Consumer Consultant

Location: Melbourne | Northern Metropolitan

Job type: Part time

Organisation: Austin Health

**Salary**: Salary not specified

Occupation: Community Services, Health and Allied Health, Other, Medical, Nursing, Aged Care

Reference: 46406
- **Permanent part time (19 hours/week) role**:

- ** Austin Health Heidelberg location**:

- ** Base salary + salary packaging + super**

Austin Health is the major provider of tertiary health services, health professional education and research across 3 campuses in the northeast of Melbourne and state-wide. Austin Health is world-renowned for its research and specialist work in cancer, liver transplantation, spinal cord injuries, neurology, endocrinology, mental health and rehabilitation.

**About the Infant, Child, and Youth Mental Health Service (ICYMHS)**

Austin ICYMHS provides tertiary mental health services to the north-eastern catchment of Melbourne (currently the local government areas of Banyule, Boroondara, Darebin, Nillumbik, Whittlesea and Yarra). Young people eligible for the service are predominantly aged 0-18 years, with some services available for those aged up to 25 years. It is an exciting time for Austin Health as the ICYMHS Directorate will be expanding in response to the recommendations from the Victorian Government Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health Service.

**About the role**

This is a leadership role to support planning and implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Mental Health Services. The Consumer Consultant role is pivotal in bringing the consumer perspective and voice to our services.

The successful applicant will be part of shaping new teams and services for children, young people and their families in the Infant Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service of the Mental Health Division at Austin Health.

A regular day will see you:

- Work collaboratively with Austin Health Mental Health Service staff to provide a coordinated approach to consumer and family needs, including identification of service gaps, areas for improvement and implementation of appropriate responses at both policy and service delivery levels
- Develop processes and pathways for facilitating communication between consumers, staff and lived experience workforce
- Initiate, develop, participate, promote, and evaluate participation activities fostering collaborative working partnerships between consumers, carers, and staff
- Develop recommendations on planning and implementation of training and development programs for staff and consumers that promote optimal service delivery as well as an understanding of consumer participation

**About you**

You will be someone with excellent communication, interpersonal and collaboration skills, who takes a supportive team approach to their work. You'll have the ability to consult and work creatively with consumers and their families/carers, colleagues, and other service providers.

To be successful in this role you will bring with you:

- A personal lived experience as a consumer of public mental health services, or one or more of the following:

- Experience in a consumer workforce role in the mental health sector
- Experience of being part of a Consumer Advisory Groups (CAG)
- Experience in participating in opportunities arising from the VMIAC Consumer Register
- Other experience contributing to governance and systemic change in mental health
- Professional development relevant to the consumer workforce (ie Intentional Peer Support, Cert 4 in Mental Health Peer Work etc)
- Understanding of current Victorian mental health service systems of service delivery and issues, including clinical and community sectors

**Our benefits**:
Working at Austin Health means enjoying a strong sense of purpose, engaging in meaningful work every day. Our people also receive a variety of rewarding benefits, including:

- $11,660 in salary packaging benefits, for living expenses, meals and holiday accommodation
- A suite of wellness initiatives designed to support you, including discounts on fitness memberships and health insurance, and a comprehensive wellbeing program
- Mentoring and career development opportunities
- Onsite childcare, easy access via public transport, car parking and end of journey facilities for cyclists
- Five weeks annual leave, plus purchased leave options

**Inclusion at Austin**:
**Work with us**
- Health insurance