In 2021/2022, Adelaide PHN was successful in receiving grant funding through the headspace Demand Management and Enhancement Grant program to fund its five headspace centres for a two-year Emerging Workforce Project.

South Australia has been experiencing region-wide workforce shortages, creating significant demand for credentialed allied health professionals to work in primary mental health care. The headspace Emerging Workforce Project has allowed for Adelaide PHN to target funding to address these needs.

To date, the project has involved engaging allied health students and graduates, clinical educators, and headspace centre leadership in the development and implementation of workforce development programs within each of the five headspace centres.

Forty allied health students and five allied health graduates are now undertaking education and training, supervision and mentoring within their headspace centre settings. This is enabling them to be able to support service delivery activities such as triage, intake, assessments, and brief interventions for young people experiencing mild-to-moderate mental health concerns.

This project is creating a direct pathway for students and graduates towards employment as fully credentialed Mental Health Clinicians within Adelaide PHN-funded primary mental health care services. The investment into these allied health students and graduates is helping to create future sustainability in Adelaide's primary mental health care sector.

The impact of this project will be evaluated as an Honors thesis by a Flinders University post-graduate student, providing opportunities to apply learnings to headspace centres and other ongoing Adelaide PHN-funded programs.