Opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
On this page
- Career pathways
- Employment opportunities
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners
- Regional, rural and remote opportunities
- School-based traineeships and graduate program
- First Nations scholarships and financial help
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health career resources
We value First Nations health professionals’ cultural knowledge and lived experience. We are committed to growing and investing in this workforce to achieve equitable health outcomes for First Nations people.
Having First Nations health professionals within Queensland Health makes a difference in ensuring cultural safety and improving the experience of First Nations people accessing health services.
We encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to apply for all our roles. As a First Nations health professional, you can apply for a position within any setting. However, if you wish to work on Country, please indicate this when you apply for a role.
We have roles in our hospitals and primary health care centres in metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas. Once you start working for us there are ongoing professional development and lifelong learning opportunities.
Career pathways
If you’d like to work for Queensland Health, there are many career pathways to choose from, whether you’re a qualified and experienced healthcare professional, a gradate or a school student, or you’re interested in non-clinical roles.
- Employment opportunities across clinical roles, forensic and scientific services roles, and non-clinical roles.
- Opportunities to become an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner.
- School-based traineeships and graduate programs.
- Scholarship options to support you financially as you train at university to become a health professional (these are offered by organisations external to Queensland Health).
If you’re a high school student and want to explore career pathways and job profiles, visit Choose Your Own Health Career to get started.
Employment opportunities
Clinical placements
We offer clinical placements for undergraduate and postgraduate nursing, midwifery and allied health students from tertiary and vocational education providers.
Allied health roles
If you're a qualified allied health professional, you can apply for our allied health roles.
Medical roles
If you've recently graduated from a Queensland university you may be able to apply for a medical internship. You can do this if you either:
- want to do an internship starting in the year after you graduate
- have Review Committee approval from a previous campaign to defer the start of your internship.
If you're a qualified medical practitioner, you can apply for our medical roles including our:
You can also apply for our medical specialty training programs.
Nursing and midwifery roles
If you're a recent nursing or midwife graduate, you can apply for our nurse and midwife graduate program.
If you're a qualified nurse or midwife, you can apply for our nursing and midwifery roles. We also have a rural nursing pathway that provides incentives to our nurses and midwives if they work in rural and remote areas.
Oral health roles
If you're a qualified oral health practitioner, you can apply for our dental health roles.
Forensic and Scientific Services roles
If you don't have a qualification, you can apply for our mortuary assistant roles.
If you have a qualification, you may be able to apply for the following positions:
- chemist
- forensic odontologists
- forensic pathologist
- forensic physician
- health physicist
- laboratory technician
- radiochemist
- scientist.
There are also roles for nurses, counsellors and administrative, technical and professional officers.
Non-clinical careers
We have roles in the following non-clinical areas:
- administrative
- technical
- operational
- trades.
Read about our non-clinical roles.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners work with communities, families, and individuals of all ages.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers perform a broad range of tasks including but not limited to:
- health education and promotion
- brief interventions
- health screening and assessment
- basic first aid
- preventative health interventions
- community development programs.
Health workers are able to facilitate the planning, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health programs in the community.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners work in primary and secondary health care settings, providing clinical health and primary health care interventions to First Nations clients and communities. Health practitioners use clinical reasoning skills within the parameters of practice standards and treatment protocols. They have a range of clinical knowledge and skills commensurate with their study and experience.
Health practitioners can practice under direct or indirect supervision, or practice autonomously in teams with other health professionals, including medical doctors, registered nurses and midwives, dentists, psychologists, allied health professionals, and with policy makers, educators and researchers.
Learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner roles.
Learn more about becoming an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker.
Regional, rural and remote opportunities
We have regional, rural and remote opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners, allied health professionals, medical professional, nurses and midwives.
Working in regional, rural and remote healthcare settings provides you with unique opportunities you may not experience in metropolitan settings.
You’ll work in diverse and supportive environments that offer attractive lifestyle opportunities and experiences and enable you to make big differences in small communities.
These communities will help you grow, connect, learn and create life-defining experiences that will shape who you are as a health professional and a person.
Read about our rural opportunities.
School-based traineeships and graduate program
If you’re in high school, you can do a school-based traineeship with us while doing a Certificate III qualification.
We also have non-clinical graduate programs. When these open, you can apply through the Queensland Government Graduate portal. These are for students who have recently or will soon complete university education.
Find out about our school based traineeships and graduate program.
First Nations scholarships and financial help
There are many different scholarships and options for help for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, offered by organisations external to Queensland Health.
The following websites provide links to sets of information:
- The Aurora Education Foundation - collates scholarship opportunities across many industries.
- Financial help and scholarships – helps Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders to find out what options are available to help them with university or other training. This covers a variety of industries.
- You may be eligible for additional support via the Australian Government’s Abstudy initiative - ABSTUDY - Services Australia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health career resources
Many websites and organisations offer information and support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers or people wanting to work in that area. Some key resources are referenced below:
- Australian Indigenous Doctors' Association (AIDA)
- Australian Indigenous health infonet
- Australian Indigenous Psychologists' Association (AIPA)
- Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA)
- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Association (NATSIHWA)
- Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM)
