What the Royal Commission said
The physical and mental wellbeing of the mental health workforce has an impact on the delivery of care.
The Royal Commission recommended measures to improve workforce safety and wellbeing. This includes the establishment of a Mental Health Workforce Wellbeing Committee.
The Committee will be co-chaired by the Department of Health and WorkSafe Victoria.
The Committee will:
- identify, monitor and address existing and emerging physical safety and wellbeing risks; and
- develop tailored monitoring approaches for the psychological health and safety of staff in the mental health and wellbeing workforce.
What are the opportunities?
The Royal Commission highlighted numerous systemic issues that contribute to poor work wellbeing. Some issues relate to other recommendations in the final report.
These include:
- burn out
- professional isolation
- reliance on crisis models of care
- limited access to practice supports
- occupational violence and safety
- limited leadership and management support.
What are we doing?
Mental Health Workforce Wellbeing Committee
The Department of Health is working to establish the Mental Health Workforce Wellbeing Committee by the end of 2021. The Committee will help identify ways to improve workforce wellbeing. It will also provide advice to the Department on implementation strategies.
Workforce wellbeing survey
A workforce wellbeing survey will monitor the success of workforce wellbeing initiatives and track improvements over time.
The survey will ‘measure what matters’ to members of the workforce. This includes how much their wellbeing is considered and the organisational factors that help them to feel supported and valued.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Strategy
The Department of Health is developing a Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Strategy. It is due to be published in 2021.
The Strategy will provide a roadmap to developing a sustainable and diverse workforce to support Victoria’s mental health system.
Reviewed 17 March 2022