Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey welcomes the significant increase in Health NZ-funded psychiatry registrar places and the increase of Health NZ-funded clinical psychology internships, as Tuesday’s plan supports the Government’s commitment to double clinical psychology intern numbers between 2023 and 2027.

On Tuesday, Health NZ published its Mental Health and Addiction Workforce Plan which sets significant uplifts in training places for workers who will staff specialist, primary and community workforces.

“This plan reinforces that we are on track to reach our workforce target of training 500 mental health and addiction professionals every year,” said Doocey.

“One of the biggest barriers to timely mental health support is workforce shortages. It’s one of my top priorities as the country’s first Minister for Mental Health and it’s pleasing to see Health NZ respond with a plan with meaningful increases in a number of key workforce areas.

Highlights of the three-year plan include:

• Increasing the number of psychiatry registrar training places Health NZ offers annually by 50 per cent, from around 33 in 2024 to 50 from 2025 onwards
• A new associate psychology post-graduate programme (in partnership with the tertiary education sector), to train 20 students a year from 2026 onwards
• Achieving an increase in Health NZ clinical psychology intern places by 100 per cent on 2023 levels over four years (from 40 annual places in 2023 to 80 annual places by 2027)
• Increasing the number of Health NZ-funded New Entry to Specialist Practice (NESP) places available to train specialist nurses, social workers and occupational therapists by 30 per cent over three years, to an annual total of 475 by 2027 (an increase of 110).
• Increasing the number of mental health and addiction nurse practitioners Health NZ trains each year by 83 per cent from 2025 onwards to a total of 22 per year

“We are also committed to investing in consumer and peer support workforces who play a vital role within the mental health and addiction workforce. Health NZ will fund training places for 90 additional Consumer, Peer Support and Lived Experience workers each year of the Plan.”

This plan looks out over the next three years, but each year it will be reviewed to ensure Health NZ has the right mix of training places to match need.