Part-Time (0.8FTE), 12 Month Fixed Term Contract

At the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), we are committed to achieving innovative, ground-breaking health and medical research that fundamentally improves the quality of life for all people.

SAHMRI is located on the lands of the Kaurna people who are the traditional custodians of Adelaide and the greater Adelaide region. SAHMRI works with traditional custodians across South Australia, Australia, and globally. This role is required to collaborate with all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living on the lands of all traditional custodians across South Australia, Australia and potentially globally.  

Wardliparingga Aboriginal Health Equity Theme is the nation’s leading research unit focused on reducing inequity in health and wellbeing among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.

As the Senior Project Officer, you will lead the engagement of Aboriginal women across South Australia in the development, refinement and testing of qualitative measurement tools which will be used to assess the effectiveness and cultural appropriateness of the Commonwealth Government’s National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP). The role will work in conjunction with the University of South Australia, Rosemary Bryan AO Research Centre in development of qualitative tools, under the National Cervical Screening Program Framework. The Senior Project Officer will be involved in providing cultural insight into review of existing evidence, planning and conducting focus groups and interviews and develop outcomes reports including analyses and interview feedback for development recommendations.

About the Role

Key responsibilities include:

• Plan and conduct the face-to-face and/or virtual engagement of Aboriginal women across South Australia, including through focus groups and interviews with Aboriginal women from metropolitan and regional areas. This includes the establishment of a community engagement plan and a written report on the results, including recommendation on the development, refinements and administration of the tools.
• Establishment of Aboriginal project governance groups and mechanisms
• Participation in project Expert Advisory Committee and NCSP Quality Safety and Monitoring Committee working group meetings
• Contributing to development of ethics applications in relation to the Aboriginal-specific project components
• Assist the lead researcher and research team to engage with Aboriginal women via yarning methods to collect data and support the interpretation
• Engage in culturally appropriate dialogue that is conducive to enabling community members to share their experience
• Engage collaboratively with the research team and other stakeholders including the governance group and community members

About You

The successful candidate will possess the following key attributes:

• Tertiary qualification or similar work experience in a health-related field
• Training/qualification in qualitative interviewing would be favourable
• Experience in the development and/or administration of qualitative evaluation tools.
• Sound analytical skills, experience in writing reports and development of ethics applications
• Experience in establishing and maintaining governance arrangements, including Aboriginal governance.
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain collaborative working relationships across a broad range of health industry, research professionals and Aboriginal communities.
• A profound understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and sensitivities.
• A profound understanding of the social determinants and barriers that contribute to the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Special Requirements 

• Some out of hours work may be required.
• DCSI Employment Screening and Police Checks may be required.
• Incumbent will be required to travel to several rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across South Australia.
• Current drivers licence
• All employees are required to be immunised in accordance with the requirements of the Hospital in which they are working or be willing to be vaccinated at the cost of the Institute.

Everything we do is underpinned by our core values and our institute is dedicated to grow a culture that pursues, enables and demands research excellence. We are proud of the work we do and work hard as a team to make a positive difference to the community.  Our values of excellence, innovation, courage, integrity and teamwork are what help us achieve our goals. If these are also your values and goals, apply today.

As a not-for-profit organisation, SAHMRI employees can access salary packaging options up to $15,900!  Ordinarily, your employer takes out income tax from your pay and deposits the remainder into your bank account. You then pay all your living expenses – including your rent or mortgage, car repayments, insurances, groceries and utility bills – and if you’re lucky, have a bit left over.  But with salary packaging with us, you still get paid the same salary, but we help you pay those same expenses before tax is taken out! This creates a huge savings for you – your taxable income could go down, your disposable income could go up, and with some of these expenses already taken care of, you could have more money for other essentials and surprises! To play with a calculator to see how much you could save, check out more information on the Maxxia website.

For a copy of the position description, please click here.

For more information, please contact Kim Morey (Co-Theme Leader, Aboriginal Health Equity and Strategy) at Kim.Morey@sahmri.com

Applications close: 11:29pm ACST Thursday 2nd November 2023

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are strongly encouraged to apply

 SAHMRI is a member of the Athena SWAN Science in Australia Gender Equity program. We have been awarded Bronze status for our commitment to advancing the careers of women, trans and gender diverse individuals in STEMM.