This week the spotlight shone on mental health, with the government choosing Mental Health Week as the platform to launch their National Mental Health Workforce Strategy: a decade long plan to address one of Australia’s most pressing issues..

In the strategy, the taskforce explored ways to build up the workforce of people skilled to assist with mental ill-health and supporting positive mental health. 

For rural and regional areas, where mental health is often more vulnerable, a workforce shortage has worsened the problem. A lack of local training to join the industry was identified as a key problem, and key solution. 

“The strategy rightly notes that there needs to be a focus on developing, growing and sustaining the regional, rural and remote mental health workforce through providing localised education, training and placement opportunities for students,” National Rural Health Alliance CEO Susi Tegen said. 

“Funding support needs to be provided to local clinicians to take on students as well as support those who work long hours in their communities, as their contribution often goes unnoticed until they burn out and leave,” Ms Tegen said. 

As a way of building and retaining the local workforce, the strategy recommends several approaches, some which already exist to varying success across other industries, such as incentivising rural placements and creating more opportunities through scholarships and preferential selection. 

“We’re pleased that many of the Alliance’s recommendations…have been incorporated as it acknowledges that a universal workforce approach is not viable for the unique and varied challenges in rural and remote areas,” Ms Tegen said. 

Some interest groups believe the incentives should go further, replicating GP regional relocation incentives for psychologists, and wiping HECS-HELP debt. 

The recent federal budget saw $17.8 million allocated to building the broader health workforce in mental health, including undergraduate nurses and allied health students. 

“The quality of mental health relies on its workforce,” Minister for Health Mark Butler said. 

“Australians deserve a mental health care system where people can get compassionate help from highly skilled professionals,” he said.

With strategy on hand to build the workforce, the result of three years of consultation, working and research groups, implementation is the only question left. 

“We now need to see the resources and commitment by all levels of government to ensure to actions become tangible responses to this area of critical need,” Ms Tegen said.