Your role
As a public health officer in Queensland Health, you’ll provide a range of public health services (population level health promotion, protection and prevention) areas to improve and maintain the health of Queenslanders.
Public health services you might work across include:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health programs
- immunisation programs
- infectious diseases
- sexual health
- mental health
- long term (chronic) disease prevention programs.
What you’ll do
The role of a public health officer in Queensland Health can be quite varied. What you'll do in your role as a public health officer will depend on where you work and the services you work in.
In your role you may:
- Collect, analyse and use data to do population-level health and service planning
- Consult with communities, health professionals and other groups about public health challenges and solutions
- Do research to develop and review public health and other policies and regulations that impact on people's health
- Work with communities and other health practitioners to develop and review population health strategies and programs
- Manage public health programs and projects
- Use health costs and data to review public policies and health programs
You can find out more about the role of public health on the Public Health Association Australia website.
Qualifications
To be a public health officer in Queensland Health, you'll need a university qualification in public health, either:
- a bachelor's degree in public health
- a postgraduate degree (usually a master's degree) in public health.
Public health is a competitive field. You may choose to do further study, such as leadership and management, to improve your chances of getting a senior role.
Wages
Your pay will depend on your health practitioner (HP) classification and employment status. Read our health practitioner wage rates.
Career progression
There are many opportunities for career growth for public health officers in Queensland Health.
- People with the right university-level qualifications may commence in Queensland Health in new graduate/ entry level (HP level 3) positions.
- Senior and advanced public health officer roles may be available as you gain experience and expertise.
- People with experience in another health profession and the right qualifications in public health may have the opportunity commence in public health in a senior (HP4) or advanced public health officer (HP5) position.
- In some locations, public health cadet (HP level 1) positions may be available for those studying university qualifications to become a public health officer.
- Public health officers may progress to manager or director positions where they lead public health units or larger services.
Alternative career pathways
In some locations, there may be different opportunities and pathways you can take to work in public health in Queensland Health.
Queensland Health may employ people with vocational education and training (VET) qualifications or experience in administrative and policy roles. It may also be possible to start your public health career in Queensland Health in a school-based traineeship.
Read more about technical, administrative and other supporting roles in public health.
How to apply
We advertise all our jobs on the Queensland Government SmartJobs website. We also have information about the application process.