Exploring the Links: Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction in Public Mental Health Services

Abstract

Within Australia, demand for mental health treatment is increasing, yet access to these services remains an ongoing challenge due to staff shortages within the mental health workforce. The current study aimed to establish the key factors associated with job satisfaction in the public mental health workforce in Victoria, Australia, and to explore whether these factors differed between metropolitan and regional services. The multi-site, mixed methods, cross-sectional study was conducted across four Victorian public health services, including two metropolitan and two regional services. A total of 172 current mental health workers employed in non-leadership roles were included in the final analyses. Three feed-forward multiple regression analyses were used to examine determinants of job satisfaction. Findings indicated that perceived lack of leadership, the disengagement component of occupational burnout, limited workplace flexibility, and expertise understaffing were key factors related to job satisfaction. Across jurisdictions, dissatisfaction with leadership, higher levels of disengagement, and lack of workplace flexibility emerged as influential in both urban and regional localities, whilst expertise understaffing was found to be important only in regional settings. These findings highlight and inform key target areas for interventions to improve job satisfaction within the Australian public mental health workforce. In particular, interventions should focus on enhancing leadership and workplace flexibility and reducing occupational burnout. Further, addressing expertise understaffing may be a key target within regional services.