The Victorian Government is pushing to expand the regional and rural workforce through the Regional Mental Health Workforce Incentives program, which aims to attract and retain workers in state-funded mental health and alcohol and other drug (AOD) services across rural and regional Victoria.
At a cost of $13.7 million, the incentive program aims to cover regional mental health workforce incentive grants, support for workers and their families to settle in a new community and support for health services to promote priority jobs.
Minister for Mental Health Gabrielle Williams said we want to help our mental health workers make a smooth transition to communities that need their dedicated expertise.
“Victorians experiencing a mental illness deserve the best treatment,” she said.
“We’re building a robust state-wide mental health workforce to ensure quality care and support is delivered everywhere for all Victorians, close to their home and friends and family.”
The program aims to attract workers from metropolitan Melbourne, interstate and overseas, offering flexible grants of up to $20,000 to support costs such as accommodation, relocation, childcare, school fees and vehicle costs.
It will support around 200 grants for workers in Area Mental Health Services and up to 80 grants for community-managed mental health services. Additional funding of $300,000 will go towards a pilot program to trial similar relocation grants for the AOD workforce.
The grants will be administered by Rural Workforce Agency Victoria (RWAV).
The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System highlighted significant workforce gaps in rural and regional areas and this program delivers on the Commission’s recommendation to address these supply shortages.
Information on the Regional Mental Health Workforce Incentives program, including job vacancies and eligibility requirements is available on the RWAV website rwav.com.au.
