Occupational Therapist - James Nash House

Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics; Adelaide; On-site; AUD 74,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary packaging

Flexible working arrangements

Relocation assistance

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) is seeking an Occupational Therapist to join the Forensic Mental Health Division at James Nash House in Oakden, SA. The role focuses on comprehensive assessments, evidence-based interventions, and discharge planning within a secure inpatient environment.

You will work as part of a multidisciplinary team, applying OT frameworks to complex cases, conducting risk-informed assessments, and contributing to recovery and community reintegration pathways.

Qualifications

• Degree in Occupational Therapy with current AHPRA registration.
• Experience in mental health, disability, forensic, or acute inpatient settings.
• Knowledge of OT frameworks for high-acuity presentations.
• Ability to conduct functional and risk-informed assessments in a secure environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication for multidisciplinary documentation.
• Familiarity with SA Health policies or ability to orient to NALHN standards and governance.

Responsibilities

• Comprehensive occupational therapy assessments and evidence-based interventions for forensic mental health consumers.
• Treatment and rehabilitation planning focused on recovery, skill development, and community reintegration.
• OT team leadership including supervision of Activity Supervisors and group programs.
• Collaboration with psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nursing staff and lived experience workforce to inform care planning and risk management.

Skills

Communication skills

Problem solving

Clinical reasoning

Interpersonal skills

Education

Occupational Therapy degree

AHPRA registration

Job description

• Northern Adelaide Local Health Network – James Nash House – OAKDEN SA 5086


• Salary (plus Superannuation and Salary Sacrifice benefits): AHP1 $73,710 - $89,981 p.a / AHP2 $94,997 - $110,052 p.a.


• Temporary Full-Time - up to 7 May 202

About the Role

The Division of Forensic Mental Health is a multidisciplinary service that consists of inpatient secure psychiatric beds, Out-patient Service and Psychiatric Clinics, Prison In-Reach Service, Community Team and Court Assessment Service. This role is in the inpatient service, which is a secure psychiatric hospital (primarily located at James Nash House)providing services primarily to patients who have been declared not guilty by reason of mental impairment or unfit to plead of an offence by the SA court system.

Forensic mental health is one of the most specialised and rewarding areas of occupational therapy practice. If you're ready to apply your clinical skills in a secure, multidisciplinary environment where your work directly shapes recovery pathways for some of South Australia's most complex consumers, James Nash House is where that work happens.

Please see this video from the Australasian Forensic Occupational Therapy Network about the role of OT in a Forensic Setting.

Your Role at James Nash House

Based within the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) Division of Forensic Mental Health, this full-time contract position (through to 7 May 2027) sits at the intersection of occupational therapy, mental health, and justice health. You will work as an integral member of a specialist multidisciplinary team, delivering:

• Comprehensive occupational therapy assessments and evidence-based interventions for forensic mental health consumers


• Treatment and rehabilitation planning focused on recovery, skill development, and community reintegration, for individuals and groups. This may include group program facilitation and coordination, psychoeducation, sensory modulation, graded activity engagement, functional skill development and transition programming.


• The Occupational Therapy team also includes Activity Supervisors (AHA’s). The OT’s provide leadership and collaboration with their team members to provide group and therapeutic programs and service development projects.


• Collaboration with psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nursing staff and lived experience workforce to inform care planning and risk management

What You Bring

• Degree qualification in Occupational Therapy and current AHPRA registration


• Experience in mental health, disability, forensic, or acute inpatient settings


• Sound knowledge of occupational therapy frameworks applied to complex or high-acuity presentations


• Ability to conduct functional and risk-informed assessments within a secure clinical environment


• Strong written and verbal communication skills for multidisciplinary documentation and reporting


• Familiarity with SA Health policies or willingness to quickly orient to NALHN service standards and governance requirements


• To be eligible for this position, you must have an appropriate Degree or equivalent qualification which entitles registration as an Occupational Therapist with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia.

About You

In this role you will have strong communication skills, problem solving skills, sound clinical reasoning, ability to build and maintain interpersonal relationships and utilise a person centred approach. This will enable you to successfully engage consumers, problem solve, negotiate, navigate difficult conversations and challenging case load. An ability to effectively manage multiple, diverse and competing priorities and demonstrated resilience within a stressful and complex environment is essential to this role.

This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to a passionate, highly driven, dedicated and progressive team

About Us

The Northern Adelaide Local Health Network (NALHN) is a leading provider of public healthcare services in South Australia, and one of the largest employers in northern Adelaide.

NALHN serves over 400,000 people in northern Adelaide with a comprehensive range of high-quality healthcare services, including emergency, surgical, obstetric, neonatal, paediatric, oncology, geriatric, palliative care and rehabilitation, and mental health care, as well as primary health care services with a focus on community health promotion and chronic disease management.

With a commitment for ongoing upgrades to our facilities and the introduction of new services, our priority is delivering exceptional health and wellbeing services that enhance the quality of life for our community.

Our 300-plus Allied Health professionals play an integral role in multidisciplinary teams delivering outstanding care to patients across our acute, subacute and hospital avoidance services.

At NALHN Everyone Has a Story, Everyone Matters, Everyone Contributes and Everyone Grows.

At NALHN, we have a strong commitment to providing a clinically interesting professional experience, with structured and supportive education and professional development, and career progression pathways.

Some feedback from current employees about working as Allied Health Professionals in NALHN includes:

“My favourite part about working in NALHN is the close working relationships we have across Allied Health to optimise patient care.”

“I feel like I’m part of a growing and developing service.”

“I love the great team dynamic and the culture of learning and support.”

Our Local Health Network Sites and Services

NALHN provides a range of hospital (inpatient), outpatient, community and home-based services across multiple sites in Adelaide’s north and north-eastern suburbs, including Aboriginal health, mental health, and GP services.

Lyell McEwin Hospital – the major hospital in northern Adelaide for emergency care, complex and multi-day surgery, medicine, obstetric, paediatrics and outpatient services.

Modbury Hospital – a general hospital with emergency care, elective surgery, medicine, outpatient and sub-acute services, rehabilitation, geriatric and palliative care.

Mental Health Services – adult and older persons mental health services and statewide forensic mental health services, across hospital and community settings.

Watto Purrunna Aboriginal Primary Health Care Services – provides culturally responsive primary healthcare services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in-hospital and across four community sites.

Primary Health Care Services – including GP Plus sites at Elizabeth, Modbury and Gilles Plains.

Benefits of working at NALHN

From salary packaging to flexible working arrangements, a large range of opportunities for movement and career progression, you’ll find there are lots of benefits of working with Northern Adelaide Local Health Network.

Incremental wage increases in-line with the Allied Health Professionals, Assistants and Psychologists Enterprise Agreement 2025

Access to experienced clinicians across a broad range of expertise, who are supportive of collegial sharing of skills and knowledge in different therapies and client presentations.

Salary packaging is an option for saving money by paying for some of your everyday expenses from your salary before it is taxed.

Relocation assistance may be available for successful applicants from interstate or overseas.

NALHN supports and fosters a culture in which employees feel they belong and feel safe at work. The culture aims to encourage all people to use their talents and to be valued and rewarded for their contributions.

In addition to this, other benefits of working as an Occupational Therapist in NALHN include:

• professional development opportunities. We have a well-established Allied Health Education unit which offers high-quality, targeted in-house training, and under the current enterprise agreement staff are also eligible for a Professional Development Allowance and entitled to claim reimbursement of eligible professional development expenses to allow you to continue to build upon your professional foundations


• opportunities to participate in research. NALHN have an Allied Health Research Chair, who is able to work with clinicians and teams to support clinical research


• regular clinical supervision, allowing you to receive individualised support, learning and development to help you achieve your career goals

SA Health is committed to providing an inclusive workplace that embraces diversity and inclusion for all employees. We strongly encourage applications from people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, culturally diverse backgrounds, members of the LGBTIQA+SB community and people who live with disability and/or neurodivergence.

We are committed to making workplace adjustments to provide a positive and supportive work environment. You are encouraged to let us know if have any support or access requirements during the recruitment process and beyond to ensure you can perform at your best.

The South Australian public sector promotes diversity and flexible ways of working including part-time. Applicants are encouraged to discuss the flexible working arrangements for this role.

Appointment will be subject to a satisfactory Criminal History Check.

Check(s)

• DHS Working With Children Check (WWCC)


• National Police Check (National Police Certificate) for vulnerable person-related employment – apply to any of the accredited bodies approved to offer a service direct to the public. Accreditation is provided by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. See our National Police Certificate accredited bodies page for links to lodge screening requests.

Immunisation Risk for this position is – Category A (direct contact with blood or body substances)

SA Health Services are required to implement the Addressing vaccine preventable disease: Occupational assessment, screening and vaccination policy in the workplace.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are encouraged to apply. Job Ref: 946146

Enquiries

Melissa Edwards

Senior Occupational Therapist

Phone: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

Application Closing Date

25 September 2026 – 11.55PM

Role Description and Further Information

946146 - Occupational Therapist - Northern Mental Health - AHP1 - Role Description.pdf
946146 - Occupational Therapist - Northern Mental Health - AHP2 - Role Description.pdf