Forensic Clinicians
About you
Forensic Clinical Team Leaders
Principal Clinicians
Clinical Lead and Project Management roles
Learn more
Forensic Intervention Services (FIS) offers dynamic and rewarding roles across a range of disciplines in a supportive correctional environment.
We offer opportunities to:
- develop your clinical expertise in forensic therapeutics, working with a diverse range of marginalised groups.
- undertake a specialised Induction program to support your transition into the role.
- undertake ongoing professional development including research programs, scholarships and study leave opportunities.
- work in management or specialist roles across diverse teams and locations.
Video transcript: The work we do at Forensic Intervention Services
Alfie Oliva, Director, Forensic Intervention Services:
“The vision for Forensic Intervention Services is to become a world-leader in forensic criminogenic interventions through a very structured assessment process and a very targeted program suite.”
Joshua Yeap, Clinician, Forensic Intervention Services
“A service user is someone who has been convicted of a sexual or violent offence and they have received a sentence from the courts. It could be a sentence to imprisonment or a community correction order.”
Leigh Taylor, Clinician, Forensic Intervention Services
“Working with these kinds of service users can be a little bit challenging and you might need a little more patience than you may need with other types of service users you might encounter.”
Clair McLeish, Clinician, Forensic Intervention Services
“There’s a lot of static risk factors when we’re doing an initial screening, so we might look at their age, how many times they’ve been to court, if they’ve had prior offending that’s similar, if they’ve had other offending, the victim types and victim targets.
“And that will help determine what is the next step for them in terms of needing a clinical assessment, or if they move on to treatment, or if they could be best supported with other community services.”
Simone Shaw, Clinical Director, Forensic Intervention Services
“The model of care is bedded in the Risk Needs Responsivity Model, so very basically we identify the level of risk of recidivism of the individual and then we match the intensity of our interventions with the risk level.”
Laura Munslow, Senior Clinician, Forensic Intervention Services
Typically, what we are hoping to achieve with our services users is to support them in recognising areas where they have gone off track and made unhealthy choices and decisions that have impacted their lives and the lives of others resulting in their imprisonment or being subjected to a community corrections order.”
Leigh Taylor:
“What we are looking for is some insight and motivation from the service user. So, insight into what put them into the position they are in today, and some motivation to attend the programs and get the skills that they need to be the person they would like to be.”
Laura Munslow:
“I find it fulfilling. The staff are incredible. The team overall are phenomenal. And it’s just so rewarding to work in a role that has significant meaning to community safety and to support individuals in making positive changes in their lives.”
Final screen:
Challenge yourself with Forensic Intervention Services
Justice.vic.gov.au/forensic-careers (External link)
Victoria State Government – Department of Justice and Community Safety
On this page
Forensic Clinicians
Forensic clinicians deliver best practice, evidence-based forensic interventions to service users, who have histories of violent, sexual, alcohol and other drug related offending.
FIS multidisciplinary teams include:
- psychologists
- social workers
- mental health nurses
- occupational therapists.
We combine our complementary clinical skills and experience to address service users’ rehabilitation needs.
About you
To be successful you will:
- be motivated to help make our community safer and reduce reoffending
- believe that every individual has the capacity to change
- be committed to continuous learning and professional growth.
You will utilise best practice principles of therapeutic intervention, including:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Risk Needs Responsivity Model
- Strengths Based Approaches.
You will need to hold, or be eligible for, one of the following:
- registration as a Psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (External link)
- membership with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) (External link)
- credentialed as a Mental Health Nurse with the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (External link)
- registration as an Occupational Therapist with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia (External link).
Forensic experience is beneficial, but not essential. We provide comprehensive support and training to help passionate Allied Health professionals thrive in this field.
Clinician support
Day-to-day work can be demanding. You will need to have insight into your own wellbeing and what support enables you to reset and refresh. At FIS, we actively help you build this resilience is by offering first-rate training and support.
FIS provides a comprehensive clinical induction program. This training:
- provides a best-practice introduction to effective correctional programming, designed to support your transition in the role
- is delivered by clinical experts and recognised industry leaders.
Ongoing support is delivered via clinical supervision. Our practitioners tell us the level of care we provide is exceptional and support is available on a daily basis. The focus is split between:
- looking after your mental health and wellbeing
- developing your clinical practice.
Clinicians undertake mental health and wellbeing care through essential debriefing during their initial 12 months.
As employees of the Department of Justice and Community Safety, all clinicians also have access to free, confidential, 24-hour Employee Wellbeing services. These services cover mental health, legal, financial, family, conflict, career and manager assistance and support.
Professional development
FIS offers:
- exposure to international and national experts in forensic work
- funded Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) registration or professional association membership
- development and advanced technical training opportunities
- opportunities to participate in or lead research programs
- student placements and internships
- study leave
- relocation allowances for eligible candidates
- Annual Conference and Leadership Forum for technical and professional development.
For high performing staff, opportunities include the:
- Commissioner’s Clinical Scholarship Program
- Commissioner’s Clinical Conference Grant.
Forensic Clinical Team Leaders
Forensic Clinical Team Leaders lead, support and develop multidisciplinary teams. Teams can include forensic clinicians, case workers, case managers and custodial staff.
As forensic clinical team leaders, you will:
- provide expert consultation on clinical practice
- help drive awareness and education in offending behaviour
- consult on high-level issues in service user risk management.
Day to day responsibilities include:
- supervising a team of forensic clinicians to support assessment and delivery of best practice programmatic interventions
- managing staff performance and development
- contributing to strategic management and development of our psychotherapeutic services.
Principal Clinicians
The Principal Clinician role allows advanced practitioners to focus on clinical best practice without managing a team of clinicians.
You will apply your expert clinical acumen to complex cases, including:
- conducting assessments
- delivering best practice offence-specific and offence-related interventions
- providing group or individual based interventions.
Principal Clinicians contribute to the continuous improvement of service delivery and play a key role in the professional development of the clinical team.
Clinical Lead and Project Management roles
These roles support delivery of interventions across the service. They drive improvement in areas such as strategic research and evaluation.
Clinical Leads
Clinical Lead roles are responsible for:
- developing and maintaining evaluation and research frameworks that underpin forensic intervention programs
- building internal evidence-based knowledge of the impact of therapeutic interventions.
Project Management
Project Managers support improvements in clinical service delivery across the system.
Project Managers in FIS:
- use the Project Management Excellence (PME) framework
- collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, including clinical staff.