Alfred Health
Alfred Health is a leader in health care delivery improvement research and education. We are the main provider of health services to people living in the inner southeast suburbs of Melbourne from ambulatory to inpatient and home and community-based services. On 1 January 2026 Alfred Health will come together with Kooweerup Regional Health Service Peninsula Health Bass Coast Health and Gippsland Southern Health Service to create Bayside Health a newly merged health service with more than 22000 employees caring for a community of over 1.2 million Victorians. The new health service will provide people with the best possible care with services that support them throughout their lives. The merger will also strengthen our workforce providing new training education and career opportunities. Subject to final approval on 1 January 2026 all employees from the five health services will transfer to Bayside Health.
The Department
Alfred Mental & Addiction Health (AMAH) is responsible for the operation of services which focus on people with a severe mental illness residing in the Inner South Eastern area of Melbourne.
The single most important goal of AMAH is to create an environment that facilitates clinical recovery supports individual recovery efforts and strives to minimise service system barriers to the recovery process.
The HOPE Suicide Prevention team provide 3 months intensive outreach psycho-social support and brief interventions to individuals discharged from hospital post a suicide attempt or who have presented with serious suicidal ideation.
The Role
The HOPE team work Monday Sunday 8 4:30pm including public holidays and Psychosocial Support workers work on a rotating roster covering approximately 1 weekend per month.
In keeping with the goals of the Victorian suicide prevention framework 201625 the Alfred HOPE team aims to build resilience in individuals who have made a suicide attempt by providing them intensive outreach support and individualised therapeutic care post this event in their lives.
The incumbent will provide individuals who have attempted suicide or present with serious ideation or intent brief therapeutic interventions to enable improved resilience and self-management of distress. Clinical staff on the HOPE team work collaboratively with Psycho-social Support Workers (PSSW) to engage clients early - within 24hrs of discharge from the Alfred Emergency and Trauma Centre a medical ward within The Alfred or the in-patient unit. Referrals will also be accepted from CATT and parallel engagement will occur until risk has subsided.
The HOPE clinician will provide clients with 1-3 evidence-based intervention sessions which may include CBT ACT Problem Solving skills Brief Solution Focussed Therapy and/or Mindfulness to improve resilience and equip them with skills and strategies in order that they can face future crises with more confidence.
Single Session Family work is also offered to clients and their identified family carers and significant others to help them manage their own distress and enable them to effectively support their family member.
The HOPE clinician along with other senior clinicians and the Team Leader will provide clinical supervision to the Support Workers. The Support Workers will provide each client with practical support and ensure linkage with appropriate health practitioners and community services via assertive outreach support for up to 3 months.
It is expected clinicians and Support Workers will intervene via an approach that actively engages clients in the assessment of their own suicide risk and actively contributes to their suicide prevention plan in order to minimize their risk of attempting suicide in the future. Each client will be allocated a clinician and a Support Worker with any signs of mental state deterioration escalated to the clinician and the Team Leader.
The candidate will demonstrate advanced clinical skills experience working with suicidal clients and the ability to engage therapeutically with at risk clients.
Experience and Qualifications Required
Staff Benefits
If applicable please specify specific requirements that you require in your cover letter or CV.
For enquiries regarding this position please contact HOPE team leader Juliet Thornton onor
Applications close at 11.00 pm on Friday 19 December 2025
We embrace diversity and strive to have a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We actively encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people people with disability and people of all genders sexualities and cultural backgrounds.
If you require adjustments to the recruitment and selection process or require an alternative format to any of the application materials please dont hesitate to get in touch with the contact person listed on this ad.
In accordance with the Health Services Amendment (Mandatory Vaccination of Healthcare Workers) Act 2020 health care workers in Category A or B roles (as determined by the departments risk ratings) are required to be vaccinated against influenza or hold an acceptable medical exemption.
At Alfred Health, we provide the most comprehensive range of healthcare services in Victoria through our three hospital campuses, a large network of community programs and 18 state-wide services.