Careers in Intellectual Disabilities

About our services

The Intellectual Disability Service delivers inpatient and community forensic services for young people and adults with an intellectual disability who have become involved with the criminal justice system.

We work to support each service user to achieve a good life in the community that is enriching, meaningful, and free from offending.

As a national and regional provider of services, we are committed to leading the implementation of contemporary clinical practices and becoming a centre of excellence for New Zealand.

Most of our regional and national services are co-located on the Rātonga -Rua-O-Porirua campus, 20 kilometres north of Wellington. The co-location of services provides staff with opportunities to explore generalist careers or to develop expertise in a specialist area, such as working with youth offenders with an intellectual disability.

Opportunities with us (potential career pathways and qualifications)

If you’re a mental health or intellectual disability (learning disability) professional looking for your next challenge in a vibrant yet tranquil environment, look no further.

There are exciting opportunities for medical, nursing, social work, psychology, occupational therapy, support, and administrative staff to join our inpatient forensic intellectual disability service, based in Porirua—a beautiful city 20 kilometres north of Wellington.

These unique and rewarding roles provide the chance to work at a national level during a time of transformational change. Now is the time to take advantage of this opportunity for variety, career progression and work-life balance.

Search psychiatry, nursing and allied health vacancies here.

Ready for more?

Registered nurses
We welcome applications from registered nurses who are trained to work with people with an intellectual disability or who have an interest in entering this field.

Our aim is to be a leader in the delivery of intellectual disability services at a regional and national level. This is an exciting career opportunity for suitable applicants keen to work in an innovative, best practice environment.

For the right candidate the service will offer:

• A competitive salary package
• Assistance in relocating to Wellington
• Opportunities for professional development and career progression
• Specialist in-house training and workshops
• Support for post-graduate study
• The opportunity to be part of a large tertiary service.

You’ll need:

• Post-registration education/learning and experience relevant to the specialty area of intellectual disability (learning disability) – or a willingness to gain the skills required to work in this field.
• An understanding of a forensic inpatient setting
• Registration with New Zealand Nursing Council
• A current annual practising certificate
• Willingness to work towards a full New Zealand driving license.

Clinical Psychologists

If you are a clinical psychologist looking for an opportunity to apply your expertise in behaviour change, trauma-informed practice, risk assessment and management, and psychological wellbeing, then the Intellectual Disability Service would love to hear from you.

The Intellectual Disability Service’s Model of Care guides service design and delivery. The model is a psychological as opposed to medical model, and affords opportunities for holistic practice that promote a service user’s quality of life while addressing the causing of their offending behaviour.

A central tenet of the model is Positive Behaviour Support (PBS), which ensures that functional assessment of behaviour is at the forefront of clinical decision-making, in addition to helping understand what personally meaningful quality of life looks like for service users and their whānau.

Clinical psychologists play an essential role in the development of psychological formulation for all service users. Consistent with the Model of Care, comprehensive psychological formulation informs the care and rehabilitation delivered while a person is in hospital-level care.

New to Porirua or New Zealand?

Porirua city is nestled between rolling hills, sitting alongside two harbours and a coastline that stretches for 56 km. Our people are friendly and come from diverse backgrounds which reflect New Zealand’s many cultures.

This beautiful coastal environment offers quiet walks on sandy beaches, fishing, scuba diving, swimming, kayaking and much more. It has a large aquatic centre, cinemas, parks, shopping malls, a 12 hectare retail centre and the Pataka Museum and Gallery, a nationally respected cultural centre. Learn more about life in Porirua.

Porirua is within easy reach of airports, trains, the interisland ferry and State Highway 1. Porirua is just 20 minutes’ drive north of Wellington, where you can connect with all the culture and opportunity New Zealand’s capital city has to offer. Learn more about life in Wellington.