• Charles Sturt awarded $2 million through the National Mental Health Pathways to Practice Program
• The program is part of a 10-year National Mental Health Workforce Strategy to deliver a sustainable and skilled mental health workforce
• The University will provide 229 nursing, 78 occupational therapy and 61 social work student placements as part of the program

Charles Sturt University has been awarded $2 million to address critical shortages in the mental health workforce while providing placement opportunities with mental health providers across the University’s campus communities.

The Department of Health and Aged Care awarded the University the funding with the National Mental Health Pathways to Practice Program Pilot.

The program is part of a 10-year National Mental Health Workforce Strategy, which provides a roadmap to build a sustainable and skilled workforce to deliver mental health treatment, care and support for the current and future populations.

Charles Sturt will provide 229 nursing, 78 occupational therapy and 61 social work student placements through this program, which ends on 30 June 2025.

Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science and Health Professor Megan Smith said the program provides vital placement opportunities for students to learn on the job.

"We are proud to be involved in this program to better equip our nursing, occupational therapy and social work students to work in our communities where there is a desperate need for a mental health trained workforce,” she said.

“This project will break down key barriers in providing our students with access to mental health placements in regional and rural areas."

The University has also partnered with Recovery Camp, an award-winning provider of life-changing mental health programs who have been a transformative force in the mental health landscape over the past decade. The funding will allow Recovery Camp to boost its number of camps across the program period.

“Recovery Camp and Charles Sturt University have been working together for many years now, ensuring Charles Sturt pre-registration students have had the best possible mental health clinical placement experience,” Director and Co-founder of Recovery Camp Dr Christopher Patterson said.

“More than 230 Charles Sturt students have come to camp, learning first-hand from people with lived experience of mental illness, in a positive, activities-based environment.

“The opportunity of welcoming an additional 229 student nurses and expanding the experience to occupational therapy students is truly exciting. We are looking forward to the next couple of years, and beyond.”