Consultant/Staff Specialist in Forensic Psychiatry - Swap the commute for the coast! Live and work on Queensland’s stunning Gold Coast.

Opportunity

• Pulse Mental Health is recruiting on a confidential basis for a public hospital and health service on the Gold Coast, Queensland, for a Consultant Psychiatrist / Staff Specialist to join its Forensic Psychiatry team. This is a permanent, substantive consultant post with one of the region's principal public health providers, based on Australia's most recognisable coastline. Full details of the employing service are provided to shortlisted candidates.
• The role sits within an established forensic mental health program spanning court liaison, custodial/offender mental health in-reach and community forensic follow-up — giving the successful candidate a genuinely varied caseload alongside the clinical and legal complexity that defines forensic practice. Queensland continues to invest significantly in forensic mental health capacity, and this post offers real scope for a senior clinician to shape service delivery, supervise trainees and contribute to state-wide forensic psychiatry developments.
• UK and Irish-trained consultants are strongly encouraged to apply. Psychiatrists holding the MRCPsych (UK) together with a CCT or CCST are eligible for accelerated registration routes with both AHPRA and the RANZCP, and Pulse Psychiatry provides dedicated, hands-on support through this process — see below for full detail.

Department in focus:

• The successful candidate will provide senior forensic psychiatric input across an established forensic mental health program, working within Queensland's Mental Health Act 2016 framework, which governs forensic orders, fitness for trial, unsoundness of mind and classified patient provisions.
• Assessment and treatment of patients referred via the regional Court Liaison Service, including Magistrates Court reports on fitness for trial and mental state at the time of an alleged offence
• Custodial in-reach and offender health psychiatry, including sessions at a correctional facility within the Gold Coast region
• Clinical management of patients on forensic orders and non-custodial supervision orders within the community, working closely with Queensland's Mental Health Court and regional community forensic outreach framework
• Risk assessment, management and treatment planning for consumers with complex offending histories and co-occurring mental illness
• Clinical leadership and supervision of registrars, trainees and multidisciplinary staff (nursing, psychology, social work, occupational therapy) attached to the forensic team
• Medico-legal report writing and expert evidence for the Mental Health Court, Magistrates and higher courts as required
• Participation in service development, clinical governance, quality improvement and, where relevant, undergraduate/postgraduate teaching linked to the employing 
  

Registration Pathway for UK & Irish Candidates

• Psychiatrists trained in the UK or Ireland holding the MRCPsych (UK) together with a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) or Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST) are eligible for two complementary accelerated routes into Australian practice:
• AHPRA / Medical Board of Australia — Expedited Specialist Pathway (ESP): a streamlined route to specialist medical registration in psychiatry for eligible international specialists, without the standard comparative assessment process required of other applicants
• RANZCP Accelerated Pathway: a parallel fast-track specialist assessment for MRCPsych (UK) holders with CCT/CCST — no interview requirement, reduced documentation, and an assessment turnaround of approximately 9 weeks from a complete application, leading toward FRANZCP following a period of supervised practice
• Pulse Mental Health supports candidates through primary source verification (via the Australian Medical Council), AHPRA registration, RANZCP assessment and the visa/relocation process end-to-end, and can advise on how your specific CCT/CCST and consultant experience map onto these pathway

Essential Criteria   

• Specialist registration in Psychiatry with AHPRA (or eligibility via the Expedited Specialist Pathway / RANZCP Accelerated Pathway for MRCPsych (UK) holders with CCT/CCST)
• FRANZCP, or an internationally recognised specialist psychiatry qualification assessed as comparable (UK CCT, Irish CCST, or equivalent)
• Substantial post-fellowship/post-CCT experience in forensic psychiatry, including court and/or custodial mental health work
• Demonstrated capability in risk assessment, medico-legal report writing and giving evidence in court or tribunal settings
• Experience supervising junior medical staff and contributing to multidisciplinary team leadership
• Eligibility for, or willingness to obtain, relevant Queensland Mental Health Act 2016 authorisations (e.g. Authorised Psychiatrist / Authorised Doctor status) post-appointment

What's on Offer

• Total remuneration package up to AU$550,000 per annum, commensurate with experience — inclusive of base salary, superannuation (up to 12.75% employer contribution) and applicable on-call allowances
• Access to salary packaging, professional development allowance and a structured continuing education/study leave entitlement
• Relocation assistance and support navigating AHPRA registration, RANZCP assessment and Australian work visa requirements for UK and Irish candidates and their families.
• A varied, well-supported forensic caseload spanning court liaison, prison in-reach and community forensic follow-up, rather than a single narrow stream
• Flexible working arrangements and genuine work/life balance, in a health service consistently rated highly for staff satisfaction
• The lifestyle of Australia's premier coastal city, with strong schooling options and an established international medical community used to supporting relocating consultants

Location in Detail

The Gold Coast is Australia's sixth-largest city and one of its most liveable — 57km of coastline, world-renowned surf beaches (Surfers Paradise, Burleigh Heads, Snapper Rocks) and a hinterland of rainforest national parks (Lamington, Springbrook) within a 45-minute drive of the city centre.

This is a major tertiary teaching hospital and the flagship site of Gold Coast Health, offering strong specialist infrastructure and an active academic partnership with Griffith University's School of Medicine — well suited to a consultant wanting involvement in teaching and research alongside clinical forensic work.

Gold Coast Airport offers direct domestic routes across Australia and international connections via Brisbane (under an hour's drive north), making the region well connected for clinicians relocating from the UK, Ireland or further afield. The area has a large, established expatriate and international medical community, excellent public and private schooling, and a notably lower cost of living than Sydney or Melbourne for a comparable lifestyle.

Clinically, the forensic footprint spans the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service catchment — including Numinbah Correctional Centre in the Gold Coast hinterland and Magistrates Court liaison across the region — giving the role a genuinely broad and varied forensic case mix within a single, geographically compact health service.

About Pulse Mental Health

For a confidential chat about this role, send your CV to [email protected].

Pulse Mental Health is the dedicated psychiatry division of Pulse Doctors, a UK-based medical staffing agency specialising in consultant-grade physician placement across the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Middle East. We've spent years building direct relationships with public health services and consultant psychiatrists internationally, and we know these registration pathways inside out — so whatever stage you're at, we can tell you honestly where you stand.