Encouraging Signs For Mental Health Workforce
When someone is making the brave step of reaching out for help whether it's you, your child, a friend or family member, this Government is committed to ensuring we have the right support in place to answer that call, Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey says.
'It is promising to see reports showing New Zealand's mental health and addiction workforce is growing. This will help us ensure that people are getting the support they need, when they need it and no one's call is going unanswered,' Mr Doocey says.
'Over the past two years, there has been substantial progress in building up the mental health and addiction workforce. We have more mental health nurses, psychologists, support workers and addiction counsellors working on the ground, and overall vacancy rates are starting to ease.
'Behind every one of those new psychologists, nurses, support workers or counsellors are hundreds of people at what can be the lowest time of their life, now able to be seen, heard and supported.
'I've been very clear that increasing access to support is a top priority. The Auditor General called for a specific mental health workforce plan in response to wait-times and vacancy rates increasing under the previous Government. We treated this as a priority and delivered the first dedicated mental health workforce plan in New Zealand within the first year.
'It's pleasing to see HNZ payroll data shows total full-time staff employed in mental health grew by more than 9 per cent year-on-year between Quarter 3 in 2023 and Quarter 1 2025.'
While challenges remain, particularly in psychiatry vacancies, HNZ Payroll data also shows there has been 9.5 percent growth in the number of full-time staff employed as Senior Medical Officers – Psychiatry between Quarter 1 2024 and Quarter 1 2025.
'We know we need more psychiatrists in New Zealand. That's why we've increased training places and funding to support more people into the field. We've lifted the number of funded registrar positions from 33 in 2024 to 54 a year after Budget 2025,' Mr Doocey says.
'I've also written to both Health New Zealand and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry to encourage them to do everything they can to remove any additional barriers to grow the psychiatry workforce.
'It is heartening to see that the Government's focus on growing the workforce and our commitment to addressing long-standing workforce gaps is starting to pay off because at the end of the day, when someone is making the brave step of reaching out to get well, workforce should never be a barrier.'
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