Psychiatrist - Emergency Department

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• Opportunity for a Psychiatrist to join the Mental Health Division 
• Ongoing, part-time position 7 hours per week (strictly Thursdays)
• Position available January 2026

Austin Health is the major provider of tertiary health services, health professional education and research across three campuses in the north-east of Melbourne and statewide. We have a highly engaged, diverse and collaborative workforce that is unified by our goal to help people live healthy and fulfilled lives.

About the Mental Health Division

The Mental Health Division (MHD) is committed to providing the highest levels of inpatient, residential, and community care in specialized environments for our patients. The MHD provides services on all three campuses of Austin Health, from the Emergency Department to bed-based services and ongoing ambulatory care.

About the role:

This role will be primarily located in the Emergency Department (ED) and will provide liaison services to ED in addition to clinical leadership and governance to the Emergency Psychiatry Service (EPS), Psychiatric Assessment & Planning Unit (PAPU). and Police and Clinician Early Response (PACER) teams, within the Adult and Older Adult Directorate of the Mental Health Division.

A regular day will see you:

• Provide collaborative clinical services, governance and teaching and supervisory duties as agreed with the Medical Director of MH Division.
• Undertake additional mental health services or related clinical procedures as identified within your scope of clinical practice
• Share equitably in on-call and other duties.
• Consideration of the provision of effective clinical supports after hours within ED.

About you:

You will be someone who has excellent communication skills, with a strong commitment to excellence in patient care. You’ll bring energy and drive to your work and have a keen interest in developing your skillset.

To be successful in this role, you’ll have:

• Registration as a Medical Practitioner in Australia with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
• Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists or equivalent post graduate specialist qualification

• Demonstrated experience with a variety of liaison psychiatry settings, including in reach to the emergency department where indicated.
• Demonstrated capacity to build professional relationships between mental health and other healthcare
• Demonstrated commitment to improving the quality and safety of patients across a health service and throughout the lifespan (including paediatrics and aged)
• Demonstrated ability to work with medical and surgical teams to achieve optimal health outcomes for patients of Austin Health

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:

• Greater take-home pay through generous salary packaging, for living expenses, meals, and holiday accommodation.
• A suite of wellness initiatives designed to support you, including discounted fitness memberships and special offers on health insurance, and a comprehensive wellbeing program.
• Onsite childcare at Austin Hospital, easy access via public transport and car parking options.
• Mentoring and career development opportunities.

Work with us!

We are committed to cultural safety and health equity for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander People. We celebrate, value, and include people of all backgrounds, genders, identities, cultures, bodies, and abilities. We welcome and support applications from talented people identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, people with disability, neurodiverse people, LGBTQIA+ and people of all ages and cultures.

If you feel this role is right for you, we encourage your early application. Even if you don’t meet every single requirement, we encourage you to apply. What matters most is your passion, your drive and your willingness to learn and contribute. Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and interviews may take place prior to the closing date. This means we reserve the right to close a job ad prior to the advertised closing date.

All appointments are made subject to a satisfactory National Police Check and if required, a Working With Children Check. If you require any reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process, you are welcome to reach out to the hiring manager:  Dr Victoria Harpwood, Clinical Director, Adult and Older Adult Mental Health Service (AOAMHS) at  Victoria.harpwood@austin.org.au.

Interested in finding out more about this opportunity? Read the position description for further details.

Application closing date: 21 December 2025