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Your Nursing Skills Can Change Lives - Drug & Alcohol Phone Counsellor!

Join SA Health's Drug and Alcohol Services team as a Registered Nurse - Phone Counsellor, providing essential telephone-based support and counselling to individuals on their recovery journey. This full-time contract position offers the unique opportunity to combine your nursing expertise with counselling skills, delivering compassionate care that truly makes a difference in people's lives. Based in Adelaide Metro Southern, you'll work within a supportive multidisciplinary environment while helping clients access the treatment and support they need to overcome substance use challenges.

About the role: 

Reporting to the ADIS Manager, this role is responsible for providing telephone counselling in the prevention, intervention and minimisation of related harm through the provision of a telephone assessment, counselling, treatment and referral options for people with drug or alcohol related problems and/or assistance to their family and significant others. 

Duties for the role will include:

• Participate in quality improvement activities that contribute to client safety, risk minimisation and safe work activities within the service,
• Being solution focused when gaps in knowledge, resources or processes are identified,
• In collaboration with unit Manager, acting to resolve local and/or immediate nursing or service delivery problems,
• Supporting change management processes as an individual and as a supportive and pro-active team member,
• Contributing to communication processes that effectively deal with challenging behaviours and the resolution of conflicts. 
• Participate in quality improvement activities that contribute to client safety, risk minimisation and safe work activities within the service,
• Being solution focused when gaps in knowledge, resources or processes are identified,
• In collaboration with unit Manager, acting to resolve local and/or immediate nursing or service delivery problems

About you:

• Registered or eligible for registration as a Nurse by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and who holds, or who is eligible to hold, a current practicing certificate,
• Effective communication skills including, problem solving, conflict resolution and negotiation skills,
• Ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team and to prioritise workload,
• Ability to be, resilient, innovative, solution-oriented, adaptable to change and flexible when approaching issues within a healthcare setting,
• Demonstrated commitment to providing consumer/client and family centred care,
• Demonstrated interpersonal, communication, and counselling skills which develop rapport, facilitate positive interaction and foster the confidence and cooperation of individuals. 
•  Experience in working with clients with substance misuse concerns including the use of appropriate counselling techniques such as harm minimisation, relapse prevention and motivational interviewing,
• Experience in using information technology, particularly for information retrieval

Please see the attached Role Description for additional information.

Want To Know More? Contact: Gerald Yeoh, Nurse Manager ADIS, 0412 028 721, Gerald.Yeoh@sa.gov.au

Application Closing Date: 11.55 pm Friday 13 March 2026

Attachments:

• Registered Nurse - Phone Counsellor- Role Description
• Australian applicant guidelines
• International applicant guidelines

Applicant Information:

• We also offer salary sacrifice benefits which provide the opportunity to save money by paying for some of your everyday expenses from your salary before it is taxed. Click here to find out more about salary packaging.
• The South Australian public sector promotes diversity and flexible ways of working including part-time. Applicants are encouraged to discuss the flexible working arrangements for this role.
• Appointment will be subject to a satisfactory Criminal History Check and Immunisation compliance as indicated on the Role description.
• SA Health Services are required to implement the Addressing vaccine preventable disease: Occupational assessment, screening and vaccination policy in the workplace.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are encouraged to apply.  Job ref: 931697