AMHS Training Calendar

Upcoming Training 

Our current AMHS Training Calendar can be found here. Events are free, online, part- and full-day, and include topics such as supervision training, leadership development, lived experience workforce development, therapeutic interventions, supported decision-making, and more. New events are being added so check back regularly!

A colour A4 poster can be printed for displaying in your services.

The development, delivery and sustainability of ‘train-the-trainer’ models of education will be considered in next year’s calendar. Processes and procedures will continue to require building and refining, as the LPD team move slowly and safely toward in-person delivery of training. However online training of varying durations will remain in the free training calendar as the workforce has become more skilled in both delivering and accessing online training, and it ensures access across the state.

AMHS Training Calendar History

In April 2020 the funding and functions of the three Victorian mental health learning & development “clusters” transitioned to the Centre for Mental Health Learning. This meant the CMHL was now responsible for the planning and delivery of a calendar of training and professional development events for the public clinical mental health workforce in Victoria, and our Learning and Practice Development (LPD) team was appointed to lead this work.

Training Calendar Development

To guide training offerings, and reduce duplication, extensive consultation took place with stakeholders from area mental health services (AMHS) across Victoria, identifying workforce development priorities and needs, and understanding existing professional development and training initiatives within services. The CMHL committees, made up of AMHS representatives across disciplines, specialties and lifespans, are regularly consulted and informed regarding calendar planning, as are internal CMHL discipline educators and lived experience workforce development coordinators.

The training delivered on this calendar is multi-and cross-disciplinary, with the objective being to meet the development needs for a wide range of roles across the sector. Due to COVID restrictions, training that may have regularly appeared on cluster calendars now needed to be converted to online. Some training providers quickly converted their training but some training took longer to redevelop.

The calendar includes the planning and delivery of discipline or lifespan specific forums in the areas of family/carer lived experience work, enrolled nurses, older adults, social workers, occupational therapy, psychology & mental health workforce educators. Each forum requires a working group led by CMHL with AMHS participation. Find more information on the 2021 Forums here.

Significant CMHL effort has been allocated to developing internal processes, timelines and procedures for our new role in delivering effective and successful training events.

2020/21 Training Calendar Feedback

From July 2020 to June 2021, the LPD team delivered 71 training events, with more than 2000 attendees. As a result of COVID-19, all training and professional development initiatives were delivered online for the 2020-2021 financial year.

Consultation and feedback from training evaluations has indicated that the conversion to online delivery has been largely successful, particularly amongst regional and rural workforces who have in the past been limited in their opportunities to attend in-person events. It has been identified that there are some key training areas, such as suicide prevention, that would be best delivered in an in-person format due to the nature of their content. During AMHS consultations, suicide prevention, clinical supervision, and trauma informed care were all identified as areas requiring significant workforce development, so the CMHL LPD will consider what substantial project work and collaboration may need to be undertaken in these areas. We continue to evaluate attendance and feedback, to refine training offerings.

The LPD team will continue to engage, consult with, and obtain feedback from AMHS, statewide training providers and other stakeholders, to further identify training gaps and needs within the sector.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash