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About Central Adelaide Local Health Network

The Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) comprises the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TQEH) and Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre.

CALHN provides a range of specialised community and clinical health services across SA at Flinders Medical Centre, Repat Health precinct, Lyell McEwin Hospital, Glenside Hospital and Sefton Park.

With expanded opportunities in services such as SA Prison Health Services, Renal, Integrated Care, SA Medical Imaging and Mental Health state-wide services, CALHN provides a most diverse clinical nursing experience for the recently graduated Registered Nurse.

With a Local Health Network approach, program participants may be required to undertake placements at any or across the CALHN locations.

While we primarily care for the health needs of the community within Adelaide’s eastern, central and western metropolitan area, our highly specialised capabilities offer rural, remote, interstate and overseas patients access to our services.

Find out more about the Central Adelaide Local Health Network.

Program information

CALHN offers the majority of the TPPP positions to nursing graduates each year, providing the opportunity to join a TPPP where you will consolidate your theoretical knowledge and expand your clinical skills within a wide variety of potential clinical settings.

The program is conducted over a 12-month period (comprising clinical placements and annual leave) and offers the following support:

  • rotation structure: minimum of two clinical rotations (6 months each)
  • comprehensive hospital and unit orientation
  • clinical supernumerary days and experiential learning days
  • structured professional development program (TPPP Education Framework)
  • specialised clinical mentors – dedicated TPPP Coordinator and Education Support Team
  • preceptorship/peer support
  • online learning and face to face classroom days
  • networking and debriefing opportunities
  • part time positions (0.84 full time equivalent), 8 days per fortnight
  • potential for career progression in speciality clinical programs
  • annual leave – scheduled in the program
  • salaries paid in accordance with the Nurses (SA Public Sector) Award 2002 and Nurses/Midwives (SA Public Sector) Enterprise Agreement 2022 (and any successor).

Key benefits

Subject to successful TPPP course completion you can remain in an ongoing/permanent contract in CALHN. The TPPP at CALHN offers the opportunity to participate in the program across multiple sites, with a diverse range of clinical settings, experiences, and locations. Rotations are available in various specialties, helping you to build a broad skill set and discover areas of interest and strength. Other features of the CALHN TPPP include:

  • Being supported each shift by highly skilled and knowledgeable nurses who will act as your mentor as you transition to professional practice.
  • Having access to a dedicated Early Career Transition team which includes an experienced ECTP Coordinator and Clinical Nurse Educators to provide hands-on support and guidance at the bedside.
  • Provision of education and wellbeing support through various platforms to help bridge the gap between the tertiary environment and the realities of clinical practice, reducing the stress and uncertainty that often comes with starting a nursing career.
  • Structured professional development throughout the program to progressively build your knowledge and skills as you transition into the Registered Nurse role. Interactive sessions, inquiry-based learning, reflection, quality improvement and scenario-based training (including the use of simulated patients) support the development of clinical capabilities and critical thinking in a safe and supportive environment, providing you with the essentials to provide safe, person-centred care
  • You remain with your intake group for orientation and professional development days, creating a sense of community and support. Being part of a graduate nurse cohort fosters friendships, eases the transition, and makes the experience more collaborative and less isolating.

All the above contribute to you developing your professional identity as a Registered Nurse within a supportive environment where experienced staff genuinely care about your growth, wellbeing, and success.

Site locations and specialty rotations

See the site rotations (PDF 232KB) for a list of speciality rotations by site. Sites within CALHN include:

Royal Adelaide Hospital is the state’s flagship hospital, providing a comprehensive range of the most complex clinical care to an estimated 85,000 inpatients and 400,000 outpatients each year. The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) forms a critical part of the CALHN, which brings together two hospitals and a significant number of rehabilitations, mental health, primary health care and state-wide services. The RAH is one of Australia’s most technologically advanced healthcare facilities, integrating the latest innovations across health, education, and research to deliver high-quality care.

TQEH is a 303 bed, acute care teaching hospital that provides inpatient, outpatient, emergency, and mental health services to a population of more than 250,000 people living primarily in Adelaide’s western suburbs.

Rehabilitation services  has now relocated from Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre to TQEH. The new general rehabilitation wards will pave the way for TQEH to be a key provider of inpatient general rehabilitation services, including stroke, amputation and burns.

The HRC is a campus of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. HRC provides transitional health care for up to 120 older patients or people with disabilities.

The nurses, allied health and medical teams at HRC work together to provide specialised high-quality care to older South Australians for problems unique to old age or disabilities with a focus on helping them to find their next place of care or a place in a longer-term residential care facility.

Services provided on the site more specifically include:

  • CO-ACT - Care of the Older Person and Community Transition — supports older adults in their transition from hospital care to community living.
  • Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit (GEMU) — provides care for older South Australians facing age- related health challenges.
  • Transition Ward — Patient centred care for individuals preparing to return to their homes and communities.
  • Specialist Geriatrics Unit — Care for patients who have behaviours and psychological symptoms of dementia.

CALHN's State-wide Rehabilitation Services program located at the Repat Health Precinct offers several state-wide specialised rehabilitation services for specific types of injury or illness, including:

  • The South Australian Spinal Cord Injury Service (SASCIS), is a state-wide service providing specialist rehabilitation services for South Australia. SASCIS provides services for adults who have sustained neurological impairment due to spinal cord injury from both traumatic and non-traumatic causes.
  • The Brain Injury Rehabilitation Services (BIRS) is a South Australian state-wide specialist rehabilitation service for people in South Australia, which also provides services for clients from western New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

South Australian Medical imaging (SAMI)

SAMI is a state-wide service that provides specialist, integrated, multi-discipline, medical imaging services to public and private inpatients, outpatients, and emergency department patients within 6 metropolitan and 4 country South Australian hospitals.

SAMI is the largest public imaging provider in Australia and employs staff across a variety of disciplines including specialist radiologists, medical physicists, radiographers, sonographers, nursing, and administrative support staff. With almost 800 staff, and approximately 600,000 examinations conducted on patients per year, the services provided by SAMI are provided by staff with expert knowledge and experience.

Our radiologists also provide reporting services to a further 37 country hospitals across the state. We also have a mobile Bone Density unit that visits country towns in SA.

SA Prison Health Services (SAPHS)

SAPHS is responsible for the provision of a range of primary health care services to Prisoners in State managed adult prisons in South Australia. SAPHS is a directorate of Central Adelaide Local Health Network and works in partnership with the Department for Correctional Services to provide health services to adults in custody. SAPHS provides patients with health services appropriate to their ongoing health needs in line with that which they would receive in the general community within the public health system.

Mental health services

There are opportunities for a rotation within CALHN Mental Health. This could be in the acute or community setting. If this is of interest, please highlight your interest on the application form.

Intake dates

  • January 2026
  • February 2026
  • March 2026
  • April 2026
  • May 2026

Information sessions

  • Monday 26 May, 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
    The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
    28 Woodville Road, Woodville South
    Tower Block, Level 2D, Lecture Theatre
    Please take the main lifts, inside the entrance to the tower block to level 2, and follow the signs to the lecture theatre
  • Monday 2 June
    2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
    Teams meeting
    Meeting ID: 439 061 771 335
    Passcode: x65mk7L4

Further information

For any further information about undertaking a TPPP at CALHN please contact the CALHN Nurse Manager, Nursing Education by emailing health.calhnnurseeducationnursemanager@sa.gov.au