Mental health workforce
Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:21): (728) My question is for the Minister for Mental Health. As part of the negotiations on the Victorian Public Mental Health Services Enterprise Agreement 2020–2024, a memorandum of understanding was agreed upon by the Health and Community Services Union, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, the Victorian Hospitals Industrial Association and the Victorian Labor government. This memorandum provided for the delivery of a further 800 positions across all mental health services in Victoria. This was a welcome promise as mental health services, particularly bed-based services, are understaffed, overworked and often unsafe. Unfortunately, we understand that this government will no longer be delivering on that promise. I understand that this may be a matter for the Minister for Industrial Relations, but given the urgency on this issue, I ask: will you advocate for the implementation of these 800 positions?
Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:22): I thank Ms Payne for her question. Can I say from the outset I want to acknowledge the amazing work that our mental health workforce do each and every day right across the system, whether that is in the acute end of the system or in community mental health or in our locals. Wherever they are, they are doing amazing work which is helping to change lives and indeed save lives, so I will always stand with our amazing workforce. I want to acknowledge that for the success of the implementation of the royal commission’s recommendations, our workforce is really at the heart of a lot of that.
Our government will continue to back our mental health workforce. We have already invested $600 million, which is the largest investment in our state’s history, to grow, support and retain mental health workers. That has resulted in, between 2021 and 2023, an additional 1700 additional FTEs across the system, and that represents a 17 per cent increase on our workforce numbers, well and truly above those historical averages each year. Those roles include nursing, lived-experience workers, medical, psychology and social work, occupational therapy and other allied health workers, and there is more on the way. We have also recently in this year’s budget invested $15.8 million to increase the pipeline of workers in our locals – the missing middle, if you like. That is incredibly important because the continuing rollout of those services means that we are providing support to people early, which means that we alleviate pressure on the acute system and on our emergency departments, which, before the locals existed, were really the only option for people beyond just going to their GP.
I am absolutely committed to supporting our workforce and will continue to do that. I try to get out to different mental health services, including our acute services, regularly. I make a point of talking directly with the workers about what they need in their services and what is going to make a difference. We will continue to work in good faith with unions that represent the mental health workforce, including HACSU, as they progress their enterprise bargaining negotiations, which are currently underway.
Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:25): I thank the minister for her detailed response to the question. By way of supplementary, occupational violence and aggression in the mental health sector is an ongoing and serious issue. We did hear from many lived-experience workers as well as many of the nurses in the sector just recently on this, and it is an issue that is likely to worsen if understaffing is to continue, so I ask: what is the minister doing to ensure that mental health service workers are being kept safe and understaffing is being addressed?
Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (12:25): Thank you for the supplementary, Ms Payne. I do not know if I can do it justice in the 1 minute that I have got, but a lot of work is going on. Obviously there are key recommendations in the royal commission final report around reducing occupational violence, reducing restraint and compulsory treatment. Of course the flip side to that is making sure that it is not at the expense of the safety of our workforce, so I am very mindful of the need to get that balance right. Our chief mental health nurse, who sits within Safer Care Victoria, is doing a lot of work right across particularly the acute sector of mental health in making sure that occupational health and safety is at the forefront of how our acute services are operating. I am very happy to provide a little bit more detail outside of the standing orders for you on other work that is happening.