Policy Context

To meet the forecast growth in clinical placements associated with the increased Commonwealth funded training places; the Victorian government is undertaking work to strengthen the capacity within health services to take on students on clinical placements.  The Clinical Placements Strategy developed by Department of Human Services (DHS) aims to ensure effective and efficient training models over the long term. The policy aligns with broader Victorian government policy and health workforce policy directions at a national level. Community health is a relatively small part of the health system but as it continues to grow it is becoming an increasingly important provider of health services and programmes employing professionals from a range of health and human service disciplines. To meet these challenges, models and settings for clinical placements will need to evolve to reflect the new direction of community based care. 
 
The Clinical Placement Innovation Project, as part of the Clinical Placement Strategy provided funding for nineteen projects designed to increase undergraduate clinical training capacity into the future. In October 2007 the final report of the project along with the policy document Clinical Placements in Victoria Establishing a Statewide Approach was released.

The Victorian government policy Care in Your Community identifies significant changes in how health care will be delivered in the future with greater focus on person centred care in community settings, reducing  the need for inpatient care and  improving health outcomes for Victorians. This policy direction underpins the need for increased focus on a health workforce with the skills and ability to work in community based settings.