Psychiatry

Forensicare psychiatrists provide a range of specialist services based on understanding the relationship between mental disorder and offending. You will also build your understanding of relevant legislation and legal issues including mental impairment, unfitness to be tried, and sentencing considerations. Your work will include:

• assessing and treating people living with mental health issues in the justice system. 
• assessing and managing the risk of offending by consumers with a mental disorder. 
• assisting the justice system to understand the role of the mental disorder so that the legal outcome is informed by the consumer’s mental health. 

You can practice your specialist skills across a range of settings including:

• inpatient psychiatric services at Thomas Embling Hospital
• custodial forensic mental health units at Ravenhall Correctional Centre, Melbourne Assessment Prison, and Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
• community-based services for consumers transitioning to the community from Thomas Embling Hospital and prisons, as well as a range of services providing skilled assessment and specialised treatment for those involved with the criminal justice system, or at risk. 

Medical staff work a Monday to Friday roster, with the option to participate in the after hours on-call roster for Consultants or rostered overtime (afterhours) roster for Registrars, although you can negotiate flexible hours. Working within a recovery–based treatment model, registrars and consultants at Forensicare provide a range of specialist services.

At Thomas Embling Hospital you may: 

• Conduct comprehensive specialised assessments and work with multidisciplinary teams providing care and management of consumers with mental health disorders. 
• Provide specialised advice to highly experienced multidisciplinary teams across all stages of the recovery pathway.  

In prisons across Victoria you may: 

•  Assess and treat people with mental health disorders across custodial mental health, psycho-social rehabilitation, complex transition and challenging and complex behaviour settings. 
• Deliver outpatient (clinic-based) services across most prisons in Victoria.  

In community settings you may: 

• Manage consumers on supervision orders living in or transitioning to community living. 
• Conduct specialist forensic assessments for courts and the adult parole board, as well as area mental health and wellbeing services. 
• Deliver specialist community-based assessment and treatment for people with a range of problem behaviours associated with offending.
• Provide assessments, court reporting and expert testimony to Magistrates’, County and Supreme Courts. 
• Work in the Victorian Fixated Threat Assessment Centre—a joint Victoria Police and Forensicare initiative—to assess consumers engaging in inappropriate or threatening communications and actions, and develop management plans aimed at engaging these individuals with mental health services as needed.

Forensicare is the place to grow your career. You will share a close working relationship with a large team of psychiatrist colleagues and multidisciplinary teams, with opportunities for advancement as well as supervision.

Psychiatrists

We offer access to relevant education, specialist forensic training and research opportunities through the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science – Australasia’s leading centre in the areas of forensic mental health and behavioural science research, teaching and development.

Financial support is available for continuing medical education, as per the Medical Specialist’s enterprise bargaining agreement.

Registrars

All registrar positions offered at Forensicare are Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) accredited and supervised by RANZCP accredited supervisors, suitable for Stage 2 and Stage 3 trainees and advanced forensic trainees.

Forensicare has a high success rate with Scholarly Project results for advanced trainees.

Forensicare offers research supervision and support for trainees wishing to undertake Scholarly Projects in forensic psychiatry through collaboration with our research colleagues at the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology.   Advanced trainees are offered 50 per cent reimbursement of their tuition fee if they chose to do a formal education course at Swinburne University of Technology for their forensic psychiatry training program.

We also have programs to support specialist international medical graduates and can assist them in fulfilling their professional and training needs.

Yes. We welcome psychiatry trainees to join our team.

We offer flexible working hours, with a Monday to Friday roster and Registrars are required to participate in rostered afterhours to cover evening/overnight and weekend shifts.

Applicants for this position will be able to participate in Forensicare’s Training Program for Registrars, which is accredited as meeting the standards of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) for both generalist and forensic sub-specialty training. All posts are RANZCP accredited and supervised by RANZCP accredited supervisors.

Prior experience in forensic psychiatry is desirable but not essential. Enrolment in core or specialist training in psychiatry is necessary apart from specialist international medical graduates on a specialist specified training pathway, on a college-approved supervised workplace-based training plan.

For more information please contact MedicalWorkforce@Forensicare.vic.gov.au

Yes, if you have a medical degree and a background in psychiatry, we will consider your application.

Yes. We welcome overseas applicants to apply for our vacancies as they become available.

Find out more about the support we provide as you relocate and settle into life in Melbourne.

“Having completed my core psychiatry training in the UK, I felt that I was able to transition easily into clinical work with Forensicare. I felt very supported by Forensicare in undertaking this move across the world – with assistance in filling in registration and visa paperwork, finding accommodation in Melbourne and excellent communication throughout the entire process. After a few months I was encouraged to apply for permanent residency through the organisation, which was granted within 7 months of me arriving in Australia.”

Graham, Psychiatry Registrar

Yes. We run a university medical elective program for up to four local and interstate students each year. All medical students with an interest in psychiatry are encouraged to apply.

“I completed a medical elective with Forensicare after my medical degree to establish if a career in psychiatry and forensics was for me. The enthusiastic teaching I received from my registrars and consultants extended to nursing and allied health staff, giving a holistic picture of the organisation and how multidisciplinary teams assist in the rehabilitation of people living with the dual stigma of mental illness and offending.

Coming from a criminology background, I was unsure if I would feel a clash working within a forensic setting, however, Forensicare provided the most intellectually stimulating rotation of my medical career and affirmed my career trajectory.

I am deeply grateful for the month I spent rotating through Thomas Embling Hospital and the Problem Behaviour Program and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to broaden their experience of psychiatry.

It provides a fascinating insight into our justice and mental health systems, which all medical practitioners encounter, a valuable experience for all.”

Medical Elective Student

For more information about psychiatry at Forensicare, contact MedicalWorkforce@Forensicare.vic.gov.au