July 15th, 2022Funding for skilled mental health workers

Minister for Mental Health Gabrielle Williams has unveiled 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.
The $13.7 million incentive program will 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.
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