Speech Pathologist Paediatric in St Leonards

Join us as a key member of the Brighter Beginnings Health and Development Checks in Preschools Service Team, part of the Northern Sydney Local Health District Child, Youth and Family Community Health Service. You’ll work alongside experienced colleagues, playing an essential role in delivering the NSW First 2000 Days Framework to support preschool-aged children and their families in early childhood education settings.

This is a 4-day-per-week position.

Who we are: We are a health service that touches thousands of lives across the Northern Sydney Local Health District, together as a team of like-minded people. We are passionate, driven and have the skills and knowledge to care for our patients whilst creating the best services possible. Our teams have meaningful, interesting and rewarding work every day. We challenge and nurture each other, sharing our knowledge and experience so that we can deliver better care for everyone. There’s a real sense of belonging here because we value and respect our patients, employees, and teams’ voices. You’ll feel a real privilege being a trusted caregiver in our patients, their families, their carers, and our communities’ lives.

Innovation is at our core, with opportunities for research driven evidence based practice, ensuring our work remains engaging and fulfilling. Clear pathways for career progression, supported by training secondments, recognition and mentorship, empower employees and leaders alike to reach their professional goals. NSLHD is proud of our diverse and inclusive workplaces, a place where health care professionals can thrive and feel they belong. We are committed to ensure that all our people feel respected and participate safely within a work environment without aggression, sexual harassment, discrimination and racism.

Where you'll be working: Royal North Shore Community Health Centre as part of the Brighter Beginnings Health and Development Checks Team.

What you'll be doing: As a Speech Pathologist (Level 1/2), you’ll be a member of the interdisciplinary Brighter Beginnings Health and Development Checks (BBHDC) Preschool Team, within the NSLHD Child, Youth and Family (CYF) Community Health Service. You’ll help deliver developmental surveillance screening for preschool-aged children in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services across Northern Sydney. BBHDC is a collaboration between NSW Health and the NSW Department of Education. Its purpose is early identification of children’s health and developmental needs before school entry.

You’ll work across a structured service model, from pre-screening through to post-screening. You’ll use triage information to guide your observations, use the BBHDC screening observation check to observe and document health and developmental indicators in the preschool setting, and work with educators to clarify concerns. After screening, you’ll contribute to file review, outcome classification and referral pathways, within your scope of practice. You’ll support allied health assistants during screening activities and receive clinical guidance and supervision from senior clinicians. When required, the role also provides timely clinical assessment and group-based intervention for children identified through developmental surveillance screening, within scope of practice and with guidance from senior clinicians.

People of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background are encouraged to apply.

Candidates will need to meet the following criteria:

• A bachelor's or postgraduate degree in Speech Pathology which provides eligibility for membership of Speech Pathology Australia.
• Demonstrated clinical experience in paediatric Speech Pathology assessment, goal development and evaluation, with a client and family-centred approach. New graduates may draw on placement experience.
• Demonstrated ability to apply clinical reasoning within scope of practice, including recognising when to seek guidance or elevate.
• Demonstrated effective communication skills, with the ability to engage respectfully with families and Early Childhood educators about developmental observations, including when views differ or concerns are sensitive.
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team, and to manage workload and prioritise tasks in a structured, high-volume service with minimal day-to-day supervision.
• Experience using electronic health records or similar data systems.

This is a NSW Health Category A position which requires immunisation and screening for certain diseases. The full list of requirements are outlined in the NSW Health OASV Policy.

You will be required to complete the OASV Undertaking/ Declaration Form and TB Assessment Tool during the recruitment process. Please upload this with your application along with any other vaccination evidence that you may have.

The team enriching health in millions of ways every day.

Applications Close: 5 November 2026

Tentative Interview Date: 17 November 2026