Health, wellbeing and care workers are the backbone of the health system. The Victorian health workforce is among the best in the world, and the pandemic only highlighted their expertise, passion and fierce dedication to their patients.
The people who deliver care to Victorians deserve a first-rate employee experience, and Victoria is leading the way through our focus on future roles, capabilities and professional development. We’re asking questions that will equip our workforce for the future. What will tomorrow’s roles look like? What skills will our people need? And how are we going to support them to learn, stretch and grow?
The evolving needs of our healthcare system include greater autonomy for our workers, agility in the workplace and the need for workers to operate in multidisciplinary teams. We’ll make sure there are enough skilled and talented people across Victoria, and we’ll build the workforce needed to support our rural and regional communities.
Attracting and retaining the right type of workforce is critical for Victorians to get the best-quality care. This includes addressing critical workforce gaps in areas such as Aboriginal health, mental health and wellbeing, addiction services, medical research, lived experience and public health. We also need to prepare our workforce for new responsibilities under the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022.
Building modern health and care precincts that enhance worker wellbeing and reduce occupational violence will be a key focus. We’ll continue to prioritise sector resilience and preparedness for disease outbreaks, natural disasters and other emergencies by providing sector capability uplift and flexible and adaptable surge response capacity.
Finally, it’s no secret that the health sector can be high pressure with high stakes, but we will accept nothing less than a culture of full respect, which is free from violence and other threats to employee wellbeing.
Key deliverables
- World-leading employee experience with an improved service culture grounded in respect and safety
- Improved staff experience through better technology and IT systems
- Increased supply of critical roles and strengthened rural and regional workforce
- Future, fit-for-purpose roles and capabilities and preparedness for new responsibilities under the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act
- Stronger sector workforce resilience and emergency preparedness and adaptable surge response capacity
Initiatives
- Victorian 10-year health workforce strategy
- Aboriginal workforce strategy 2021–2026
- Public Health Workforce plan
- More support for our nurses and midwives
- Supporting the next generation of paramedics
- Supporting our GPs
- Mental Health Capital Renewal Fund
- Strengthening and supporting the mental health and wellbeing workforce
- Specialist forensic mental health services
- Mental health support for emergency service workers
Outcomes
Healthcare workforce
- Healthcare worker wellbeing and workforce capability and capacity.
Reviewed 31 August 2023