Mental Health Workforce Advisory Committee (MHWAC)

The Mental Health Workforce Advisory Committee provides advice to the Health Workforce Principal Committee and the Mental Health Standing Committee (MHSC) on mental health workforce related issues.

Terms of reference

To provide advice to the HWPC and MHSC on workforce related issues that may be appropriate for cross-jurisdictional or national action.
To provide advice to the HWPC and MHSC regarding the implications of broader health and other workforce issues/initiatives for mental health.
To coordinate the workforce related activities of the MHSC.
To facilitate information sharing on workforce related initiatives between the jurisdictions.
To facilitate communication between MHSC, training bodies and professional associations, and other mental health workforce stakeholders.
To review the collection of national mental health workforce data and make recommendations to the HWPC, the MHSC and other relevant bodies on strategies to improve data collection.
To analyse and report on that data with a view to assisting mental health workforce planning.
To encourage the development of consumer led services in jurisdictions.
To undertake specific workforce related tasks as directed by the HWPC.

Responsibilities and key tasks of MHWAC

Reporting to the HWPC and MHSC

Identify workforce related issues that may be appropriate for cross-jurisdictional or national action, and advise HWPC and MHSC regarding national mental health workforce priorities.
Establish liaison between HWPC and MHSC, and identify priority workforce related activities relevant to mental health, and advise HWPC and MHSC of the implications of these activities for mental health.
With clearance from HWPC, on behalf of MHSC, draft discussion papers, submissions and other documents on mental health to relevant national health workforce related projects (for example, national review of Enrolled nurse/Division 2 Nurse training).
Review existing mental health workforce data collections, and provide recommendations regarding the establishment and further development of data collections.
Establish and monitor the progress of the Mental Health Nurse Education Taskforce (a joint Taskforce of the MHSC and Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery to progress the recommendations of the Australian Mental Health Nurse Supply, Recruitment and Retention Report. (see Reports section)
Support implementation of the National Practice Standards for the Mental Health Workforce.
Comply with business rules determined by the Health Workforce Principal Committee.

Mental Health Workforce activities

In 2006, jurisdictions completed a template of workforce activities based on the National Health Workforce Strategic Framework. The information gives a snapshot of the range of activities underway nationally in relation to mental health workforce.

Australian Capital Territory Mental Health Workforce Initiatives [Excel, 50k]

Commonwealth Mental Health Workforce Initiatives [Excel, 50k]

New South Wales Mental Health Workforce Initiatives [Excel, 49k]

Northern Territory Mental Health Workforce Initiatives [Excel, 54k]

Queensland Mental Health Workforce Initiatives [Excel, 82k]

South Australia Mental Health Workforce Initiatives [Excel, 62k]

Tasmania Mental Health Workforce Initiatives [Excel, 51k]

Victoria Mental Health Workforce Initiatives [Excel, 60k]

Western Australia Mental Health Workforce Initiatives [Excel, 50k]

Mental Health Workforce supply

'The provision of effective mental health services is reliant on the availability of skilled mental health professionals. The National Practice Standards for the Mental Health Workforce identify five key disciplines that make up the mental health workforce:

Mental health nursing.
Occupational therapy.
Psychiatry.
Psychology.
Social work.

Brief papers regarding the supply of psychiatrists and psychologists have been prepared and are below.

Mental Health Workforce: Supply of Psychiatrists, February 2008 [pdf, 95k]

Mental Health Workforce: Supply of Psychologists, February 2008 [pdf, 72k]

Mental Health Workforce: Supply of Mental Health Nurses, September 2008 [pdf, 72k]

Mental Health Nurse Education Taskforce

The Mental Health Nurse Education Taskforce has had a strong working relationship with the Mental Health Workforce Advisory Committee.

MHNET was established as a sub-committee of Mental Health Standing Committee and the Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (Australia & New Zealand) (CDNM) in September 2005.

The role of the taskforce was to take the mental health nurse education agenda forward, building on the recommendations of the Australian Health Workforce Advisory Committee (2003), Australian Mental Health Nurse Supply, Recruitment and Retention, AHWAC Report 2003.2, Sydney.

Final Report: Mental Health in Pre-registration Nursing courses

MHNET received funding from AHMAC to undertake a project on mental health in pre-registration nursing courses. The project aimed to identify innovative approaches to pre-registration mental health nursing education, and to develop an agreed framework for mental health content within undergraduate nursing curricula.

The Final Report: Mental Health in Pre-registration Nursing Courses was endorsed by AHMAC in June 2008. The report was launched by Australia’s Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Ms Rosemary Bryant, in August 2008.

Mental Health Nurse Education Taskforce Final Report - March 2008 [pdf, 530k]

Mental Health Nurse Education Taskforce (MHNET) Implementation Group

On 7 & 8 June 2010, a national workshop, Teaching Mental Health, was held in Melbourne. The workshop was sponsored by the MHNET Implementation Group, a sub-committee of MHWAC. The aims of the forum were:

To further familiarise participants with the Framework for Mental Health in Pre-registration Nursing Courses and challenges in regard to the framework.
To provide an opportunity to exchange ideas about teaching and learning methods, and share examples of innovative teaching and learning approaches.
To identify strategies and actions going forward to further support implementation of the framework

Almost every School of Nursing and Midwifery in Australia was represented at the workshop.

Teaching Mental Health - Workshop Presentations

Mental Health Professional Online Development (MHPOD)

The aim of this national project is to develop and implement an innovative web-based professional education tool for staff from a range of disciplines in public mental health services. The tool will also be of use to workers in other roles in the health system working with people who have a serious mental illness. The project is being undertaken by CADRE Design with the Psychosocial Research Centre at the University of Melbourne and is managed by the MHWAC Secretariat. All states and territories and the Commonwealth Government, have contributed funding for the project through the Mental Health Workforce Advisory Committee. For more detail, go to www.mhpod.gov.au

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