Frontline staff caring for people in the community who live with severe mental illness will receive specialised training to improve the care experience for consumers and their families.

Minister for Mental Health Tanya Davies today announced the NSW Government will invest

$800,000 over the next two years in a new scholarship program for staff who work for non- government organisations (NGOs).

“Our NGO networks play a crucial part in helping people who live with mental illness experience a better quality of life by offering specialised assistance,” Mrs Davies said.

“Expanding the availability of community-based supports is part of the NSW Government’s commitment to our 10 year reform of mental health care, and a skilled workforce is essential to delivering this.”

The Mental Health NGO Workforce Scholarship program will fund up to 300 scholarships to enable NGO staff to study either a Certificate IV in Mental Health or a Diploma in Mental Health.

“NGOs in regional, rural and remote parts of NSW will be targeted to ensure staff everywhere across the State have access to mental health training,” Mrs Davies said.

The announcement was made at the 2018 Patient Experience Symposium in Sydney today, reinforcing the importance of partnerships in delivering patient-centred care across the NSW health system.

Further information on the scholarship application process will be available to participating NGOs in the coming months.