Cairns Grow Your Own Non-Clinical Community Mental Health Workforce Plan

Grow Your Own Non-Clinical Community Mental Health Workforce — Cairns Working Session

Communities across Cairns and Far North Queensland have long raised workforce challenges, and the data confirms it: Health Care and Social Assistance is the region's largest employing industry, projected to grow by 17.5% by 2034, yet the non-clinical workforce is not keeping pace with demand.

Queensland Alliance for Mental Health is working with the region to develop the Grow Your Own Non-Clinical Community Mental Health Workforce Plan (Cairns region) , a locally designed blueprint to create sustainable pathways into non-clinical mental health roles for First Nations peoples, multicultural communities, people with lived and living experience, and local community members.

This is not a consultation. It is a working session to set priorities for action.

Morning Session - 9:30am -12:30pm

All registered attendees join the morning working session to map workforce gaps, identify what's already working, and set the priorities that will shape the Plan.

Morning tea provided | Networking lunch follows (12.30 to 1.30pm)

Afternoon Breakout Sessions — 1:30–2:30pm

Following the morning session, two focused community breakouts will run in parallel. These are separate, purposeful conversations for specific communities, not a repeat of the morning.

Lived & Living Experience Community Breakout
A dedicated space for people with lived or living experience of mental health to shape what the Grow Your Own pathway must look and feel like for their community. What does a meaningful entry into the non-clinical workforce require? What needs to be different?

Multicultural Community Breakout
A dedicated space for people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities to shape the Plan's approach to multicultural workforce pathways. What barriers are specific to CALD communities in Cairns and FNQ? What already works that the Plan should build on?

What is Grow Your Own?

Grow Your Own (GYO) is an approach to workforce development that builds pathways into employment from within the community, prioritising local people, local knowledge, and local solutions.

The Cairns GYO Non-Clinical Community Mental Health Workforce Plan is being developed with, not for, the Cairns and Far North Queensland community. It will create practical, sustainable pathways into non-clinical mental health roles: peer support workers, community connectors, coordinators, administrators, and more.

This working session is the first step in building that Plan. What is decided in the room will directly shape what gets written.

Who should attend?

This session is for anyone with a stake in growing the local mental health workforce in Cairns and Far North Queensland, including:

• Managers & Leaders from NGOs and community organisations delivering mental health services

• People with lived or living experience of mental health

• People from culturally and linguistically diverse communities

• First Nations community members and organisations

• RTOs, TAFEs, and training providers operating in the region

• Job network providers and employment services

• Funding bodies, government representatives, and decision makers, including Primary Health Networks, Local Government, and Queensland and Commonwealth government agencies

• Community groups, networks, and individuals interested in local workforce pathways

If you work in, live with, fund, or care about mental health in this region, this session is for you.

How the day works

Morning Session — 9:30am to 12:30pm (all attendees)

A facilitated working session to map the current workforce landscape, identify what is already working, and set the priorities that will shape the Cairns GYO Plan.

Morning tea is provided. A networking lunch follows at 12:30pm to 1.30pm

Afternoon Breakout Sessions — 1:30pm to 2:30pm (optional, choose one)

Two focused community conversations running in parallel at the same venue. These are purposeful spaces for specific communities to go deeper on what the Plan must get right for them. You do not need to attend an afternoon session; the morning session stands alone.

Morning Session only
You want to attend the working session and networking lunch. You are not attending an afternoon breakout, or neither breakout applies to your experience or community.

Morning Session + Lived & Living Experience Breakout
You have lived or living experience of mental health and want to join the dedicated afternoon conversation about what the GYO pathway must look and feel like for people with that experience.

Morning Session + Multicultural Community Breakout
You are from a culturally and linguistically diverse community and want to join the dedicated afternoon conversation about what the GYO pathway must look and feel like for CALD communities in Cairns and FNQ.

All tickets are free. Places are limited. Select the ticket that best reflects your day.