Student Cultural Wellbeing & Placement Support Officer

Flinders University; Adelaide; On-site; AUD 94,000 - 101,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

17% Superannuation

Flexible working

Staff development

On-campus health care

Job summary

Flinders University in Bedford Park, Kaurna Country, seeks a Continuing | Full-time Higher Education Officer to lead student wellbeing and placement support within the College of Medicine and Public Health. You’ll promote cultural safety, wellbeing, and resilience while guiding students through clinical and placement experiences and collaborating with colleagues to strengthen support pathways.

Join a university investing in student-centric care, reconciliation, and wellbeing initiatives, with

Qualifications

• Experience providing wellbeing, social or emotional support to individuals and groups.
• Strong understanding of cultural safety, health inequities and inclusion.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to handle confidential information with professionalism.

Responsibilities

• Provide culturally safe, student-centred wellbeing support and check-ins.
• Support students during clinical and placement experiences to improve engagement.
• Assist distressed students and facilitate referrals to support services.
• Collaborate with staff to strengthen wellbeing pathways and inclusive practices.

Skills

Wellbeing support

Cultural safety

Interpersonal skills

Communication

Job description

Position Details

• Continuing | Full-time
• Higher Education Officer Level 6 | $ 94,456 - $ 100,710 p.a.
• Location: Bedford Park / Kaurna Country
• View Position Description

About the Role

As the Student Cultural Wellbeing & Placement Support Officer, you will play an instrumental role in fostering a culturally safe, inclusive and supportive learning environment for students across the College of Medicine and Public Health. Working closely with academic, professional, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, you will provide proactive wellbeing support to help students navigate challenging curriculum content and placement experiences, while promoting cultural safety, resilience, engagement and student success. This is an exciting time to join the College of Medicine and Public Health as we continue to invest in student and cultural wellbeing as a key priority area.

Key responsibilities of this position include:

• Providing culturally safe, student-centred wellbeing support, including debriefing, reflective conversations and wellbeing check-ins for students across a range of learning environments.
• Supporting students before, during and after clinical, rural, remote, community and Aboriginal health placements to enhance preparedness, cultural understanding and engagement.
• Assisting students experiencing distress, culture shock, racism or culturally unsafe experiences, and facilitating referrals to appropriate University, College and external support services.
• Collaborating with academic, professional and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues to strengthen student support pathways, wellbeing initiatives and culturally safe educational practices.

This position makes a significant contribution to the University’s strategic plan to change 10 million lives, Every One Matters, by 2035, through directly contributing to the strategic driver of being Student Centric, ensuring students are supported to engage, thrive and succeed in culturally safe learning and placement environments.

About You

You are a compassionate and culturally aware professional with experience supporting the wellbeing of diverse individuals and communities. You bring a strong understanding of cultural safety, equity and inclusion, along with the ability to build trusted relationships, respond appropriately to students experiencing distress, and work collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders to promote positive student outcomes.

To be successful in this position, you will have:

• Experience providing wellbeing, social or emotional support to individuals and groups, with the ability to respond sensitively to challenging situations.
• A sound understanding of cultural safety, health inequities, systemic racism and the social determinants of health, and a commitment to fostering inclusive environments.
• Strong interpersonal, communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to work effectively with students, colleagues and community stakeholders.
• Excellent organisational skills, sound judgement and the ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining confidentiality and professional boundaries.

College of Medicine and Public Health

At the College of Medicine and Public Health, we deliver clinical, population and lab-based research, integrated teaching programs and high-quality clinical services. Our footprint reaches out from our world class teaching hospital at the Flinders Medical Centre in South Australia to multiple rural clinical locations all the way to Darwin in the Northern Territory. Our research and teaching equip the next generation of leaders and innovators with the skill, commitment, and vision to protect vulnerable communities and truly advance health outcomes. It is at the heart of everything we do.

Life at Flinders

We're transforming and investing in people and facilities to create contemporary, stimulating, and satisfying learning and work environments that reflect our core values of excellence, innovation, courage, and integrity. Flinders is refocusing its strategic priorities with the aim of elevating its performance to be a top ten Australian university, and amongst the top 1% in the world.

Reaching beyond the limits of buildings, borders, and backgrounds, ours is an inclusive culture that believes absolutely in equality and opportunity for all. We don't just accommodate differences; we embrace and celebrate them. So, why work at Flinders?

• 17% Superannuation + salary packaging options
• Flexible working arrangements
• Awarded the AHEIA Higher Education Award for Workplace Culture Excellence due to our commitment to wellbeing through our Thriving@Flinders staff wellbeing program
• Wide range of professional development activities and services, including exclusive staff study offers
• We embrace diversity and promote equity and inclusion for all students and staff, as shown through our three SAGE Cygnet Awards.
• Vibrant campus life and amenities including on campus health care services, gym and childcare centre (Bedford Park, South Australia)
• Recognised as a Veteran Employer of Choice

Our Commitment to Reconciliation and Indigenous Employment

Flinders University is proud to be an organisation that is committed to our Reconciliation Action Plan and Indigenous Workforce Strategy. Our vision is to be a preferred employer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We are committed to progressing Indigenous advancement in education, research, employment, and wellbeing, and strongly encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for all Flinders vacancies.

• Please see here for our Reconciliation Action Plan
• Please see here for our Indigenous Workforce Strategy

Prescribed Conditions for Employment

• A current Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check which is satisfactory to the University will be required by Flinders University before the successful applicant can commence in this position. A criminal record will not automatically disqualify a candidate from consideration. Each case will be assessed on its individual merits and relevance to the inherent requirements of the role.

Certification

Applications to be submitted before 10.00pm:

14 Sept 2026

At Flinders we embrace and celebrate diversity and encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people of all ages, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities.

Flinders. Fearless.