Chief Medical Officer

The Organisation

Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation is a not-for-profit Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO) delivering holistic primary healthcare across East Arnhem Land. Their values are deeply rooted in community control, empowerment, cultural respect, and community wellbeing. They operate in some of Australia's most remote regions and collaborate closely with Yolngu people to improve health outcomes and community harmony.

The Role

A key executive reporting to the CEO, your primary objective is to provide high level clinical and strategic leadership, management and clinical governance within Miwatj Health, with focus on the medical workforce, patient and cultural safety, quality improvement and clinical governance service delivery planning and education.  You will also champion and support priority research projects and assist with the integration of research across the organisation.

The role can be located in either Darwin or Nhulunbuy.

Key Responsibilities

• Provision of culturally safe medical and clinical leadership that oversees and contributes to improving clinical governance, performance, service integration and teamwork in a manner that reinforces Miwatj Health's values and strategic direction.
• Personally maintaining a commitment of 10-20% clinical work per month (to be rotated between Miwatj Health sites).
• Proactively contribute as a member of the Senior Leadership Team and contribute strongly to enterprise leadership at the executive level.
• Lead the development of relevant policies, processes and procedures to mitigate risk.
• Oversight and advisory support for adverse incident management whilst collaborating with the Director of Nursing and Midwifery and Clinical Governance Manager.
• Oversight and understanding of the research strategy supported by the Research Manager.
• Leadership and successful implementation of Miwatj Health's Clinical Governance framework supported by the Clinical Governance Manager.
• Ensure adequate and appropriate levels of medical coverage across the Miwatj Health region including talent development and review of attraction and retention strategies.
• Financial management and review and reporting of budgets, grants and associated performance.
• Lead and develop a Medicare and PIPS revenue strategy designed to maximise outcomes whilst developing accountability, performance and continuous improvement mechanisms for GPs.
• Develop strategies to achieve NT Aboriginal Health KPI (NTAHKPI) and National KPI (nKPI) targets including continuous improvement programs.
• Lead and support clinical functions in times of emergency, disease outbreak or when other coordinated responses are required across the organisation.

Key Skills & Experience

• Eligibility for full registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency (AHPRA) as a Medical Practitioner without restriction.
• A commitment to and demonstrated understanding of Aboriginal Community Control.
• A detailed understanding of the population health status of Yolngu in East Arnhem Land and the factors affecting that status.
• Significant and prolonged experience in the direct provision of primary health care in a remote context.
• Demonstrated success in an executive leadership role where strategic thinking and enterprise level planning and goal attainment was achieved.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of implementing effective clinical governance and continuous quality improvement processes in a large and diverse organisation.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written), with particular emphasis on cross-cultural communication.

Benefits

This 3 year fixed term contract is an opportunity to make a tangible impact, support Aboriginal community control, and work in a leadership role where culture, strategy, and service intersect. A base salary of $350,000 is on offer plus superannuation plus benefits.  Standard FBT exemption limits apply:  $15,900 for salary sacrificing per FBT year and $2,800 in meal and entertainment benefits per FBT year. This position receives 6 weeks' annual leave as well as a 1-week Christmas shut down.[SR1]   Generous professional development support is also provided. You'll work in a role that values integrity, initiative, and influence.  Miwatj Health offers an inclusive and community-centred workplace with strong values, generous leave provisions, and connection to country and culture.

You must have Australian permanent residency status to apply for this role.

Please apply via the Seek "Apply" button. If you would like to discuss the opportunity, please call Philip Archer on If you encounter any issues, email your résumé to quoting Ref No. 74M

[SR1]This is for Nhulunbuy base.  Only 5 weeks AL plus shutdown for Darwin base