Aboriginal health careers in Hunter New England

Hunter New England Local Health District (LHD) is committed to supporting our growing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce. Find your next role with us.

Aboriginal health workers at Hunter New England LHD

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Acknowledgement of Country

We would like to Acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the Nations within Hunter New England Local Health District and pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.

We acknowledge the significant place that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold in Australia, as the first Peoples of this Nation.

We ask all those that walk, work and live on traditional Aboriginal lands to be respectful of culture and traditions. 

Our commitment  

Increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment is important on a number of levels including:

  • Strengthening our commitment to reduce unemployment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
  • Demonstrate our support and respect for Aboriginal cultural values in the workplace by delivering programs to increase cultural understanding and respect.
  • Finding ways to overcome employment and retention barriers.

Hunter New England LHD plans and implements diversity initiatives to take positive steps to address continued disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the workplace. We are proud to employ over 1,100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Overcoming employment and retention barriers has many challenges and we have implemented a number of strategies to achieve sustainable employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the public sector. 

Why we are committed to Aboriginal employment

Increasing employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is about improving social and economic justice and improving the lives of Aboriginal people, their families and communities. By doing so, we are positively contributing to the government's agenda of Closing the Gap in health and employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Aboriginal people make up 3.4% of the NSW population and 7.5% of the Hunter New England population. We provides health services to 24% of the NSW Aboriginal population. The NSW Government expectation is for Hunter New England LHD to provide an Aboriginal workforce of 6%.  At present, Aboriginal employees represent 5.33% of our total workforce.

Aboriginal employment remains a strategic priority for HNELHD and we have coordinated and launched many Aboriginal Employment Strategies over the past 14 years. Our Aboriginal Employment Strategy 2021 – 2025 (PDF 8.05MB) is currently being implemented. 

Our stories

Hear from our staff about their career journeys with Hunter New England LHD.

Meet Pauline

2:52

Pauline, Administration Officer

See a typical work day for Pauline, Administration team member at Hunter New England Health.

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Video transcript

Pauline, Administration Officer

My name's Pauline Blim, and I'm a descendant of a Awabakal or Darkinjung. I really love working for health. It's amazing how the support and how everyone is family-oriented, you feel valued, you feel you’re welcomed, and everyone is really happy, and I can have a laugh, be myself but I do know where the line is with your managers and respect, because I’m a big believer in respect.

So, I feel really valued and I just think in my other positions that I’ve held in the past, I’ve not, I don’t feel I’ve been appreciated and I’ve never really been told, but here, I’ve only been here a few months and yeah I feel I contribute and I feel like the bosses are genuine and they are telling me I’m a good worker, I’m valued or I give them a laugh, but I do, do my work and I am diligent.

I start at 7:30am and I work til 4pm, but I get in around 7am, so I can get in and relax, don’t feel pressured, see everything is done and when its time to start at 7.30am, you know, you are ready for a good day’s work and you feel good, feel good that you are there and I coordinate all the outpatient clinics, which we have eleven for swish and I have to ring up and follow through and make appointments and then make sure they have transport, make sure everything is okay for them, then would believe I coordinate everything there for the files, so all the details of every patient and child and family that in their file and that there always there, so that they can be followed up and there’s no discrepancies. And I do everything else, ordering, stationary, everything for the girls for all the midwives and Aboriginal health workers and of course our manager.

So yeah, if the admin is not done, it really falls apart, so we’re pretty good, we know we are in a place where you can’t really slacken off and you don’t want to because you’re helping. I love helping people so that the way, even though you know you’re not hand-on delivering babies or anything or any other medical area but with admin you know you do are valued and you do, do a good job and you never forget it. Always remember you are a person, and you are entitled to feel good and be valued. 

Meet Julie

2:31

Julie, Aboriginal Employment Manager

Julie, a Wiradjuri woman, is proud to make a difference for Aboriginal people in her local community.

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Video transcript

Julie, Aboriginal Employment Manager

Hi, my name is Julie Smith and my family's is Wiradjuri Mob. I grew up in Woodbury, and I'm the manager of Aboriginal employment for Hunter New England Health. We have a population in the Hunter New England region of 4.4% Aboriginal people, and we want our workforce to match that. So, we aim for an Aboriginal workforce of 4.4%. So, my role is to target vacancies for Aboriginal people to fill and to attract our Aboriginal community into work for us.

I love working for Hunter New England Health. When I first started in 2007, we only had 190 Aboriginal staff. Now, we have 570 Aboriginal staff, and think that’s so exciting. I've seen a lot of Aboriginal job seekers come in at a young age, take on traineeships and different sorts of jobs, and I’ve seen them the young person come through and he or she may low self-esteem and then to watch them get a few pay packets and get comfortable in the work environment and watch them grow and flourish is just gorgeous. And then those young people may become role models for other people in their families.

We have young people that come from interstate and remote communities, there’s so much for Aboriginal people to access here if you need employment, want to earn a good wage, and you want to be supported by a lot of non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal staff. You mightn’t think you could possibly get a job with us at Hunter New England Health, but you would be really surprised, if you have a look at the vacancies that we are advertising and it doesn’t matter whether you don't think you have enough education or enough communication skills, give it a go because you’d be so surprised at what is available for you to come and work here. We'd love to help you, to find employment with us.

Excellence. Every patient. Every time. It’s the ultimate aim of Hunter New England Health and the core of our culture. Excellence is the planned, disciplined approach to doing the right thing for patients and their families, doing it consistently, and doing it with respect.

If you would like to receive our weekly vacancies, please write to the Manager at Aboriginal Employment at juli.smith@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au

Helpful resources

SteppingUp aims to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job applicants understand how to apply for roles within NSW Health by clarifying the recruitment process and addresses some of the challenges that can be experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander​ applicants so they can more effectively apply for roles within NSW Health. 

 

Aboriginal Cadetship Program 

Information about the NSW Aboriginal Allied Health Cadetship Program and the NSW Aboriginal Nursing and Midwifery Cadetship Program (PDF 1.45MB).

Aboriginal Staff Networking Meetings 

Aboriginal Staff Networking Principles and guidance (PDF 342.29KB)

Contact us

For questions regarding Aboriginal Employment, email the Manager of Aboriginal Employment, Sarah Maybury: Sarah.Maybury@health.nsw.gov.au

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