- Published:
- Tuesday 27 May 2025
The Allan Labor Government is continuing to place lived experience at the centre of the mental health workforce – with a new consortium set to provide professional development opportunities for lived and living experience workers.
Minister for Mental Health Ingrid Stitt today announced The Collective, a consortium comprising the Self Help Addiction Resource Centre, Harm Reduction Victoria, the Carer Lived Experience Workforce Network, Tandem, and the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council.
The Collective will be the provider of dedicated supervision and training to Victoria’s lived and living experience workforce.
The Collective will provide introductory training for mental health workers on the role and value of the lived and living experience workforce, along with discipline-specific supervision, specialised training for the family carer lived experience workforce and broader support to strengthen capability across the sector.
Announced earlier this year, the Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing (the Collaborative Centre) will become responsible for the professional development and upskilling of Victoria’s mental health workforce from 1 July, delivering on recommendations made by the Royal Commission.
With the transition of programs from the Centre for Mental Health Learning to the Collaborative Centre underway, a sector-led approach for the future delivery of Lived and Living Experience Workforce projects has been developed.
The Collective will work alongside the Collaborative Centre to ensure a whole-of-workforce approach to workforce capability development.
The Labor Government has invested more than $51 million since 2020 to build better supports, structures and career pathways for the lived and living experience workforce.
Initiatives such as the Peer Cadet Program, Pilot Placement Support program and the Lived and Living Experience at Heart organisational readiness program are strengthening the lived and living experience workforce, equipping them with the skills needed to provide valuable support to consumers and carers.
These investments are in addition to the Labor Government’s more than $600 million investment to grow, support and retain Victoria’s dedicated mental health workforce – which has led to a 25 per cent increase workforce numbers.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Mental Health Ingrid Stitt
“Victoria’s mental health workforce is the backbone of the system – lived and living experience workers will always be a central part of that workforce.”
“The Collective will provide crucial training and development opportunities to lived and living experience workers so they can continue providing valuable insight, supporting Victorians to access the very best care.”