❓ A WA parliamentary question seeks data on overseas mental health nurse recruitment, retention, costs, and database capabilities. The answer provides some data, acknowledges limitations, and outlines changes to relocation payment policies to improve retention.
AnsweredQoN 5446Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) How many overseas mental health nurses commenced work in the Government Mental Health Service in Western Australia as a result of the Governments recruitment drives since 1 July 2004?
(2) How many of these nurses recruited from overseas -
(a) left the Government mental health system before six months;
(b) left the Government mental health system after six months and before 12 months; and
(c) left the Government mental health system after 12 months and before two years
(3) What is the average length of time mental health nurses recruited from overseas as a result of the overseas recruitment drives, have been employed in the Western Australian Government Mental Health Service?
(4) What are the total relocation payments and other attraction and incentive payments made for overseas mental health nurses from 1 July 2004 until 30 June 2007?
(5) What are the total relocation payments and other attraction and incentive payments made for overseas mental health nurses from 1 July 2007?
(6) Although it was previously stated that the current Department of Health Human Resource Database System does not enable electronic extraction or reporting of some of the above information, will the Minister -
(a) ensure that the database system is amended to enable the information to be collected, extracted and reported; and
(b) extract the above information in another manner for the period 1 July 2004 until the present for the purposes of responding to this question?
(2) How many of these nurses recruited from overseas -
(a) left the Government mental health system before six months;
(b) left the Government mental health system after six months and before 12 months; and
(c) left the Government mental health system after 12 months and before two years
(3) What is the average length of time mental health nurses recruited from overseas as a result of the overseas recruitment drives, have been employed in the Western Australian Government Mental Health Service?
(4) What are the total relocation payments and other attraction and incentive payments made for overseas mental health nurses from 1 July 2004 until 30 June 2007?
(5) What are the total relocation payments and other attraction and incentive payments made for overseas mental health nurses from 1 July 2007?
(6) Although it was previously stated that the current Department of Health Human Resource Database System does not enable electronic extraction or reporting of some of the above information, will the Minister -
(a) ensure that the database system is amended to enable the information to be collected, extracted and reported; and
(b) extract the above information in another manner for the period 1 July 2004 until the present for the purposes of responding to this question?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
17 October 2007
Responded by
Minister for Child Protection representing the Minister for Health
Response time
41 days
(1) The Government has implemented a range of mental health workforce strategies. These include promoting mental health to secondary and tertiary students, training courses for professionals re-entering the workforce, flexible work arrangements, scholarships and the development of new service models to support the existing mental health workforce. Overseas recruitment is one of the actions being undertaken.
The 2004 information and marketing campaign resulted in over 300 people contacting WA Health regarding the possibility of working in WA Health mental health services.
As a result of the recruitment drive undertaken at the end of June / early July 2007, 60 mental health nurses (and 73 mental health professionals overall) have been offered positions in WA Health. Three nurses have started work and others will arrive as visas are processed and their personal circumstances permit.
Note: A recruitment drive has been defined as targeted recruitment to specific positions through campaign advertising.
(2) (a) -(c)
This information has not been routinely recorded for any staff on an individual basis in WA Health.
(3) The most recent recruitment (June / July 2007) has resulted in 60 nurses being offered positions in WA Health, with the first three of the nurses having commenced seven weeks ago (average figure for the three).
(4) - (5)
The total relocation payments made for overseas mental health nurses from the 1 July 2004 to the 30 June 2007 is $103,843. The Department of Health does not provide attraction or incentive payments to mental health nurses or other mental health professionals.
The total relocation payments made for overseas mental health nurses from the 1 July 2007 to 11 September 2007 is $18,055.
Contrary to allegations that overseas mental health nurses can 'take money and run', the Department of Health does not provide attraction or incentive payments to mental health nurses or other mental health professionals.
As previously outlined in PQ 4959, from 1 July 2007 relocation costs of up to $20,000 will be considered for international recruits and up to $10,000 for interstate recruits, with strict business rules and length of service requirements, in order to be competitive with other jurisdictions.
In addition, employers will arrange accommodation for newly arrived staff for a period of up to six weeks and up to maximum of $5,000. This amount is paid directly to the accommodation provider. This period has been increased from one month due to the current demand for rental accommodation.
Reimbursement of relocation costs can only occur with specific and detailed receipts illustrating incurred costs associated with relocation required, with only certain expenses covered as per business rules.
In addition, relocation remuneration is split into two payments. The first payment is made upon commencement of employment (50% of their entitlement). The remaining 50% will be paid at the end of twelve months continual employment within a public mental health service. The period required before the final payment is made was extended from six months to twelve months in order to maximise employment tenure, with this change implemented on 16 August 2007.
(6) (a) This will be considered.
(b) The data provided for this answer has been extracted manually.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
The 2004 information and marketing campaign resulted in over 300 people contacting WA Health regarding the possibility of working in WA Health mental health services.
As a result of the recruitment drive undertaken at the end of June / early July 2007, 60 mental health nurses (and 73 mental health professionals overall) have been offered positions in WA Health. Three nurses have started work and others will arrive as visas are processed and their personal circumstances permit.
Note: A recruitment drive has been defined as targeted recruitment to specific positions through campaign advertising.
(2) (a) -(c)
This information has not been routinely recorded for any staff on an individual basis in WA Health.
(3) The most recent recruitment (June / July 2007) has resulted in 60 nurses being offered positions in WA Health, with the first three of the nurses having commenced seven weeks ago (average figure for the three).
(4) - (5)
The total relocation payments made for overseas mental health nurses from the 1 July 2004 to the 30 June 2007 is $103,843. The Department of Health does not provide attraction or incentive payments to mental health nurses or other mental health professionals.
The total relocation payments made for overseas mental health nurses from the 1 July 2007 to 11 September 2007 is $18,055.
Contrary to allegations that overseas mental health nurses can 'take money and run', the Department of Health does not provide attraction or incentive payments to mental health nurses or other mental health professionals.
As previously outlined in PQ 4959, from 1 July 2007 relocation costs of up to $20,000 will be considered for international recruits and up to $10,000 for interstate recruits, with strict business rules and length of service requirements, in order to be competitive with other jurisdictions.
In addition, employers will arrange accommodation for newly arrived staff for a period of up to six weeks and up to maximum of $5,000. This amount is paid directly to the accommodation provider. This period has been increased from one month due to the current demand for rental accommodation.
Reimbursement of relocation costs can only occur with specific and detailed receipts illustrating incurred costs associated with relocation required, with only certain expenses covered as per business rules.
In addition, relocation remuneration is split into two payments. The first payment is made upon commencement of employment (50% of their entitlement). The remaining 50% will be paid at the end of twelve months continual employment within a public mental health service. The period required before the final payment is made was extended from six months to twelve months in order to maximise employment tenure, with this change implemented on 16 August 2007.
(6) (a) This will be considered.
(b) The data provided for this answer has been extracted manually.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.