Mental health workforce

Last updated: 12 May 2026

Nationally, there was an increase

in the supply of all specialist mental health professions and lived experience worker groups from 2014–15 to 2023–24.

Private practice was the most frequent work setting for psychiatrists (38%) and psychologists (50%),

hospital setting for mental health nurses (67%), and community mental health services for mental health occupational therapists (47%).

Workforce supply peaked in Major cities, especially for psychiatrists and psychologists;

mental health nurses were most evenly distributed across regions, and accredited mental health worker rate was highest in the Inner regional area.

Summary

The mental health workforce is important to a strong and sustainable mental health system. It supports services delivery across primary care, acute care, aged care, disability support and veterans’ care. Although there is no universal definition of what “a mental health worker” is, there is broad agreement that the workforce includes people who provide care and support to individuals experiencing mental illness or distress and is divided into 3 inter-related sectors including specialist, generalist and lived experience sections (Cleary, Thomas and Boyle 2020). This definition aligns with the National Mental Health Workforce Strategy 2022–2032 (Department of Health and Aged Care 2022).

Mental health workers may be employed in a wide variety of settings, including state-run health services, not-for-profit care providers or private practice. Each state and territory has a mental health workforce plan (Cleary, Thomas and Boyle 2020), intended to guide and support the development of the mental health workforce to ensure it meets the needs of residents. For further information, refer to the National Mental Health Workforce Strategy 2022–2032.

This report presents data and information on specialist mental health workers and lived experience workers from the available data sources. The data sources include (i) National Health Workforce Dataset (NHWDS) which is managed by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, (ii) Accredited mental health social workers data provided by the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) and (iii) Specialised Mental Health Facilities Dataset which comes primarily from the National Mental Health Establishments Database.

Data sourced from the NHWDS refer to registered health professionals who are employed in Australia and working in their registered profession. Data sourced from the specialised mental health facilities dataset refer to those working in specialised mental health facilities. AASW data cover social workers accredited with mental health expertise.

For more information, refer to data source.

Specialist workers Expand

Generalist workers Expand

Lived experience workers Expand

Lived experience workers are people who have personal lived or living experience of mental illness and/or suicidality, or who have cared for someone who has. People with lived or living experience may also hold specialist or generalist qualifications. They can bring valuable insights into the care experience. This group includes a range of roles such as consumer workers, carer workers, other personal care workers and unpaid carers.

The unpaid carers, often referred to as informal carers, play an important role in supporting people with mental illness but this group is not well captured in national data collections.

How has the mental health workforce grown over time in Australia?

Specialist mental health workers

During 2024 there were about 4,500 psychiatrists, 36,900 psychologists, 28,300 mental health nurses, 3,100 mental health occupational therapists employed in their registered profession and 3,400 accredited mental health social workers in Australia.

Over the decade from 2015 to 2024, the mental health workforce grew across all 5 specialist mental health professions (Table 1).

Psychologists and mental health nurses recorded the largest increase across rate measures. For psychologists, this included increase of 33 practitioners, 25 total full-time-equivalent (FTE) counts and 18 clinical FTE counts per 100,000 population. For mental health nurses, this included an increase of 17 practitioners, 17 total FTE and 16 clinical FTE per 100,000 population.
Accredited mental health social workers recorded the largest percentage increase in the rate of practitioners per 100,000 population, increasing by 117%.
Mental health occupational therapists showed consistent workforce growth across all measures, with percentage increase of 38% in practitioner numbers and between 43% to 50% in FTE roles.
Psychiatrists showed slight changes across all rates, with percentage increase ranging from 9% to 15%.

Table 1: Changes in key statistics for specialist mental health workers, 2015 to 2024
Profession	Rate per 100,000 population	2015	2024	Rate change	% Change
Psychiatrists	Number of practitioners	14	16	+2	+14
Psychiatrists	FTE total	13	15	+2	+15
Psychiatrists	FTE Clinical	11	12	+1	+9.1
Mental health nurses	Number of practitioners	87	104	+17	+20
Mental health nurses	FTE total	84	101	+17	+20
Mental health nurses	FTE Clinical	77	93	+16	+21
Mental health occupational therapists	Number of practitioners	8	11	+3	+38
Mental health occupational therapists	FTE total	7	10	+3	+43
Mental health occupational therapists	FTE Clinical	6	9	+3	+50
Psychologists	Number of practitioners	103	136	+33	+32
Psychologists	FTE total	88	113	+25	+28
Psychologists	FTE Clinical	64	82	+18	+28
Accredited mental health social workers	Number of practitioners	6	13	+7	+117
Accredited mental health social workers	FTE total	n.a.	n.a.	n.a	n.a.
Accredited mental health social workers	FTE Clinical	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.

Notes:

n.a. data not available.
Total FTE and clinical FTE data were not available for accredited mental health social workers.

Sources: National Health Workforce Dataset and Australian Association of Social Workers data table.

Psychiatrists Expand

Figure 1.1: Psychiatrists – Rates per 100,000 population by headcount, total FTE and clinical FTE, 2015 to 2024

Year	Headcount rate	Total FTE rate	Clinical FTE rate
2015	14	13	11
2016	14	13	11
2017	14	14	11
2018	14	14	12
2019	15	14	12
2020	15	14	12
2021	15	15	12
2022	16	15	12
2023	16	15	12
2024	16	15	12

Source: National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview

Figure 1.2: FTE psychiatrists in specialised mental health facilities, 2014–15 to 2023–24

Year	Consultant psychiatrists and psychiatrists	Psychiatry registrars and trainees
2014–15	1420	1507
2015–16	1450	1556
2016–17	1451	1651
2017–18	1559	1720
2018–19	1649	1750
2019–20	1719	1855
2020–21	1740	1938
2021–22	1779	1922
2022–23	1930	2107
2023–24	1975	2292

Source: Specialised mental health care facilities | Data source overview

Mental health nurses Expand

Figure 2.1: Mental health nurses – Rates per 100,000 population by headcount, total FTE and clinical FTE, 2015 to 2024

Year	Headcount rate	Total FTE rate	Clinical FTE rate
2015	87	84	77
2016	89	85	78
2017	90	86	79
2018	92	88	81
2019	95	90	84
2020	96	90	85
2021	97	93	86
2022	96	93	86
2023	101	98	90
2024	104	101	93

Source: National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview

Figure 2.2: FTE nurses in specialised mental health facilities, 2014–15 to 2023–24

Select measure:

Year	FTE rate per 100,000 population
2014–15	68
2015–16	68
2016–17	68
2017–18	69
2018–19	71
2019–20	71
2020–21	73
2021–22	72
2022–23	75
2023–24	76

Year	Total FTE
2014–15	16025
2015–16	16306
2016–17	16647
2017–18	17060
2018–19	17733
2019–20	18197
2020–21	18656
2021–22	18616
2022–23	19393
2023–24	20239

Source: Specialised mental health care facilities | Data source overview

Psychologists Expand

Figure 3.1: Psychologists – Rates per 100,000 population by headcount, total FTE and clinical FTE, 2015 to 2024

Year	Headcount rate	Total FTE rate	Clinical FTE rate
2015	103	88	64
2016	104	89	65
2017	107	91	67
2018	108	92	68
2019	112	95	71
2020	123	105	79
2021	122	104	78
2022	126	107	78
2023	131	110	80
2024	136	113	82

Source: National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview

Figure 3.2: FTE Psychologists in specialised mental health facilities, 2014–15 to 2023–24

Year	Total FTE
2014–15	1786
2015–16	1805
2016–17	1832
2017–18	1883
2018–19	1957
2019–20	1993
2020–21	2005
2021–22	1852
2022–23	1838
2023–24	1944

Source: Specialised mental health care facilities | Data source overview

Mental health occupational therapists Expand

Figure 4.1: Mental health occupational therapists – Rates per 100,000 population by headcount, total FTE and clinical FTE, 2015 to 2024

Year	Headcount rate	Total FTE rate	Clinical FTE rate
2015	8	7	6
2016	8	7	6
2017	8	8	7
2018	9	8	7
2019	9	9	7
2020	10	9	8
2021	10	9	8
2022	11	10	8
2023	11	10	8
2024	11	10	9

Source: National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview

Figure 4.2: FTE Occupational therapists in specialised mental health facilities, 2014–15 to 2023–24

Year	Total FTE
2014–15	1120
2015–16	1168
2016–17	1199
2017–18	1326
2018–19	1377
2019–20	1410
2020–21	1433
2021–22	1381
2022–23	1406
2023–24	1439

Source: Specialised mental health care facilities | Data source overview

Accredited mental health social workers Expand

Figure 5.1: Accredited mental health social workers – Headcount rates per 100,000 population, 2015 to 2024

Year	Rate per 100,000 population
2015	6
2016	7
2017	7
2018	8
2019	9
2020	9
2021	10
2022	11
2023	12
2024	13

Source: Australian Association of Social Workers | Data source overview

Figure 5.2: FTE Social workers in specialised mental health facilities, 2014–15 to 2023–24

Year	Total FTE
2014–15	2026
2015–16	2112
2016–17	2215
2017–18	2314
2018–19	2399
2019–20	2575
2020–21	2671
2021–22	2780
2022–23	2947
2023–24	3204

Source: Specialised mental health care facilities | Data source overview

Lived experience workers

Between 2014–15 and 2023–24, the number of lived experience workers in specialised mental health care facilities grew substantially (Table 2), reflecting the introduction of lived experience workforce policies and frameworks across national and state/territory levels that provided funding and guidance to expand consumer and carer roles in mental health services.

Consumer worker total FTE increased almost fourfold over the decade, rising from 97 in 2014–15 to about 490 in 2023–24. The FTE rate per 100,000 population increased from a value rounded to zero to 2 over that period.
Carer worker total FTE increased almost fivefold, from 36 to about 210 over time. The FTE rate per 100,000 population increased from a value rounded to zero 2014–15 to 1 in 2023–24.

Table 2: Changes in total FTE staff for lived experience workers in specialised mental health care facilities, 2014–15 to 2023–24
Profession	Measure	2014–15	2023–24	Number change	% change
Consumer workers	Total FTE	97	488	+391	+402%
Consumer workers	FTE staff per 100,000 population	0	2	+2	n.p.
Carer workers	Total FTE	36	209	+173	+481%
Carer workers	FTE staff per 100,000 population	0	1	+1	n.p.

Note: n.p. Percentage change is not published where 2014–15 value was rounded to zero, as this can produce misleading results.

Source: Specialised mental health care facilities dataset

Consumer workers Expand

Figure 6: FTE Consumer workers in specialised mental health facilities, 2014–15 to 2023–24

Select measure:

Year	FTE rate per 100,000 population
2014–15	0
2015–16	0
2016–17	1
2017–18	1
2018–19	1
2019–20	1
2020–21	1
2021–22	1
2022–23	2
2023–24	2

Year	Total FTE
2014–15	97
2015–16	120
2016–17	125
2017–18	184
2018–19	184
2019–20	216
2020–21	329
2021–22	360
2022–23	418
2023–24	488

Source: Specialised mental health care facilities | Data source overview

Carer workers Expand

Figure 7: FTE Carer workers in specialised mental health facilities, 2014–15 to 2023–24, facilities level data

Select measure:

Year	FTE rate per 100,000 population
2014–15	0
2015–16	0
2016–17	0
2017–18	0
2018–19	0
2019–20	0
2020–21	0
2021–22	1
2022–23	1
2023–24	1

Year	Total FTE
2014–15	36
2015–16	47
2016–17	42
2017–18	69
2018–19	72
2019–20	78
2020–21	103
2021–22	158
2022–23	161
2023–24	209

Source: Specialised mental health care facilities | Data source overview

Who makes up the mental health workforce?

This section presents information on the characteristics of specialist mental health workers by age, sex, and Indigenous status, drawing on the NHWDS and AASW data.

In 2024:

More than half of psychiatrists were males (about 57%), while females dominated for other specialist mental health worker types (about 81% of psychologists, 73% of mental health nurses, 85% of mental health occupational therapists and 84% of accredited mental health social workers) (Figure 8).
The largest proportions were in 45–54 age group for psychiatrists (33%), 35–44 for psychologists (29%), 20–34 and 35–44 for mental health nurses (27% and 26%), 20–34 for mental health occupational therapists (43%), and 45–54 and 55–64 for accredited mental health social workers (27% and 26%) (Figure 9).
More than 98% of specialist mental health workers were non-Indigenous people, noting that data were not available for accredited mental health social workers (Figure 10).

Sex Expand

Figure 8: Proportion of specialist mental health workers by sex, 2015 to 2024

Select profession:

Year	Male	Female
2015	62.4%	37.6%
2016	61.6%	38.4%
2017	60.6%	39.4%
2018	59.5%	40.5%
2019	58.7%	41.3%
2020	58.2%	41.8%
2021	57.9%	42.1%
2022	57.4%	42.6%
2023	57.3%	42.7%
2024	56.8%	43.2%

Year	Male	Female
2015	31%	69%
2016	30.7%	69.3%
2017	30.2%	69.8%
2018	29.6%	70.4%
2019	29.2%	70.8%
2020	29%	71%
2021	28.7%	71.3%
2022	28.4%	71.6%
2023	28.2%	71.8%
2024	27.5%	72.5%

Year	Male	Female
2015	21.8%	78.2%
2016	21.4%	78.6%
2017	21.1%	78.9%
2018	20.7%	79.3%
2019	20.3%	79.7%
2020	20.3%	79.7%
2021	19.9%	80.1%
2022	19.8%	80.2%
2023	19.6%	80.4%
2024	19.4%	80.6%

Year	Male	Female
2015	13.7%	86.3%
2016	14.1%	85.9%
2017	13.9%	86.1%
2018	13.6%	86.4%
2019	14.5%	85.5%
2020	15.1%	84.9%
2021	14.7%	85.3%
2022	15%	85%
2023	15.3%	84.7%
2024	15%	85%

Year	Male	Female
2015	16.8%	83.2%
2016	16.8%	83.2%
2017	16.4%	83.6%
2018	16.3%	83.7%
2019	16.4%	83.6%
2020	15.9%	84.1%
2021	16.2%	83.8%
2022	16.4%	83.6%
2023	16.3%	83.7%
2024	16.3%	83.7%

Sources:
National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview
Australian Association of Social Workers | Data source overview

Age Expand

Figure 9: Proportion of specialist mental health workers by age group, 2015 to 2024

Select profession:

Year	20–34	35–44	45–54	55–64	65–74	75–99
2015	21.6%	28.3%	22.1%	19.2%	8.1%	0.7%
2016	20.9%	28.3%	22.7%	18.8%	8.5%	0.8%
2017	20.6%	28.7%	22.9%	18.1%	8.7%	0.9%
2018	19.8%	28.7%	23.5%	17.9%	8.8%	1.1%
2019	20%	28.6%	24%	17.2%	8.9%	1.3%
2020	19.6%	28%	23.8%	16.6%	10.2%	1.8%
2021	20%	28.6%	24.8%	16.3%	8.6%	1.6%
2022	20.6%	28.6%	24.9%	15.9%	8.2%	1.8%
2023	21.5%	28.8%	24.6%	15.4%	7.9%	1.9%
2024	21.9%	28.5%	25%	14.9%	7.8%	2%

Year	20–34	35–44	45–54	55–64	65–74	75–99
2015	19.7%	20.7%	27.7%	27.2%	4.4%	0.2%
2016	20.8%	20.4%	26.2%	27.3%	5.1%	0.1%
2017	21.7%	20.2%	25.4%	27.1%	5.4%	0.2%
2018	22.9%	20.4%	24.6%	26.2%	5.7%	0.2%
2019	24.2%	20.5%	24%	25%	6.1%	0.3%
2020	24.8%	21.9%	23.2%	23.8%	6.1%	0.2%
2021	25.3%	22.5%	22.8%	22.2%	6.8%	0.3%
2022	26.1%	24.3%	22.1%	20.6%	6.6%	0.3%
2023	26.6%	25.2%	21.8%	19.4%	6.8%	0.4%
2024	27.2%	26%	21.5%	18.2%	6.7%	0.4%

Year	20–34	35–44	45–54	55–64	65–74	75–99
2015	21.6%	28.3%	22.1%	19.2%	8.1%	0.7%
2016	20.9%	28.3%	22.7%	18.8%	8.5%	0.8%
2017	20.6%	28.7%	22.9%	18.1%	8.7%	0.9%
2018	19.8%	28.7%	23.5%	17.9%	8.8%	1.1%
2019	20%	28.6%	24%	17.2%	8.9%	1.3%
2020	19.6%	28%	23.8%	16.6%	10.2%	1.8%
2021	20%	28.6%	24.8%	16.3%	8.6%	1.6%
2022	20.6%	28.6%	24.9%	15.9%	8.2%	1.8%
2023	21.5%	28.8%	24.6%	15.4%	7.9%	1.9%
2024	21.9%	28.5%	25%	14.9%	7.8%	2%

Year	20–34	35–44	45–54	55–64	65–74	75–99
2015	49.7%	24.9%	16.3%	8%	1.1%	0%
2016	47.8%	25.4%	17.1%	8.4%	1.2%	0%
2017	46.4%	27.4%	16.2%	8.3%	1.6%	0.1%
2018	46%	27.8%	15.9%	8.4%	1.9%	0%
2019	43.9%	29.2%	16.7%	8.6%	1.6%	0%
2020	42.9%	30.1%	16.9%	8.5%	1.6%	0%
2021	43.8%	28.9%	17%	8.4%	1.8%	0.1%
2022	42.8%	29.1%	17.6%	8.4%	1.8%	0.2%
2023	42.9%	29.2%	17.6%	8.2%	1.8%	0.3%
2024	42.6%	28.4%	17.9%	8.8%	2.1%	0.2%

Year	20–34	35–44	45–54	55–64	65–74	75–99
2015	7.4%	21.9%	32%	31.6%	6.6%	0.4%
2016	7.1%	21.8%	30.6%	31.9%	8.2%	0.4%
2017	6.7%	22.6%	29.3%	31.9%	9.1%	0.4%
2018	7.3%	21%	30.2%	31.4%	9.8%	0.4%
2019	7.1%	20.8%	29.9%	30.8%	10.9%	0.6%
2020	7.3%	20.8%	29.7%	29.6%	11.8%	0.8%
2021	6.8%	21.5%	29.6%	28.5%	12.5%	1.1%
2022	4.9%	20.4%	26.3%	27.8%	17.6%	3%
2023	7.1%	22.8%	27.8%	26.7%	13.9%	1.7%
2024	6%	22%	27.4%	26.4%	15.6%	2.7%

Sources:
National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview
Australian Association of Social Workers | Data source overview

Indigenous status Expand

Figure MHWF 10: Proportion of specialist mental health workers by Indigenous status, 2015 to 2024

Select profession:

Year	First Nations people	Non-Indigenous people
2015	0.3%	99.7%
2016	0.5%	99.5%
2017	0.5%	99.5%
2018	0.6%	99.4%
2019	0.7%	99.3%
2020	0.6%	99.4%
2021	0.5%	99.5%
2022	0.5%	99.5%
2023	0.9%	99.1%
2024	0.7%	99.3%

Year	First Nations people	Non-Indigenous people
2015	1%	99%
2016	1.1%	98.9%
2017	1.2%	98.8%
2018	1.4%	98.6%
2019	1.5%	98.5%
2020	1.5%	98.5%
2021	1.5%	98.5%
2022	1.6%	98.4%
2023	1.3%	98.7%
2024	1.7%	98.3%

Year	First Nations people	Non-Indigenous people
2015	0.7%	99.3%
2016	0.8%	99.2%
2017	0.7%	99.3%
2018	0.8%	99.2%
2019	0.9%	99.1%
2020	0.9%	99.1%
2021	0.9%	99.1%
2022	0.8%	99.2%
2023	0.9%	99.1%
2024	0.9%	99.1%

Year	First Nations people	Non-Indigenous people
2015	0.3%	99.7%
2016	0.5%	99.5%
2017	0.5%	99.5%
2018	0.6%	99.4%
2019	0.7%	99.3%
2020	0.6%	99.4%
2021	0.5%	99.5%
2022	0.5%	99.5%
2023	0.9%	99.1%
2024	0.7%	99.3%

Source: National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview

How is the mental health workforce distributed across Australia?

Geographic distribution

This section presents information on the distribution of specialist mental health workers across states and territories, and remoteness area, drawing on the NHWDS and AASW data.

In 2024:

Psychologists and mental health nurses recorded higher FTE rates than psychiatrists and mental health occupational therapists across all states and territories (Figure 11.1).
- The Australian Capital Territory had the highest psychologist FTE rate (171 per 100,000 population). Among the states, Victoria (124 psychologist FTE; 114 mental health nurse FTE) and New South Wales (116 psychologist FTE; 89 mental health nurse FTE) recorded the highest rates.
- Psychologist FTE rates were higher than mental health nurse rates in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, while mental health nurse rates were higher in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.
- Tasmania recorded the highest headcount rate of accredited mental health social workers (20 per 100,000 population). South Australia had the lowest rate (7) (Figure 11.2).
Mental health workforce supply was highest in Major cities across all professions (most sharply for psychiatrists and psychologists). Mental health nurses had the most even distribution and were the main workforce in more remote areas (Figure 12.1). Inner regional area recorded the highest rate of accredited mental health social workers (16 per 100,000 population) (Figure 12.2).

States and territories Expand

Figure 11.1: FTE rate of specialist mental health professions per 100,000 population by state and territory, 2015 to 2024

Select state/territory:

Year	Psychologists	Mental health occupational therapists	Psychiatrists	Mental health nurses
2015	92	6	12	80
2016	93	6	13	83
2017	93	6	13	83
2018	95	6	13	84
2019	97	7	13	84
2020	108	7	13	84
2021	107	7	13	86
2022	109	7	13	84
2023	112	7	13	87
2024	116	7	14	89

Year	Psychologists	Mental health occupational therapists	Psychiatrists	Mental health nurses
2015	93	8	14	87
2016	95	9	14	86
2017	97	9	14	88
2018	99	10	14	92
2019	102	10	15	96
2020	112	11	15	95
2021	115	12	15	100
2022	118	12	16	102
2023	121	13	17	109
2024	124	15	16	114

Year	Psychologists	Mental health occupational therapists	Psychiatrists	Mental health nurses
2015	80	7	13	77
2016	83	7	14	81
2017	86	8	14	83
2018	87	9	15	84
2019	91	10	15	86
2020	100	9	15	88
2021	99	9	16	90
2022	101	10	16	87
2023	104	10	16	92
2024	107	11	16	94

Year	Psychologists	Mental health occupational therapists	Psychiatrists	Mental health nurses
2015	87	8	11	96
2016	88	9	12	98
2017	90	9	12	96
2018	90	8	13	101
2019	95	10	13	104
2020	104	10	13	103
2021	101	10	13	104
2022	107	11	13	110
2023	107	11	13	113
2024	110	11	14	116

Year	Psychologists	Mental health occupational therapists	Psychiatrists	Mental health nurses
2015	64	8	15	89
2016	65	8	15	90
2017	67	8	15	88
2018	67	8	15	89
2019	68	9	16	93
2020	73	10	15	94
2021	73	11	15	93
2022	79	10	17	92
2023	78	10	17	97
2024	80	10	15	96

Year	Psychologists	Mental health occupational therapists	Psychiatrists	Mental health nurses
2015	76	4	11	89
2016	74	4	12	86
2017	74	4	12	84
2018	73	5	14	85
2019	74	4	13	89
2020	84	4	14	85
2021	81	4	14	90
2022	82	4	13	97
2023	87	6	15	110
2024	94	5	14	106

Year	Psychologists	Mental health occupational therapists	Psychiatrists	Mental health nurses
2015	148	7	13	70
2016	155	6	14	67
2017	159	7	12	75
2018	161	8	14	75
2019	158	7	17	84
2020	173	8	18	84
2021	164	8	16	93
2022	170	9	15	101
2023	165	8	16	109
2024	171	7	16	113

Year	Psychologists	Mental health occupational therapists	Psychiatrists	Mental health nurses
2015	75	2	8	80
2016	72	5	9	83
2017	71	4	8	84
2018	73	3	12	77
2019	70	4	13	78
2020	74	4	10	76
2021	78	6	11	81
2022	73	8	11	73
2023	75	7	12	69
2024	70	6	9	80

Source: National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview

Figure 11.2: Number of accredited mental health social workers per 100,000 population by state and territory in 2024

State and territory	Rate per 100,000 population
New South Wales	13
Victoria	10
Queensland	16
Western Australia	13
South Australia	7
Tasmania	20
Australian Capital Territory	17
Northern Territory	15

Source: Australian Association of Social Workers | Data source overview

Remoteness area Expand

Figure 12.1 FTE rate per 100,000 population by remoteness area, 2015 to 2024

Select profession:

Year	Major cities	Inner regional	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote
2015	16	6	5	6	3
2016	16	6	5	6	4
2017	16	6	5	6	2
2018	17	7	6	7	3
2019	17	7	6	7	3
2020	17	8	5	7	3
2021	17	8	6	6	2
2022	18	8	6	7	2
2023	18	9	6	7	2
2024	18	9	7	7	2

Year	Major cities	Inner regional	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote
2015	89	82	52	56	36
2016	90	84	55	54	36
2017	91	85	54	57	36
2018	93	86	55	56	36
2019	96	86	58	55	35
2020	96	87	57	62	34
2021	99	88	62	60	36
2022	100	87	59	47	38
2023	104	93	63	50	34
2024	107	94	64	56	40

Year	Major cities	Inner regional	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote
2015	101	60	44	36	25
2016	103	61	46	33	24
2017	105	61	47	35	27
2018	107	62	46	38	26
2019	110	64	48	41	32
2020	120	73	52	42	32
2021	120	71	52	42	21
2022	124	72	52	40	17
2023	126	75	55	41	26
2024	130	78	56	43	28

Year	Major cities	Inner regional	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote
2015	8	5	6	4	1
2016	8	5	6	5	1
2017	8	5	7	3	0
2018	9	6	6	4	2
2019	9	6	6	5	3
2020	10	7	6	4	2
2021	10	7	6	4	4
2022	11	6	7	7	3
2023	11	7	6	4	3
2024	12	7	6	6	2

Source: National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview

Figure 12.2: Rate of accredited mental health social workers per 100,000 population by remoteness area in 2024

Remoteness area	Rate per 100,000 population
Major cities	12
Inner regional	16
Outer regional	13
Remote	8
Very remote	2

Source: Australian Association of Social Workers | Data source overview

How does tenure vary across the mental health workforce

Distribution by job role and setting

This section presents information on the distribution of specialist mental health workers across job roles and settings, drawing on the NHWDS data.

In 2024:

Clinicians made up the large majority FTE across specialist mental health professionals (about 27,500 psychologist FTE; 25,500 mental health nurses FTE; 3,700 psychiatrists FTE; 2,500 mental health occupational therapist FTE) (Figure 13).
- Over time, the increase was concentrated in clinical roles, with limited change in non-clinical roles.
There was some variability in the main work setting for the specialist mental health workforce, with nurses mainly in hospitals, occupational therapists mainly in community mental health care (CMHC), and psychologists and psychiatrists mainly in private practice (Figure 14.1, Figure 14.2).
- Psychologist: about 15,400 total FTE (50%) in private practice, 4,800 (16%) in educational settings and 2,200 (7%) in CMHC
- Psychiatrists: about 1,600 total FTE (38%) in private practice, 1,400 (34%) in hospital setting and 880 (22%) in CMHC
- Mental health nurses: about 18,200 total FTE (67%) in hospitals, 5,700 (21%) in CMHC, 700 (3%) in residential mental health care (RMHC)
- Mental health occupational therapists: 1,300 (47%) in CMHC, 560 (20%) in hospitals, 440 (16%) in private practice

Job roles Expand

Figure 13: Total FTE of specialist mental health workers by job role, 2015 to 2024

Select profession:

Year	Clinician	Administrator	Teacher or educator	Researcher	Other	Academic
2015	2838	109	39	72	29	0
2016	2955	115	39	72	40	0
2017	3045	141	44	62	37	0
2018	3194	131	38	67	31	0
2019	3276	131	47	69	45	0
2020	3329	159	44	65	38	0
2021	3443	148	39	36	44	49
2022	3563	181	23	20	20	67
2023	3688	167	26	27	36	60
2024	3735	194	20	30	45	71

Year	Clinician	Administrator	Teacher or educator	Researcher	Other	Academic
2015	18609	708	430	64	145	0
2016	19298	647	460	65	154	0
2017	19776	646	465	81	133	0
2018	20569	742	441	86	99	0
2019	21614	660	461	60	80	0
2020	22019	616	411	61	74	0
2021	22649	618	435	49	80	74
2022	22821	740	475	34	92	58
2023	24349	941	555	52	108	79
2024	25526	923	548	69	155	112

Year	Clinician	Administrator	Teacher or educator	Researcher	Other	Academic
2015	18320	876	671	797	228	0
2016	18954	982	663	818	208	0
2017	19732	963	676	808	233	0
2018	20300	1069	694	811	182	0
2019	21388	1068	693	801	215	0
2020	23993	1103	724	851	295	0
2021	23950	1159	482	579	273	392
2022	24765	1141	522	644	306	568
2023	26015	1241	557	633	229	558
2024	27494	1310	467	636	223	657

Year	Clinician	Administrator	Teacher or educator	Researcher	Other	Academic
2015	1501	89	34	9	13	0
2016	1592	85	46	12	18	0
2017	1684	101	52	11	22	0
2018	1801	110	42	9	21	0
2019	1959	115	60	15	24	0
2020	2097	127	58	17	23	0
2021	2120	148	48	13	17	15
2022	2217	180	72	14	15	7
2023	2367	164	63	16	16	13
2024	2507	169	69	17	23	19

Source: National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview

Job settings Expand

Figure 14.1: Total FTE counts by specialist mental health workers and job setting in 2024

Select profession:

Job setting	Total FTE
Private practice	1564
Hospital setting	1377
Community mental health service	882
Educational setting	48
Other government department or agency	48

Source: National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview

Figure 14.2: Proportion of total FTE counts by specialist mental health profession and job setting in 2024

Select profession:

Source: National Health Workforce Dataset | Data source overview

Data source Expand

National Health Workforce Dataset (NHWDS)

The voluntary Workforce Surveys are administered to all registered health practitioners by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) as part of the registration renewal process. These surveys are used to provide nationally consistent workforce estimates. They also provide data on the type of work done by, and job setting of, health practitioners; the number of hours worked in a clinical or non-clinical role, and in total; and the numbers of years worked in, and intended to remain in, the health workforce. The surveys also provide information on registered health practitioners who are not undertaking clinical work or who are not employed. Response rates for the NHWDS workforce surveys are generally high, although it varies by profession. The information from the AHPRA workforce surveys, combined with AHPRA registration data items, comprise the NHWDS. A statistical approach is employed to correct for non-responses in creating the NHWDS, replacing missing values with plausible values based on other available information.

Health workforce data is available for public access through the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s Health Workforce Data Tool. For medical specialists, the numbers are those employed, as specialists, in their primary specialty. As such, there may be differences between the data presented here and that published elsewhere due to different analytical methodologies or data extraction dates.

Further information regarding the health workforce surveys is available at National Health Workforce Dataset.

Mental Health Establishments National Minimum Data Set (MHE NMDS)

Refer to the data source section of the Specialised mental health facilities section for more information.

Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW)

The AASW, as the peak professional body for social workers in Australia, collects member information including demographic details and postal address data (whether a home, work, or post office box address) in order to deliver member services. Although membership of the AASW for social workers generally is not mandatory, accreditation of mental health social workers is only provided by the AASW. This accreditation enables these social workers to claim certain Medicare-subsidised mental health-specific items under the Medicare Benefits Schedule. Refer to the Medicare mental health services.

Data includes accredited mental health social workers (AMHSWs) as at 30 June 2024. This may include some AMHSWs who have cancelled their accreditation though this number is likely to be small.

References Expand

Cleary A, Thomas N and Boyle F (2020), National Mental Health Workforce Strategy – A literature review of existing national and jurisdictional workforce strategies relevant to the mental health workforce and recent findings of mental health reviews and inquiries, University of Queensland, Brisbane, accessed date 26 March 2026.

Department of Health, Disability and Ageing 2022, National mental health workforce strategy 2022–2032 [PDF 2.23MB], Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, accessed date 26 March 2026.

Job setting	Total FTE
Hospital setting	18215
Community health care service	5709
Residential health care facility	700
Other	645
Correctional service	629
Private practice	534
Other government department or agency	362

Job setting	Total FTE
Community mental health service	1307
Hospital setting	557
Private practice	436
Residential mental health care service	93
Educational setting	89
Other community health care service	79
Disability service	52
Other government department or agency	51
Other	48
Correctional service	30

Job setting	Total FTE
Private practice	15421
Educational setting	4785
Community mental health service	2202
Hospital setting	2057
Other government department or agency	1435
Commercial/business service	1052
Other	757
Other community health care service	703
Correctional service	602
Disability service	506

Job setting	Per cent
Private practice	38.2 %
Hospital setting	33.6 %
Community mental health service	21.5 %
Educational setting	1.2 %
Other government department or agency	1.2 %

Job setting	Per cent
Hospital setting	66.6 %
Community health care service	20.9 %
Residential health care facility	2.6 %
Other	2.4 %
Correctional service	2.3 %
Private practice	2 %
Other government department or agency	1.3 %

Job setting	Per cent
Community mental health service	46.6 %
Hospital setting	19.9 %
Private practice	15.5 %
Residential mental health care service	3.3 %
Educational setting	3.2 %
Other community health care service	2.8 %
Disability service	1.8 %
Other government department or agency	1.8 %
Other	1.7 %
Correctional service	1.1 %

Job setting	Per cent
Private practice	50.1 %
Educational setting	15.5 %
Community mental health service	7.2 %
Hospital setting	6.7 %
Other government department or agency	4.7 %
Commercial/business service	3.4 %
Other	2.5 %
Other community health care service	2.3 %
Correctional service	2 %
Disability service	1.6 %

Mental health workforce

On this page In this section

Key points

Nationally, there was an increase

Private practice was the most frequent work setting for psychiatrists (38%) and psychologists (50%),

Workforce supply peaked in Major cities, especially for psychiatrists and psychologists;

Summary

How has the mental health workforce grown over time in Australia?

Specialist mental health workers

Lived experience workers

Who makes up the mental health workforce?

How is the mental health workforce distributed across Australia?

Geographic distribution

How does tenure vary across the mental health workforce

Distribution by job role and setting

Where can I find more information?