course/university (Desirable)
• Be eligible for membership of AASW
• Meet AASW accreditation standards for Continuing Professional Education
• Uphold the AASW Code of Ethics

For Occupational Therapy applicants:

• Hold an OT degree qualification or equivalent from an accredited course/university (Desirable)
• Be registered with AHPRA and as such have satisfied the requirements of continuing professional development and recency of practice
• Uphold the Code of Ethics, OT Australia

For Speech Pathology applicants:

• Hold a degree in Speech Pathology from an accredited university (Desirable)
• Be eligible for Certified Practicing Membership with Speech Pathology Australia. Eligibility for Certified Practicing Membership must be maintained for the duration of employment in this role
• Uphold the SPA Code of Ethics

For Psychology applicants:

• Have completed an accredited Master or Doctoral program in a relevant area of practice recognised by the Psychology Board of Australia. (Note Master of Professional Psychology qualification does not meet this criterion)
• Hold general registration with the Psychology Board of Australia (Board)
• Have a minimum 5 years professional experience as a Psychologist Grade 2 (or equivalent)
• Hold an Area of Practice Endorsement with the Board in a relevant area of practice for this role
• Hold Board-approved supervisor status, including Board-approval as a ‘Registrar Program Principal Supervisor’
• Continuously satisfy the Psychology Board of Australia’s continuing professional development standards
• Uphold the Psychology Board of Australia’s Code of Conduct
• Have an experience in clinical practice in the area of paediatric psychology
• Demonstrated experience in functioning independently as a psychologist and provision of a range of psychology services

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

What we offer:

• Salary Packaging – Increase your take home pay!
• Employee Assistance Program
• Ability to join Fitness Passport - Your pass to an extensive choice of fitness facilities
• Staff Wellbeing Hub
• Staff immunisation
• Early Learning Centre childcare
• Parkville location and close to public transport
• Discounted on-site car parking
• Culture of continuous improvement
• Flexible work options available

Other Requirements

• Employees are required to undertake a National Criminal Record Check and a Working with Children Check prior to commencing employment
• Employees are required to maintain a valid Working with Children Check throughout their employment
• Employees are required to maintain 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 Dr Gayani Hettiarachchi Senarath, Program Manager - RCH Campus Mental Health Strategy on (03) 9345 5505 or Gayanika.HettiarachchiSenarath@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 staff benefits such as 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 27 August 2026