Speech Pathologist

About Us :

Occumax is an interdisciplinary paediatric private practice and we are on the look out for team members who want to help children and their families have a happy, calm and connected family life. If that's you, this means that you can have a great job that lets you support children and their families the way you know best, get paid well and live in the vibrant city of Mackay in beautiful tropical north Queensland.

Occumax is all about connection. Sometimes children have difficulty forming or making the right connections between their brain and body and everyday things are hard or tricky for them to do. Life is hard work and emotionally draining for them, their parents, friends and teachers.

By connecting with our Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Social Worker and Psychologist, children and parents are able to get the right tools, techniques and intervention to point them in the right direction. To do that, our staff need to be connected to good support, supervision and training.

For 15 years Occumax has been helping children and families from Mackay and surrounding communities to discover happiness through connection. We are known for really listening to parents and making a difference in their child's life.

Occumax's strong values, coupled with the NDIS being well established in our area, has resulted in the need to increase our team to meet existing community demands.

About You :

• Bachelor of Speech Pathology or equivalent qualification that is accredited by Speech Pathology Australia for professional Speech Pathology practice in Australia.
• Provisional or full Certified Practising Speech Pathologist status with Speech Pathology Australia
• NDIS Commission's New Worker - NDIS Induction Modules
• Department of Health's COVID-19 Infection Control Training

Position Summary :

As a Speech Pathologist - Level 1 you will be responsible for working with children, their families and others involved in their care so that they can have a happy, calm and connected family and community life. As a Speech Pathologist, you will work as part of an interdisciplinary team and your practice will be underpinned by evidence based, family centred and person centred frameworks.

You will make a comprehensive assessment of the child's presentation and goals to formulate an understanding of the child's speech, language, literacy, feeding and social communication skills, and any other developmental issues, strengths, challenges and barriers to their participation. You will support the child and their caregivers to set personally meaningful and relevant goals. You will develop an intervention plan, in collaboration with the family and others involved in their care, that targets their needs, within the scope of your practice and profession.

This role has a direct intervention and caregiver coaching focus, with services being primarily delivered at our clinic. Home and school based interventions will be utilised on an as needed basis, to meet the needs of the child and family, and dependant upon our organisational capacity. This role will deliver small group interventions and parent training to meet the needs of our clients and the community. As a Speech Pathologist you will continually document, monitor, review and report on your client's progress and make adjustments to their intervention plan so that they can achieve their goals, in accordance with best practice guidelines, current research, and our organisational, legislative and funding body requirements.

This role works under supervision of experienced allied health clinicians with regular Speech Pathology clinical supervision and will rely on your continual learning and development in service delivery while enhancing your clinical skills and delivering on clinical targets for the organisation.

Key Requirements :

Essential

• Bachelor of Speech Pathology or equivalent qualification that is accredited by Speech Pathology Australia for professional Speech Pathology practice in Australia.
• Provisional or full Certified Practising Speech Pathologist status with Speech Pathology Australia
• Ability to work independently, manage own time to achieve deadlines and work as an effective team member.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with parents, professionals, other stakeholders and team members, both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to identify own learning needs, strengths and limitations and seek out appropriate tools and resources to improve own skills and competencies as required.
• Attention to detail and commitment to achieving quality outcomes and continuous quality improvement.
• Ability to learn quickly, show initiative and problem solve with a positive attitude and growth mindset in a busy work setting.
• Demonstrated ability to be change ready so that new processes and systems can be quickly integrated as we grow, improve and evolve as an organisation.
• Fully vaccinated for COVID-19, including any recommended boosters.

Desirable

• Fieldwork or graduate experience working as a Speech Pathologist with children, young people and/or families and teachers.
• Knowledge of, and experience in delivering Speech Pathology services to children with play and social skills problems, learning and literacy difficulties, difficulties with communication and interaction, speech and language delays, and/ or those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Impairment, Cerebral Palsy, Language Impairment, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, and/or other developmental conditions.
• Training in The Hanen Program, DIR/Floortime, PODD, The Lidcombe Program For Children Who Stutter, SOS Feeding Program, Augmentative & Alternative Communication systems, play interventions, literacy interventions and/or intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Job Responsibility :

• Provide a high quality Speech Pathology service, within the context of Occumax's service models, professional practice philosophies, values, simple guiding principles, and policies and procedures, so that children and families achieve their goals. This includes assessment of client needs, interpretation of data, report writing, individual and/or group intervention, caregiver education and/or coaching, documentation, periodic re-evaluation, developing therapeutic resources for clients, collaborative consultation with parents and school staff, client related meetings and/or contact with parents, teachers and other professionals and paraprofessionals, as required.
• Manage caseload effectively so that the maximum client impact is achieved while maintaining quality clinical services.
• Provide Speech Pathology services to clients in the clinic and/or in their home or school or using telehealth and electronic technologies depending on what is deemed clinically necessary to achieve the best outcome for the client balanced with available organisational resources. From time to time, this may include the provision of outreach visits to towns in the surrounding region, depending on demand for services in these areas.
• Work collaboratively within an interdisciplinary team to provide holistic intervention programs.
• Refer clients to other internal and external formal and informal support and capacity building services as required.
• Maintain an up to date working knowledge of funding schemes such as the NDIS and Medicare, and community services that may benefit clients and educate clients about how to access and utilise these supports effectively.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and client records in line with Occumax's policies and procedures and legislative requirements.
• Complete client appointment booking and billing procedures within the required timeframes.
• May be required to undertake other duties as directed from time to time.
• Assisting with clinical supervision and support to Speech Pathology students and work experience students undergoing training at Occumax.
• Comply with professional, ethical and clinical standards of practice in accordance with Speech Pathology Australia's Code of Ethics.
• Comply the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Code of Conduct and NDIS Practice Standards and report issues related to the abuse and neglect of people with disability to Occumax's management team and the NDIS Commission.
• Maintain the privacy and confidentiality of clients, team members and the organisation at all times and within the requirements of the Privacy Act and Occumax's Privacy Policy. Ensure that consent has been given before sharing personal and confidential information and that all data is stored and shared securely.
• Demonstrate a commitment to child safety and the Child-Safe Organisations National Principles and associated legislation. Fulfill your obligations as a mandatory reporter of child abuse and neglect by reporting all incidents, suspected incidents and disclosures to Occumax's management team and the appropriate compliance/reporting agency.
• Undertake clinical supervision and appropriate professional development, including self-reflection.
• Apply to become a Medicare provider as soon as eligibility requirements are met and work within the requirements of the scheme once Medicare provider rights have been granted.
• Ensure all communication is completed in a professional and polite manner, to all internal and external stakeholders.
• Maintain a cooperative team environment by communicating openly and in a friendly manner, working efficiently and amicably with all members of the organisation.
• Display a growth mindset when faced with client, team or organisational change and challenges.
• Exhibit strong emotional intelligence skills when interacting with others and leading self.
• Respect diversity and interact with others without discrimination and in a sensitive and culturally appropriate manner.
• Ensure the environment is kept in a safe and hygienic state at all times.
• Contribute to Workplace Health and Safety by reporting hazards and incidents immediately and behaving in a manner that fosters safe working practices.
• Promote the company and it's interests to the local and wider community.

Job Functions :

Speech Pathologist

Job Benefits :

Are you a Speech Pathologist who wants to make a real difference in the world but you're not quite sure which organisation will be the right fit for you? We know how that feels. And we can assure you...

• If you have a heart for helping kids and families to live enriched, connected lives...
• If you are looking for a workplace that values your ideas and creativity...
• If you want good support, flexibility and work/life balance...

...Then you have arrived at the perfect place, and Occumax is for you.

When you join our team at Occumax, you here are some of the employment and lifestyle benefits you can expect:

• Located at Mackay, Queensland, Australia. Mackay is a vibrant coastal city where it's friendly residents enjoy a tropical lifestyle and daily temperatures of 22C - 30C. Surrounded by bush, beach, cane fields, national parks and only 1.5 hours drive to the Whitsunday Islands.
• Mackay is the place to be if you want to enjoy a slower, affordable lifestyle but still have everything you need.
• Full time, permanent employment opportunity, however, we support work/life balance so flexible and part-time options can be negotiated.
• Surrounded by an experienced & supportive, interdisciplinary team.
• Allied Health Team Leader/Senior Speech Pathologist, Senior Occupational Therapist and leadership team on site to provide regular supervision and answer your questions on the fly.
• Strong onboarding and new graduate programs in place to help you learn the ropes and feel confident in your role.
• Employee Assistance Program for when life throws you curve balls.
• Clinic facility equipped with a wide range of therapy tools and equipment, and standardised assessments.
• Professional development allowance and paid professional development leave for you to achieve your learning goals.
• Superannuation paid in addition to the salary range specified for this advertisement.
• Bonus and rewards program to say thank you and show our gratitude to you.
• We also love technology and software applications that make your life easier as a clinician.
• We have full time support from our Client Care Administrator Team and Practice Manager so that you can focus on helping your clients to achieve their goals.
• Uniforms provided for team members.
• Sharing good food with each other doesn't stop at your welcome morning tea. We love cashing in our gratitude tokens for team lunches shouted by Occumax and our social club always has an exciting program of events happening outside of work hours.
• Close to the airport which is perfect if you want a colleague to drop you off for a weekend getaway.
• Coffee van and pie truck that stop daily at our door

Selling Point :

Have a heart for helping kids & families to have an enriched & connected family life? Then join us

Contact :

Natalie Brown