A new comprehensive framework will guide Victoria’s mental health workforce, as the Allan Labor Government continues delivering the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.

Minister for Mental Health Ingrid Stitt today launched, ‘Our workforce, our future’ – a framework thatlays out the skills, attributes and knowledge needed by the mental health workforce to best meet the needs of Victorians now and into the future, following the release of a high-level overview of the framework in December 2021.

Mental health care providers will be able to use the information outlined in the framework as a guide for building their teams and designing roles, helping them operate as a part of a statewide collaborative network.

Guidance within the ’Our workforce, our future’ framework aims to:

• provide a common language for health services to use to describe roles, encourage inclusivity, and ensure professional practice

• support collaboration between services in the mental health and wellbeing system

• drive continuous improvement

• support better outcomes for consumers, families, carers and supporters.

The principles and capabilities outlined in the framework are meaningful and far-reaching, giving health services time to progressively implement them and will be supported by the Department of Health throughout the process.

This is the latest recommendation of the Royal Commission to be implemented, with the introduction of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 already supporting change throughout the system to provide more diverse, responsive, and compassionate mental health care to Victorians.

The Labor Government has invested more than $600 million in Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing workforce since the Royal Commission findings were handed down, laying the foundations for a future where every Victorian has access to the mental health care they need.

For more information on the framework, visit health.vic.gov.au/our-workforce-our-future.