95bFM Student calls to subsidise mental health degrees to fill critical worker shortage
16 June, 2023
Interview by Caeden Tipler, adapted by Rawan Saadi
Year 13 student Millicent Dickenson has launched a petition, calling on the government to take action to fill jobs in mental health. “Nothing is happening and there's nobody talking about it.”
Aotearoa has a significant shortage of mental health workers. As of October 2022, employment data shows we need 643 additional specialists to meet demand. This includes 120 psychiatrists, 408 mental health nurses, and 115 clinical psychologists.
Year 13 student Millicent Dickenson wants to pursue a career in forensic psychology. But she told 95bFM’s The Wire that there are many barriers to entering the industry, including high costs and long-term study.
“We don’t have enough support for mental health-related jobs in New Zealand and it costs so much to go into the industry for the amount of years to get the degree.”
“I’m in year 13 myself and a lot of people are worried about money and how expensive university is going to be."
Dickenson has launched a petition for the government to subsidise degrees required for mental health professions.
Australia recently announced a $107 million NZD health study subsidy with the intention of encouraging students to enter the crucial yet understaffed field.
Dickenson said subsidising university fees is one way to ensure we have enough people to fill mental health positions, as they won’t be moving overseas to pursue better offers.
“Australia can see there's a problem in their own system. New Zealand has such a shortage, and it's another thing we can do that another government is already investing in.”
She highlighted that this subsidy would help students going into clinical psychology, which requires an additional six years of studying after completing your undergraduate degree.
Dickenson was also critical of the politicians for taking little action to address mental health issues.
“The $1.9 million mental health budget hasn’t seen any mental health facilities being built. Nothing is happening and there's nobody talking about it.”
She said this is alarming as 538 people died from suicide in the 2021 to 2022 financial year.
Dickenson blames Aotearoa’s lacking investment in mental health for our high suicide numbers, citing 1824 young people being turned away by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in 2016.
“Children struggling with suicidal thoughts are being turned away or deemed as low-risk cases, which isn’t something that should be happening.”
“When more people are in the jobs there's more accessibility to these services that New Zealanders are currently lacking.”
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
