Workforce Survey Project
WA's inaugural survey of the community mental health sector workforce.
We are excited to be undertaking a historic project to conduct WA’s inaugural survey of the state's community mental health sector workforce.
The result of this project will be a better understanding of the numbers and characteristics of those Western Australians who work in the sector, as well as the trends, opportunities and challenges currently facing the sector as a whole.
Key project facts:
- Any not-for-profit organisation that provides mental health services or supports in the WA community is eligible to complete the survey.
- A Project Reference Group has been established, made up of nine organisations from across the sector.
- The survey will be issued in October, with results published in early 2026.
- Management and research consultancy firm, Human Capital Alliance, has been commissioned to develop and conduct the survey.
How the survey results will be used
The results of the survey will be used in several crucial ways.
- Advocacy – the data collected will shape our future advocacy efforts and help build a sustainable mental health workforce and system.
- Representation – the survey results will ensure we accurately represent the needs of our members in the sector.
- Workforce development – the results will inform our workforce development and training activities, as well as our proposals and advice to government on workforce initiatives for the purpose of system reform.
- Data benchmarking – the survey will create a data set that can be built upon, added to and benchmarked against in future, to help recognise and understand changes in the sector over time.
- National profile – adding Western Australian data to the results that have been collected over the past six years in NSW and the ACT will contribute to a national mental health workforce profile.
How you can get involved
If you work in the community-based mental health sector in WA, then we want you to get involved.
Any not-for-profit organisation that provides mental health services or supports in the WA community is eligible to complete the survey.
You can get prepared for this historic survey, by nominating a contact person who will complete the survey on behalf of your team. This could be a staff member who oversees human resources or workforce planning activities if you work in a larger organisation, or your CEO may be the best representative if your team is smaller.
Email us at workforcesurveyproject@waamh.org.au, and tell us the name, position title and contact details of your organisation's representative, to get prepared for the survey.
By supporting this work and helping us collect as many responses as possible from across the sector, we will build a clear and comprehensive picture of our diverse workforce.
The role of our Project Reference Group
A Project Reference Group has now been established, in response to an Expression of Interest which was issued in July.
The group is made up of nine organisations from across WA's community mental health sector.
The Project Reference Group will oversee the project, providing insights and feedback on the development of the survey questions, as well as conducting pilot testing of a draft survey.
Project timeline
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July 2025 |
Project launch. |
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August 2025 |
Project Reference Group is formed and conducts its first meeting. |
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September 2025 |
Pilot testing of the draft survey is conducted by the Project Reference Group. |
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October 2025 |
Survey goes live. |
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Early 2026 |
Survey results to be published and made publicly available. |
Want to stay up-to-date?
Keep an eye on our website or follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn for project updates.