Meridian is a peer-led, community-based health organisation that has its origins as an AIDS Council, started in 1983 from a grass roots response to a looming crisis. Our vision is to build strong, connected, and supportive communities that are free of new HIV transmission, marginalisation, discrimination, and stigma.

At Meridian, we’re about celebrating diversity, strengthening community, and empowering our communities to live their best lives. In doing this work, we most value:

• Respect: By honouring people’s stories, valuing our history and treating everyone with dignity.
• Inclusiveness: By being unbiased and fair in everything we do and consulting widely to identify where we can make the most difference.
• Leadership: By motivating and inspiring others to reach the vision and mission.
• Partnership: By knowing, supporting, and collaborating with individuals, groups, and organisations to strengthen our response to HIV and AIDS.
• Empowerment: By supporting people to make their own informed choices.

Meridian employs staff who have lived experience and use this openly, appropriately, and effectively to build professional relationships with the people they work with. Lived experience is used to inform and contribute to staff culture and encourage community understanding and reduction of stigma and discrimination for all affected communities. Lived experience includes, but is not limited to the following, - people who are impacted by HIV, people who identify as sex, sexuality, or gender diverse and their families and allies, people who have undertaken or are undertaking sex work, people who have used drugs and those with mental health impacts.

All selection is based on proven experience, qualifications and/or training and the person’s potential to undertake the responsibilities of the position most efficiently. As an LGBTIQA+ peer-based organisation and an HIV service agency, we recognise that LGBTIQA+ people and people with HIV/AIDS bring unique perspectives, skills and knowledge that are important to Meridian’s work. Therefore, Meridian promotes the recruitment and continued employment of LGBTIQA+ people and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Meridian is a peer-led organisation that values diversity in the workplace and encourages applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

ORGANISATIONAL CONTRIBUTION

• Participating effectively as a team member, including assisting other team members when required and contributing to the broader strategic goals of the organisation.
• Supporting and promoting a strong work health safety culture.
• Demonstrating a strong commitment to a culture of quality, continuous improvement, and service excellence.
• Developing and maintaining effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Reinforcing and promoting the principles of diversity and inclusion and modelling Meridian’s values.
• Quality improvement and risk management.

VACANCIES

Trainer

Wellbeing Peer Worker

• Position Title: Wellbeing Peer Worker
• Reports to: Manager, Wellbeing Services
• Conditions: Fixed Term Contract to 30 June 2026
• Hours of work: 37.5 hours per fortnight (0.5 FTE)
• Award classification: SCHADS Level 3/4 (depending on experience)
• Office location: Meridian, 85 Northbourne Ave, Turner ACT
  
  

Position Overview
As a Wellbeing Peer Worker at Meridian, you will utilise your lived experience to provide culturally safe, inclusive, affirming and trauma-informed psychosocial, mental health wellbeing support to LGBTIQA+ individuals, their families and carers. In addition to working with individual clients, you will design and facilitate mental health and wellbeing support groups including arts and recreation-based activities, health promotion and educational groups and cognitive behavioural support groups as part of Meridian’s team of mental health professionals.

To find out more, or apply, click here.

Student Placements and Internships

The ACT is fortunate to have so many high-quality learning institutions. We value the opportunity to assist students at a variety of levels across a range of disciplines to gain experience of a functioning workplace as well as increasing understanding of how a community and HIV organisation works.

We are particularly interested in working with people who are passionate about working with communities impacted by HIV, including but not limited to the LGBTIQ+ community, sex workers, people from high prevalence countries and people who inject drugs.

Meridian can work with students looking for experience in Counselling, Social Work, Health Promotion, Community Development, Policy Development and Business Studies. All student placements and interns are required to become volunteers of Meridian to do their placements.

We encourage students who would like to work with Meridian to approach us with their learning requirements. You can contact us or phone 02 6257 2855.