Northern Territory Primary Health Network – Responding to workforce development needs

May 2017
Staff: 

NCETA:
Professor Ann Roche
Allan Trifonoff
Roger Nicholas

Other Collaborators: 

Ms Sally Weir, Northern Territory Primary Health Network

Project description: 

Following on from its work in assisting the Network of Drug and Alcohol Agencies (NADA) to develop a workforce development plan for the NSW NGO AOD sector, NCETA has been commissioned by the Northern Territory (NT) Primary Health Network (PHN) to undertake a comprehensive AOD sector workforce development needs assessment.

The project involves: 

  1. Developing a comprehensive understanding of NT AOD workforce development needs as defined by the sector 
  2. Identifying current workforce development gaps and how they could be addressed and resourced in a coordinated and ongoing basis 
  3. Identifying opportunities for cross-sector training to strengthen referral pathways and responses

In undertaking this work, NCETA will consider the systems factors in which AOD workers are employed. These factors include: 

  • Interagency arrangements 
  • Recruitment and retention 
  • Working conditions and professional and career development 
  • Information management, knowledge transfer and research dissemination regarding evidence-based practice 
  • Organisational change management 
  • Clinical supervision, leadership, mentoring, supervision and workplace support. 

To ensure that the unique geographical, historical and demographic characteristics of the NT AOD workforce are addressed, NCETA will: 

  • Consult with key stakeholders including face-to-face focus groups and key informant interviews 
  • Conduct an online written submission process 
  • Use the findings from the consultations identify key themes and issues to help inform the development of practical workforce development strategies and their implementation.