It’s all part of a ‘whole-of-workforce approach to workforce capability development’, the government says.
The Victorian state government has announced a new consortium – The Collective – to provide professional development opportunities for lived and living experience workers in the mental health workforce.
“Victoria’s mental health workforce is the backbone of the system – lived and living experience workers will always be a central part of that workforce,” said the minister for mental health, Ingrid Stitt.
Supervision and training will be provided by The Collective, which is made up of the Self Help Addiction Resource Centre, Harm Reduction Victoria, the Carer Lived Experience Workforce Network, Tandem and the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council.
Mental health workers will be trained on the role and value of the lived and living experience workforce, there will be discipline-specific supervision, specific training for family carers and “broader support to strengthen capability across the sector”.
From 1 July, professional development and training of Victoria’s mental health workforce comes under the auspices of The Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing (the Collaborative Centre), established in response to recommendations made by the 2021 Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
The commission also recommended having more workers with lived experience and improving education and training opportunities.
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The government said future delivery of lived and living experience workforce projects would be part of a “whole-of-workforce approach to workforce capability development”.
The Collaborative Centre takes over the function from the Centre for Mental Health Learning.
The Collective initiative adds to existing programs including the Peer Cadet Program, Pilot Placement Support program and the Lived and Living Experience at Heart organisational readiness program.
“The Labor government has invested more than $51 million since 2020 to build better supports, structures and career pathways for the lived and living experience workforce,” the government said in a statement.
“These investments are in addition to the Labor government’s more than $600 million investment to grow, support and retain Victoria’s dedicated mental health workforce – which has led to a 25% increase [in] workforce numbers.”