Applying for ausMHLP 2008
Eligibility
If you are:
- a mental health professional of any discipline currently working in the public mental health system in Australia;
- committed to making a contribution to mental health in Australia at a service or system level, as well as at the clinical level; and
- can make available approximately 14 days in 2008
then we would like to hear from you.
Key dates
Applications for 2008 must be received by Friday 22nd February 2008.
Successful applicants will be notified by 7 March 2008.
Teaching begins from 14-16 April.
The full schedule of seminars taking place throughout 2008 can be found here.
Application procedure
Applications must include the following:
- Completed application form, including contact details for two referees (one of whom must be a current supervisor or employer)
- A SHORT curriculum vitae (no more than three pages)
- A statement outlining how you meet the selection criteria
- A Personal Statement of 200 words explaining why you are interested in participating in ausMHLP
- (Optional) Evidence of employer support for your participation
- A brief outline describing the general nature of a project that could be conducted over the course of 2008 (no longer than 200 words)
For more information on each of these components, please scroll further down this page.
Please email, fax or post your application to:
Dr Penny Mitchell
Senior Lecturer, ausMHLP Program Coordinator
Centre for International Mental Health
University of Melbourne VIC 3010
Email: pennym@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: (03) 8344 0654
Fax: (03) 9348 2794
1. Application Form and References
The application form may be downloaded here [.doc | 42.9kb] and submitted with the rest of the application.
Your referees need to be able to comment on your suitability for the program in terms of the selection criteria, so make your choices with this in mind – though one needs to be a current supervisor or employer.
Referees will be contacted to provide verbal or written comments.
2. Brief Curriculum Vitae
Your Curriculum Vitae must be no longer than three pages. It should outline your education history, employment history, memberships, relevant leadership activities, and any awards, prizes or scholarships you have received. Preference will be given to applicants who have leadership and change management roles in key organisational development tasks such as directors of clinical services, team leaders, managers and quality managers.
3. Selection Criteria
The following selection criteria provide a guide to the qualities that we are looking for in successful candidates. Please describe how you meet these criteria (bearing in mind that some contain multiple skills or attributes), using examples to support your claims. You should write no more than half a page for each criterion. While it is expected that your responses will focus on your current work or training, you should also draw examples where appropriate from any other areas of your life within the last five to ten years.
Selection criteria:
- Strong communication skills (written and oral)
- A proven ability to build and maintain relationships with a diverse range of individuals or organizations
- Initiative, capacity for strategic thinking, creativity / innovation
- A record of seeing tasks or projects through to completion
- Capacity to reflect on and modify professional performance / behaviour
- A commitment to contributing to mental health service provision in Australia beyond the clinical level
A copy of the Selection Criteria and a form for providing other information requested in points 4 to 7 below (including your Personal Statement and Project Outline) can be downloaded from here [.doc l 9.76kb] to be completed and submitted with the rest of the application.
4. Personal Statement
This should be no longer than 200 words and needs to explain why participating in ausMHLP interests you. Beyond that, what you choose to write about is up to you!
5. Evidence of employer support
Participating in ausMHLP yields benefits not only for you as an individual but also for your employer, in terms of the knowledge and skills you will gain about the broader context and system in which you operate and how to influence this and bring about change. We therefore strongly encourage you to talk with your employer about your interest in the program. Their support will be needed for you to take the required time off, and possibly to assist you with the program fee. If you can provide any evidence of this support, whether financial or otherwise, please include this with your application. And should your employer require further information about any aspect of ausMHLP, they are welcome to contact the ausMHLP Program Coordinator, Dr Penny Mitchell (contact details above).
6. Project outline
Participants will be encouraged to lead a service system development project during 2008, preferably in groups with colleagues from the same organisation attending the 2008 program. Sole participants will also be encouraged to work on a project of appropriate scale.You should provide a brief outline describing the general nature of a project that could be conducted over the course of 2008 in your workplace, with the support of your employer. This outline should be no longer than 200 words.
The objectives of the project are to provide a structured focus for: (1) translating learned concepts into practice; (2) practicing new leadership and organisational development skills, and (3) critical reflection on the learning process. Your outline should present your initial thoughts about a project that could potentially support these objectives. Evidence of the likelihood of implementation success at the end of 2008 is not essential!
Appropriate topics for projects could include:
- leading a process of implementing a new evidence-based practice
- improving responsiveness to cultural and linguistic diversity
- developing mechanisms of genuine intersectoral collaboration
- enhancing consumer and carer participation
- improving retention of high quality staff
- developing processes of team-based or organisational level learning
7. Colleagues
Preference will be given to applications from teams of 3 or 4 participants from the one organisation who can work together to conduct a service system development project during 2008. If you are planning to attend ausMHLP with several colleagues please list their names, along with the outline of a suitable project you could work on together.
Organising 3-4 attendees from one organisation is not always possible. Sole applicants are also encouraged to apply.
8. Fees
The program fee for ausMHLP 2008 is $9,000 plus GST. This covers all tuition, program materials, a leadership assessment, catering provided on seminar days (9.30 am to 5.00 pm) and one program dinner during each seminar, and participation in the end of program conference.
The fee does not include travel, accommodation and other related expenses, and program participants are responsible for making their own travel and accommodation arrangements.
Fees must be paid upfront and received no later than 31 March 2008.
9. Application assessment process
Applications will be ranked on the basis of the following weightings assigned to the various components:
- Responses to selection criteria and personal statement (50%)
- References (20%)
- Outline of project idea (20%)
- Intention to attend the program with 2-3 other colleagues from the same organisation (10%)
10. Scholarships
Eligible applicants should not be excluded on the basis of being unable to pay. Most mental health professionals in Australia have access to professional development funds, but some do not.
Ten part-scholarships will be available to the value of $5,000 each in the form of a reduced program fee. Applications for scholarships will be ranked on the basis of the following weightings assigned to the various components, with scholarships awarded to the top ten:
- Evidence that your organisation does not have professional development funds for professionals of your discipline, or that very limited funds are available (50%)
- Relatively low salary (e.g. relatively junior level in your career / organisation, part-time) (40%)*
- Evidence of agreement by employers to contribute to your travel and accommodation expenses for interstate seminars (10%).
A copy of the Scholarship Application Form can be downloaded from here [.doc l 30.9kb]
* It is not necessary to provide documentary evidence of your income, but providing a clear statement of your salary level will assist us in making an equitable assessment of your eligibility for a scholarship