Education level
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Your role as an epidemiologist
As an epidemiologist you’ll study health and wellbeing in large groups of people. You’ll find out why they get sick and find ways to prevent illness and disease.
This includes:
- studying public health data
- looking for patterns of illness and disease
- giving advice about health programs and policies.
We have full time, part time and casual roles.
What your day might look like
You’ll start your day checking in with your team, and looking at the latest data to spot any new health issues or disease outbreaks.
You'll also work on long term projects to improve public health.
You’ll use a range of sources to find trends and patterns, including:
- disease reports, death rates, and health records and alerts
- hospital and health system data
- medicine and vaccine use
- social and behavioural insights
- climate and environment measures.
What you find helps us improve the health of many people. You’ll write reports and give advice to help us make decisions.
A big part of the job is solving problems with other health professionals, research teams and academics. You might visit towns across Queensland to meet with them and look into health issues.
Qualifications
You’ll have one of the following qualifications.
- Bachelor’s degree in public health or health science, or a related degree like medicine, biology or biostatistics
- Master’s degree in epidemiology or public health
Pay and benefits
Your pay rate and benefits will depend on your role and your pay point. In your first year you’ll start at health practitioner grade 3, pay point 0. You’ll get a different rate if you’re a student.
We also offer:
- regular wage increases
- a superannuation rate of 12.75%
- a supportive workplace with flexible working arrangements
- several types of leave
- salary packaging
- help with ongoing professional development costs.
If you're moving to start a new job with us, you may be able to get help with moving and travel costs.
Professional growth
You’ll develop your professional skills through:
- orientation programs for new staff
- workplace learning and coaching
- self-directed learning
- professional development and upskilling opportunities.
Career paths
Getting experience as an epidemiologist or doing more study can lead to other roles.
- Policy officer
- Research leader
- Operations manager
If you plan to do more study, ask your training provider if your past studies can count towards a higher qualification.