The Organisation

As Australia’s only national bird conservation charity, we are on a mission to put birds and nature on the path to recovery within a decade, leading and facilitating action that halts biodiversity loss and restores ecosystems. We can only achieve this with the help and support afforded to us by our diverse stakeholders including supporters, campaigners, donors, members and like-minded conservation organisations.

BirdLife Australia takes a science and evidence-based approach to bird conservation. Where strong conservation plans are in place and well-resourced the evidence tells us that threatened species can be brought back from the brink of extinction. With a 100-plus year history and Australia’s strongest and longest-lived collection of data and surveys, BirdLife Australia brings a wealth of observation and experience to the protection of native birds.

BirdLife Australia is a diverse organisation with more than 350,000 supporters, donors, volunteers, campaigners and members, over 130 staff across Australia, and a network of more than 40 voluntary community groups.

BirdLife Australia is truly local to global, with a network of more than 40 voluntary community groups on the ground in Australia and is the Australian member of the BirdLife International partnership, the world’s largest partnership for conservation.

Our growing network of people generously give their time, expertise, voice and financial support, standing together with us to help protect Australia’s unique birdlife.

A significant part of BirdLife Australia’s work is done by volunteers acting either alone, in organised groups or serving on Committees. It is important that all staff understand and appreciate the contribution made by volunteers, and are also mindful of their varying skills, interests and motivations.

BirdLife Australia acknowledges the important role First Nations People throughout Australia have played, and continue to play, caring for Country. We acknowledge their continuing connection to land, sea and community and pay respect to Traditional Owners and their cultures, and to their Elders both past and present. BirdLife Australia endeavours to facilitate the further engagement of Indigenous Australians in the research and conservation of our native birds.

Position objective         

High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI / H5) represents an unprecedented crisis for native Australian wildlife, particularly colonial seabirds, shorebirds, waterfowl and raptors. Tasmania’s wetlands and coastlines support regionally and internationally significant bird populations that face extreme ecological risk. While documented cases in Tasmania remain low, this offers a narrow, time-critical window to establish preventative early-detection surveillance before widespread transmission occurs.

This role will focus on establishing a Tasmanian Bird Observers Network (TasBON) dedicated to monitoring sentinel coastal and wetland habitats, coordinated by BirdLife Tasmania. The TasBON will be supported by technical oversight from BirdLife Australia’s national Avian Influenza coordinators and Coastal and Wetland Birds team. The dedicated Tasmanian coordinator will play a key role to mobilise, train, and support volunteer field observers.

By cross-referencing AviFluMap risk models with active birdwatcher networks and existing coverage gaps, monitoring efforts will strategically target vulnerable regions and species assemblages. Volunteer field observers will receive comprehensive training and instruction in biosafety, standardised count methodologies, participant verification tracking, and real-time digital logging of sick, dead, or behaving-abnormally birds into Birdata.

Importantly, this project will play a role to work closely with the Biosecurity Tasmania’s HPAI Incident Manage Team and Department of Natural Resources and Environment to identify data-deficient sites and ensure data are shared rapidly to inform disease outbreak responses.  In addition, pre-outbreak baseline records collected during the project will enable researchers to track demographic losses and monitor long-term population recovery following potential disease events.

What you need to know:

This is a casual position based in Tasmania for a 4 month contract

For further information please refer to the attached position description. Any questions can be directed to Grainne Maguire c/o – people@birdlife.org.au. If you are unable to access the position description, please contact People & Safety on people@birdlife.org.au.

Applications close by 5pm, Wednesday, 23rd of September 2026.

Your application must include a cover letter, a statement briefly addressing the selection criteria and your current resume.