• Location: Deakin, Canberra or elsewhere as agreed
• Salary: $91,092 - $102,765 plus superannuation
• Reports to: Executive Director of Strategy and Partnerships
• Contract: Full time, fixed term

Purpose of the position

Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA), its employees, Directors and members have unique cultural and professional knowledges that are highly sought after within both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and mainstream health, wellbeing, education, skills and training, employment, and workforce development. The Senior Policy Officer is responsible for supporting the strategic direction of the organisation by driving and leading in stakeholder and community engagement, partnerships, policy, research, and project delivery in these sectors.

Organisational environment

IAHA is a national, community controlled, not-for-profit and member based Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander allied health organisation. IAHA was established in 2009, from a network of committed allied health professionals and is now a registered company limited by guarantee. IAHA has a growing Secretariat with offices based in Canberra, Darwin, Katherine, Lismore, and Sydney, supporting a Board of Directors and over 1600 members nationally.

Further information on IAHA, our membership, activities and projects can be found on our website at iaha.com.au.

IAHA appreciates all people working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing including a holistic approach to health care; the value of education and other social determinants; the right to self-determination for Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander people; their cultures, spirituality and traditions of wellness and health. IAHA’s vision is that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and future generations are thriving in ongoing connection to self, spirit and place.

IAHA focuses on five strategic areas of work to:

• Strengthen and engage our IAHA membership.
• Grow the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander allied health workforce through access and entry, effective pathways, promoting and support for allied health careers, skills development, and retention.
• Transform the allied health and wider workforce by building culturally safe and responsive health and education systems.
• Lead in the Indigenous health and allied health sectors to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander led solutions and approaches to policy and program development.
• Connect with and promoting connectedness with IAHA members, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families, communities, and cultures.

Working conditions, benefits, and salary packaging

IAHA operates under a distributed leadership and cultural governance model to ensure that IAHA programs, activities and services are delivered and implemented in a culturally safe and responsive manner by all staff and directors.

IAHA is recognised by the Australian Tax Office as a Health Promotion Charity and salary packaging is available to all employees to increase take home pay. Free onsite parking is available for staff at the Canberra and Darwin offices.

IAHA is committed to supporting personal, cultural, and professional development opportunities for employees. IAHA provides all employees access to Employee Assistance Program (EAP), including access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander providers in addition to an annual social and emotional wellbeing allowance.

In line with the IAHA Leave Policy, employees are entitled to flex time as approved in advance. IAHA provides a diverse range of leave entitlements additional to recreational and personal leave including cultural leave, bereavement/compassionate leave, emergency services leave, special leave, paid parental leave and pandemic leave.

Role responsibilities

The Senior Policy Officer duties may include most, and potentially all, of the following:

1. Contributing substantially to the development and implementation of policy and research initiatives in relation to improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with a particular focus on allied health.
2. Managing resources and working effectively with colleagues to achieve the delivery of policy, project, and research outputs on time and within budget.
3. Contributing to high quality and timely reports, briefs, papers, and presentations are provided to the Executive, Board of Directors and funding bodies as required.
4. Developing and maintaining good working partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders in Government, non-Government and corporate sectors including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health, research and educational bodies and allied health professional associations.
5. Representing IAHA at high level meetings, conferences, fora and seminars as required.
6. Providing input into strategic business planning, evaluation and quality improvement processes.
7. Ensuring up to date information and data directly related to the IAHA policy agenda, national workforce and national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy platform is maintained and accessible.
8. Preparing and contributing to high quality and informative responses to presentations, national submissions, reviews, and other key consultative measures.
9. Coordinating and producing other policy documents and publications of a high quality in collaboration with staff, members, and stakeholders
10. Other duties as required.

Selection Criteria

• Experience in working effectively and sensitively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, organisations and diverse stakeholders.
• Well-developed knowledge of the social and economic policy environment in Australia and its impact on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.
• Demonstrated experience in preparing high level written submissions, papers, policy and/or research documents.
• Demonstrated high level written and oral communication skills.
• Well-developed conceptual, analytical and IT skills.
• Demonstrated experience working in health and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs.
• Experience in policy development and/or project management

Desirable Criteria

• Tertiary qualifications in health, education, social sciences, related field, or equivalent work experience.
• Ability to travel when required, including to rural and remote locations

To know more information about the role, please contact IAHA on 02 6285 1010.