In 2023, the Victorian Government released Our workforce, our future, a capability framework for Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing workforce. The framework brings together:
- 15 shared capabilities for all members of Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing workforce
- seven principles that describe the common values, attitudes and approaches that should guide practice
- safe and supportive working environments that enable workforce members to feel respected and valued, develop their capabilities and work collaboratively.
Together, these elements provide a shared foundation across professions, roles and settings. They support consistent, compassionate and rights-based care, treatment and support for consumers, families, carers, supporters and kin.
As a system steward, the Collaborative Centre has a transdisciplinary workforce development role across disciplines and service settings. This includes strengthening the shared capabilities, embedding the principles and supporting workplace cultures in which people can learn and apply their learning.
To inform our continuing education and capability development, the Collaborative Centre asked Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing workforce to identify its learning priorities across the 15 capabilities.
About the Development Needs Analysis
To canvas workforce priorities, the Collaborative Centre undertook a statewide Development Needs Analysis using quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. We surveyed 1,370 people about their priorities and brought together a further 60 people through 13 focus groups to explore the findings in greater depth.
The design of the Development Needs Analysis was based on advice from representatives of more than 40 organisations, including:
statewide training providers
- Lived and Living Experience peak bodies
- public and community mental health services
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals
- unions and professional associations
- the Department of Health.
This input helped ensure the approach reflected the diversity and complexity of Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing workforce and the different conditions that support people to apply learning in practice.
What Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing workforce told us
The workforce survey identified participants’ five highest learning priorities as:
- Understanding and responding to trauma (capability 4)
- Understanding and responding to substance use and addiction (capability 6)
- Understanding and responding to mental health crisis and suicide (capability 5)
- Supporting system navigation, partnerships and collaborative care (capability 12)
- Understanding and responding to family violence (capability 7)
These priorities build on the workforce’s existing expertise and closely reflect the direction set by the Royal Commission. They show a workforce that understands the vision for reform, is putting it into practice and can identify the development needed to carry it forward.
What we heard will guide how the Collaborative Centre delivers its workforce continuing education and capability development, building on this existing expertise and supporting the changes envisaged by the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their views.
How the workforce wants to learn
We also asked people how they prefer to learn and what is realistic within busy workplaces.
Face-to-face and online workshops, together with group reflective practice, were seen as both effective and practical.
The focus groups helped us understand why the identified priorities matter and what helps people apply learning in their everyday work.
One theme stood out: the value the workforce places on relational ways of working. This includes learning and practising through developing relationships, time for reflection and collaboration.
Participants described curiosity, hope and person-centred practice as foundations for quality care, treatment and support. They also highlighted the importance of:
- mentoring
- reflective practice
- quality supervision
- supportive workplace learning cultures
- collaboration
- Lived and Living Experience perspectives.
Together, the survey and focus groups reinforced that workforce development involves more than attending training. Learning is most useful when workplaces give people the time, support and opportunities they need to apply their training in practice.
Turning workforce priorities into action
The Collaborative Centre will use these findings to tailor support around what the workforce has told us. This provides an evidence base for workforce planning and will guide future workforce development priorities and investment.
This includes:
- focusing learning on the areas identified as important by the workforce
- strengthening reflective and relational practice
- supporting leaders and educators to create strong workplace learning cultures
- helping people apply learning in their everyday work.
The perspectives of the workforce are a key part of the picture. The Collaborative Centre is also undertaking a second project, Beyond Capability, that involves listening directly to consumers, families, carers, supporters and kin about the qualities and ways of working that contribute to their experiences of mental health care, treatment and support.
Bringing these perspectives together will provide a richer evidence base for deciding where workforce development can make the greatest contribution.
What happens next
This work is moving from listening to action. Drawing on evidence from across Victoria, we are building a clearer understanding of how to strengthen the workforce’s existing expertise and shared capabilities and support the implementation of reform in everyday practice.
We look forward to sharing the final results from the Workforce Development Needs Analysis later in 2026.
In the meantime, explore current learning, training and practical resources through the: