Position reports to: Acting Manager, Knowledge and Research
Employment status: Fixed term 1 year contract with possibility of extension
Hours: Part-time [0.6 – 0.8 FTE]
Salary: $107,116 – $111,967 (pro-rata) per annum, plus 12% superannuation, annual leave loading and generous salary packaging options
Location: HJA has office hubs in both Sydney and Melbourne that enable collaborative working and are available for staff use. Our staff outside of these two metropolitan locations work remotely. All HJA staff may be required to undertake travel.
The HJA team come together in person (usually in Sydney or Melbourne) from time to time for events, and to facilitate team learning and collaboration opportunities (3-4 times per year).
Closing: 5pm Wednesday, 14 January, 2026
For further information: Contact hr@healthjustice.org.au.
To apply: Email hr@healthjustice.org.au with ‘Research Project Lead’ as the subject. Application should include a letter outlining your interest and experience against the essential and desirable criteria (3 pg max); and CV (3 pg max)
About Health Justice Australia
Health Justice Australia is a national charity established in 2016 and is a centre of excellence and knowledge hub for health justice partnership, supporting collaborations between services to achieve better health and justice outcomes for people. We aim to reshape health, community, legal and other service systems to better address intersecting health and legal needs.
Health Justice Australia supports the expansion and effectiveness of health justice partnerships through:
Knowledge and its translation: developing evidence and translating that evidence into knowledge that is valued by practitioners, researchers, policy-makers and funders.
Building capability: supporting practitioners to work collaboratively, including through brokering, mentoring and facilitating partnerships.
Driving systems change: connecting the experience of people coming through health justice artnerships, and their practitioners, with opportunities for lasting systems change through reforms to olicy settings, service design and funding.
We are committed to an inclusive work environment. Advancing Health Justice Australia’s work to chieve our intended impact, we seek to work with people whose skills and behaviours are aligned to ur values, culture and strategy. We value:
Curiosity – We value and welcome opportunities to learn. We actively listen and reflect, including where there is uncertainty and ambiguity. We seek out expertise and experience that is different to our own.
Courage – We are ambitious in our purpose and scope. We adapt and change through what we learn. We acknowledge what is hard and where we can do better.
Integrity – We are authentic and genuine in how we engage. We are transparent in our decision making. We are accountable for the resources we use and the purpose we put them to.
Respect – We work with, alongside and for others by building trusted, respectful relationships. We are intentional about where we lead, where we collaborate and where we follow. We value the wellbeing of our people and the people we work with and for.
About health justice partnership
Health justice partnerships (HJPs) are collaborations to embed legal help into health, community and other services and teams. They have formed in response to a growing body of evidence that shows there are groups of people who are vulnerable to intersecting legal and health problems, commonly compounded by broader disadvantage, but who are unlikely to turn to legal services for solutions. And yet legal solutions can address social issues or determinants – such as housing, money issues, elder abuse, employment, and family safety and stability – that in turn impact upon health and wellbeing.
About this position
This position is a one year fixed term part time (0.6 – 0.8 FTE) contract with possibility of extension. Salary is paid pro-rata and NFP salary packaging is available. Health Justice Australia (HJA) has office hubs in Sydney and Melbourne but applications can be Australia wide.
Applications close Wednesday 14 January 2026 at 5:00pm, and must be accompanied by a covering letter outlining your interest and experience against the essential and desirable criteria. Applications to be submitted by email to hr@healthjustice.org.au
The Research Project Lead (RPL) supports HJA’s work to build evidence and knowledge around the impact of partnerships that integrate legal help into services that support people’s health and wellbeing. Based in HJA’s Knowledge and Research Team, the position will also work with colleagues across the organisation, and with research and service partners.
A key focus of this position will be contributing to a major collaborative research project currently underway, which explores how health justice partnership affects outcomes for clients and partner services. This role will lead the implementation and administration of the studies within the project, coordinate stakeholders and processes and be involved in study design, data analysis, writing for publication and research knowledge translation activities.
This position will also support our broader research activities to strengthen the knowledge base on health justice partnership approaches. Activities will include assisting with the collection and maintenance of primary and secondary data about the health justice landscape in Australia, reviewing and synthesising existing evidence on health justice partnership approaches and writing up insights for a range of audiences.
There may also be opportunities to develop and undertake specific projects of interest, both within the large collaborative study and across our wider research program.
This position is ideal for someone with research expertise or experience in areas such as public health, access to justice, service innovation and social impact or the social determinants of health. The RPL will have experience in coordinating cross-disciplinary research projects, and a genuine interest in learning how integrating legal, health and other services may best improve the health and wellbeing of people and communities and build service and practitioner capability.
Roles and responsibilities
- Leading the coordination and administration of research studies, including those within our large collaborative project, ensuring timeliness, research integrity and strong stakeholder communication. Activities include:
- Supporting research grant, ethics and any data linkage application processes
- Leading the implementation of studies, including data collection and management
- Coordinating internal processes and the participation of research partners
- Maintaining stakeholder engagement to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange
- Leading or contributing to study design, analysis and reporting in primary and secondary research projects, to produce high-quality evidence that informs health justice practice and policy. This may include activities such as:
- Collaborating on study design and methods
- Conducting quantitative and/or qualitative data analysis
- Conducting secondary research
- Communicating findings to a range of audiences, including writing for peer reviewed publications
- Supporting the growth, maintenance and translation of our data and resource collections to further build and strengthen the knowledge base about health justice partnership approaches. This may include activities such as:
- Assisting with maintaining accurate data about health justice partnership approaches in Australia (through collecting information directly from services and other sources)
- Assisting with expanding, curating and maintaining our library of secondary sources on health justice partnership approaches and related topics
- Reviewing and mining our data and resources to develop new insights, and communicating these to a range of audiences
Knowledge, skills and experience
Essential criteria
- A bachelor degree with honours or higher in public health, social science, law or a related discipline
- Demonstrated skills and experience in quantitative and qualitative research projects including design, implementation/administration, analysis and communication of results
- Experience as an investigator/researcher in a multi-partner research project, ideally working with service providers and/or service users.
- Experience using research software such as survey software, referencing programs, qualitative and/or quantitative data analysis software
- Excellent project management skills
- Good organisational skills, including capacity to manage changing priorities, deliver work to agreed deadlines and work effectively as part of a team
- Demonstrated ability to work in a team, collaborate across disciplines and build effective relationships
- Excellent communication skills, including demonstrated experience communicating research findings to a non-academic audience
- Commitment to the values of social justice, and a genuine interest in and awareness of the challenges of improving outcomes for people vulnerable to complex needs
Desirable
- Skills and experience in survey design or research using administrative data/data systems
- Experience leading or co-ordinating multi-partner research projects
- Experience in cross-disciplinary research
- Experience in co-designed research projects
- Postgraduate qualifications in public health, social science, law or a related discipline
Accountability
- Conduct yourself in accordance with HJA’s Culture & Conduct Agreement and HJA policies and procedures which may change from time to time.
- Act in accordance with HJA’s values of curiosity, courage, integrity and respect.
- Contribute actively to the maintenance of a safe workplace.
- Ensure any identified safety issues are reported and addressed as they arise.
- Undertake relevant training and professional development and participate in regular supervision and performance development processes in line with HJA’s policies.
Screening requirements
- Right to work in Australia
- Proof of identity and qualifications
- National Criminal Records Check