Western NSW careers

A career with Western NSW LHD means you can challenge yourself, make an impact and shape the future of rural health.

Nurse and doctor standing in hallway at Narromine smiling

Our District

We provide specialised health services at:

  • 3 regional referral hospitals at Bathurst, Dubbo and Orange 
  • Australia’s largest rural mental health service at Orange
  • 4 procedural hospitals at Mudgee, Cowra, Parkes and Forbes
  • 25 Multipurpose Services, located in some of our most unique Australian outback towns including Lightning Ridge, Bourke, and many others.
Map of Western NSW LHD

Our initiatives

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Two Allied Health workers smiling

Incentives to join us

We want the best to help shape the future of rural healthcare and offer a range of benefits including accommodation support, HECS repayment and packages of up to $20,000 to join us and $10,000 to stay. Find out more about how incentives work.

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Nurses training at Western NSW LHD

Scholarships and cadetships

We'll give you the best start. You can apply for a range of health scholarships, grants and cadetships throughout the year, providing assistance for accommodation, travel and study expenses. Find out more and start your application today.

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Nurses training at Western NSW LHD

International candidates

We welcome overseas health professionals to join our vibrant and diverse team. We'll provide you with dedicated, personalised support with your visa pathway (including sponsorship), moving and settling you in to your new home.

Challenge yourself.

Make an impact.

Shape the future of rural health.

Why work with us

Living in Western NSW offers so much more than a rewarding and fulfilling career.

Our district has diverse and vibrant people living across large regional cities, well-serviced rural towns and a number of unique Australian villages. 

You’ll be welcomed with open arms by communities grateful for your service and keen to make you one of their own. You’ll find friends easy to make and be supported by both your workplace and the community in which you live to achieve your dreams.

In Western NSW, we really look after each other. 

Learn more about the benefits of working in Western NSW

Live your best life

In Western NSW, our lower cost of living, minimal traffic and wide open spaces gives you the time and the space to do more of the things you enjoy, and to live to the fullest. If you want to connect with nature and live more authentically and sustainably, consider a move to the bush.

Learn about our lifestyle, cities and towns, local attractions and hear our stories.
 

two boys sitting on a hill overlooking regional NSW

A place for everyone

As the largest employer in Western NSW, we are a diverse and inclusive workplace. We respect everyone and are inclusive of ethnicity, cultural backgrounds, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and professional identity. 

Learn about our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive workforce.
 

Learn about our commitment to diversity and inclusion

 
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Our story

3:15

Working at Western NSW Local Health District

Read transcript
Video transcript

Working at Western NSW Local Health District

A quarter of a million rural people are in our care. Can you make an impact?

Every day, we make meaningful connections with our community. Every day, we learn something new. Every day, we strive to do our best work.

Every day, in Western NSW Local Health District, we shape the future of rural health. As a District that covers 247,000 square kilometres we are constantly working to deliver care closer to home.

Our staff are always working on new and forward-thinking models of care to reach our communities. You can make a genuine difference by being a part of our innovative team too.

To support the wide variety of work you will experience, we offer a network of educators to individually build your skills and mentoring programs to support you to develop your career.

We are focused on the health of our Aboriginal communities, who make up 13% of our District’s population. Our 2nd Reconciliation Action Plan represents our genuine and enduring commitment to closing the gap on health outcomes for Aboriginal people. We strive to deliver culturally safe access to healthcare, with just over 7% of our workforce identifying as indigenous. Of course, there is still more to do and you can be a part of that.

Our team is well respected in their professional communities. The people who work for us are well regarded because of their agile, innovative and can-do approach. We support people to move from other cities, states and countries with financial incentives and we've got a dedicated team of people who will help you move and to become part of the new community that you will call home.

I'm Mark Spittal the Chief Executive of the Western NSW Local Health District. I moved to Western a number of years ago myself and I'm proud to be one of 7,000 staff employed in our district. They care and support each other and do amazing work to support our patients, their families, and our communities every day. I'm in awe of how our team rises to the challenge, responds to change, and supports some of the most vulnerable communities in our state. I'm absolutely certain that together, we are making real impact towards a thriving and healthy community. The evidence tells us that. We're building the health workforce of the future and we'd love you to be a part of it. Join us at the Western NSW Local Health District.

Choose your career

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Two Aboriginal Health Workers in a hospital

Aboriginal health

We're committed to improving Aboriginal health and making all our services accessible, respectful and culturally safe places for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Help us make a difference for our First Nations communities.

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Clinical Coder working in Western NSW

Administration, IT and Management

If you're seeking a regional career where you can challenge yourself, make an impact and shape the future of rural health, then there is no better place to start than Western NSW. We have a variety roles for professionals with all types of backgrounds.

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An Allied Health worker providing physiotherapy care to a patient

Allied health

Fast-track your Allied Health career with us and make a real difference. Join our network of over 500 Allied Health professionals who work together to bring the best care to our regional community. 

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Doctor on the ward

Medical services

Join the largest rural mental health service in Australia, one of our 3 major rural referral hospitals, 50 primary and community health centres and 38 inpatient facilities including 25 Multipurpose Services.

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Psychiatrist JMO consulting with a patient

Mental heath, drug and alcohol

With the largest rural mental health campus in the southern hemisphere and a wide range of unique models of care – you're guaranteed to learn new skills, gain experience and be part of embedding new ways of delivering care.

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A midwife holding a baby

Midwifery

Every day in our LHD, 10 babies are born. We offer midwives a broad range of opportunities from a level 4 multi-model maternity service to smaller sites where you really get to experience the journey with your clients. 

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Nurse smiling working in a hospital

Nursing

We're always looking for nurses to join our workforce and help make a difference to our culturally diverse communities. We can offer a great lifestyle, travel and ongoing professional development.

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Dental Therapist talking to child and carer

Oral health

As the preferred provider of dental care in our communities, you'll directly contribute to rural population oral health. We offer a broad scope of work as well as time and opportunity for professional development to learn more in specialist and practice areas to advance your career.

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Student placement at a regional hospital

Student placement

Start your health career by making a difference in a regional or remote community. See all the available opportunities for student placement at Western NSW LHD.

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Hospital support worker in kitchen handling food

Support staff

From assisting nursing staff, housekeeping, portering and transporting patients to catering, maintenance and grounds keeping – our support team have an important role to play in our delivery of care.


Meet our people

4:44

Rural and remote nursing in Western NSW

How is nursing different in our rural sites? Hear how nursing in rural and remote areas can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your career.

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Video transcript

Rural and remote nursing in Western NSW

(Music)


I came here as a new grad and I've stayed on since. I've always  enjoyed working here - one of the other reasons is that I met my husband in my new grad year - and the team environment here and getting the things I get to do is second to none - you can't get to do it anywhere else.

You can Triage our here, you can canulate, venepuncture, IDCs, SPCs you name it - we can do it out here.

I am a ward nurse generally but obviously in a rural facility I am also an accident and emergency nurse, when there's a trauma or there's a need for it. 

I also do community nursing, we also have dialysis here at this facility, I've also done dialysis nursing and obviously we have palliative patients.  We have a lot of post rehab patients, so we do a lot of wound care.

The variety is on the of the things I enjoy the most about working here, also you have aged care, you have emergency and you have your normal everyday ward work, so every day is something different and you get to experience things you wouldn't see in the city as they would be swept away to a specialist unit.

I have so many more skills my friends wish they would have but don't, they don't get the opportunity with all the junior Doctors down there in the city.

My role is virtual outreach support to the nursing staff in the district, education sessions through the video conference we support the staff because they may have a question about a medication or a procedure.   For this month in May we have approximately a hundred virtual sessions offered.

When I started working here, they supported me for triage, like how to work in a rural ED. First of all if anything comes through the ED, how to handle that, I've done a vaccination course, advanced life support, so if something happens we can administer drugs.

We have excellent support from vCare which is the speciality emergency team based in Dubbo, and all the retrieval teams they can connect us with.

Here in Nyngan we are very lucky - we have the support of our managers and usually on call RN overnight.  

Because of the diverse nursing that I do I've always been able to do those extra courses whether it be palliative care, community nursing, dialysis.

We're using this technology and this education to improve, to help our nurses, support our nurses.

I've done lots of emergency courses through the district with training days on site here or just in Dubbo or in other towns and they've help further my skills give me that confidence to be in charge.

We do have more registered nurses starting, here - New Grads - which is also very enjoyable as you get to  help them and  you learn new things off them, things they are learning at uni or they have learned in other facilities, so the team is quite diverse but in a way it is very experienced and very strong.

Working in a small rural facility again, the team is not just the nurses on the ward, its actually the whole facility. I might ring a community nurses today to get an assessment with a patient that's being discharged tomorrow, I might actually speak to the front office staff about something particular about that patient, so actually everyone is involved because it is such a small community and a small facility so my whole team is everyone including the ambulance officers who walk through the door.

They're beautiful out here, I couldn't ask for a better team, they're all lovely, all supportive, you just couldn't find any, any team like it.

In a small rural facility everyone is dependent on eachother , its teamwork - if someone comes in ED everyone comes and helps you, they know what is there role and they support us in those situations, in every situation.

I had some free accommodation over at the units for 12 months and then I brought myself a house here in town - so I'm a permanents stayer.

There s no reason not to even if you don't stay out here forever the skills you'll learn in Western LHD will be transferable back in the city and the things you'll see you'll never see anywhere else.

Challenge Yourself

Make an Impact

Join us!
 

3:38

4T's Single Employer Rural Generalist model

We're leading an innovative whole-of-health approach to care in rural communities, servicing the 4Ts (Tottenham, Trangie, Trundle, Tullamore).

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Video transcript

4T's Single Employer Rural Generalist model

The 4Ts: A primary care model for rural communities and their clinicians

[Amelia Haigh - 4Ts Project Lead]

The Four T’s model is a single employer model providing whole of healthcare in small rural communities.  The Four Ts are four small rural communities in Central New South Wales. The towns are Tottenham, Tullamore, Trundle and Trangie with  approximately less than 1,500 people in each town. All four communities are situated very closely within about 30 to 45 minutes of each other and in less than two hours 
from the nearest base hospital.

[Dr Shannon Nott - Rural Director Medical Services, Western NSW LHD]

The Four Ts is an ecosystem of one practice across multiple communities where our staff, our key clinicians, our administrative staff are able to work together to meet the community's need. It takes away that administrative burden, it takes away the challenges of running a business and it allows us to bring in people who are experts in providing care and focus on patients.

[Amelia Haigh - 4Ts Project Lead]

Essentially what that has meant for the four communities of Tottenham, Tullamore, Trundle and Trangie has access to a primary care clinic co-located with their local Multipurpose Health Service. The primary care clinics operate just like a GP practice with a GP, a primary care nurse an administration staff member and also a medical centre manager. This network services across all of those communities and there's telehealth support where the doctor might not be available on site.

[Dr Shannon Nott - Rural Director Medical Services, Western NSW LHD]

It's been a really, rewarding experience working under this current model.

[Dr Jason Maher - 4Ts Rural Generalist (Trundle)

It is a little bit different in management, but in reality when you're sitting down with your patient and exploring their health issues it's just like any other general practice really.

I like it that I do get a little bit of work in within the hospital as well and in the emergency department and I get to have the resources of the hospital which is really helpful for a GP so we get those resources we can admit our patients if we need to it's a very, very good place to work in that regard too.

[Dr Shannon Nott - Rural Director Medical Services, Western NSW LHD]

So what we want to be able to do through this program is not only provide fantastic care for our patients but also a model of care that clinicians and the top clinicians across our country want to work in.

[Dr Mark Grey - 4Ts Rural Generalist (Trundle)]

It harks back to the Golden Age of medicine in a lot of ways where you're looking after people from the cradle to the grave and you're feeling a welcome part and an important part of the community by providing those services.

[Dr Ash Labib - 4Ts Rural Generalist (Trangie)]

Then we came and test the country. Once you choose the country, you taste it, you love it and you stay with it, like me, I'm in 22 years. The people, the people here are friendly, warming. The life the life is like it's quiet, it's not rushing like the city so we like it.

[Dr Jason Maher - 4Ts Rural Generalist (Trundle)

On a daily basis I don't have strangers coming in to talk with me about their health issues, I have people that matter to me and that is the most gratifying part of my job. But it's living in the community that attracted me to come back from the coast and living in the city to live and work within a small community, it's a lovely place to live and it's a lovely place to bring up children as well, so that was the big draw card for me.

[On-screen text]

Challenge yourself

Make an impact

Shape the future

Join us

 

0:59

Meet Isabella - GradStart Western NSW

After moving from Wollongong, newly graduated Registered Nurse Isabella is loving relaxed country life, working in both Dubbo and Gilgandra.

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Video transcript

Meet Isabella - GradStart Western NSW

I'm Isabella Dark and I'm a Registered Nurse at Gilgandra MPS.

I am a new graduate Registered Nurse, I finished uni last year. So I did 6 months at Dubbo Base Hospital and 6 months out here at Gilgandra, so that's a supported program that we do for our first year out of uni, just so we can get our competencies marked off and learn the skills in a safer environment.

I moved from Wollongong at the beginning of the year to Dubbo. I've really enjoyed being out in the country, it's quite relaxed, everyone's really nice, I've made lots of friends, no traffic - that's good. Yeah, just really love how relaxed it is, how easy going and just really loving that change from the city and the busyness of that.


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