Background
These recommendations are based on consultation with the Chief Mental Health Nurse, Victorian Senior Mental Health Nursing Group, allied health workforce representatives, and health services across Victoria in collaboration with the Centre for Mental Health Learning (CMHL).
The Centre for Mental Health Learning (CMHL) developed the first draft in November 2021 for mental health nurses and updated it in 2022-2023 to be applicable to allied health staff after consulting with area mental health service Occupational Therapist workforce representatives, Social Work Leads, and representatives from peak bodies for Art Therapy, Music Therapy, Dietetics, and Speech Pathology.
From July 2025, the Collaborative Centre incorporated CMHL's work on supervisor databases into the Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing (Collaborative Centre).
What are reciprocal arrangements?
Reciprocal arrangements are when one health service provides clinical supervision to another service's staff member in exchange for receiving supervision back for one of their own staff members.
Role of the Collaborative Centre
The Collaborative Centre provides clinical supervision databases on the Collaborative Centre website to support allied health, nursing and lived experience (consumer and carer) practitioners to find a supervisor who meets their supervision needs.
The Collaborative Centre does not validate individual qualifications or experience in the supervisor databases.
The Collaborative Centre does not manage reciprocal arrangements. Health services are responsible for governing these arrangements.
Advice for individuals listed within the supervisor databases.
You are responsible for clarifying your organisation's policy and procedures for clinical supervision and reciprocal arrangements.
If you are an employee of a public health service:
- Seek approval before listing - Do not list yourself as a clinical supervisor without first seeking advice and written approval from your employer, including whether you are approved to be listed as available for reciprocal arrangements
- Clarify your role and responsibilities - Understand your role and reporting responsibilities as a listed supervisor with your health service
- Meet and attest to minimum criteria - Ensure you have 3+ years' experience, supervision training, currently receive supervision yourself, and have appropriate registration/membership
- Follow your service's listing requirements - Use approved contact details (usually work email/phone, not personal) and include cost information as directed by your service policy (e.g., 'Free for employees of [Health Service name]')
- Notify and get approval for reciprocal arrangements - Update your approving manager about any supervision requests from other services and wait for written approval before proceeding
- Abide by your service's policies - Follow your home health service's policies and procedures in all supervision activities, including when supervising staff from other services
Advice for health services on governance of reciprocal arrangements
Health services should establish and update policies and procedures to specify expectations for employees who want to be listed as a supervisor, and recognise that providing clinical supervision may be a component of an employee's health service employment.
For example, the health service policy may require employees listing in the supervisor database to include specific information in the section 'please add any further cost information for supervisees' such as:
- 'Employees will state that there is no cost for employees within [insert health service name]', or
- 'Clinical supervision is exclusively for/limited to employees of [insert health service name]', or
- 'Free for allied health clinicians/[insert specific discipline] from [insert health service name]'
Recommendations for policy and procedure inclusion
- Health service employees must seek permission from their health service nominated authority prior to applying to be listed as a clinical supervisor in the supervisor database.
- The health service nominated authority will advise in writing whether it approves the employee to be listed, and whether it approves the employee to be listed as being available for reciprocal arrangements.
- The employee will notify the health service of any requests to provide clinical supervision under reciprocal arrangements. The health service nominated authority will be responsible for liaising with their colleague in the other health service/organisation to facilitate the reciprocation.
- Reciprocal arrangements, where one health service provides clinical supervision to another service in return for supervision within the home health service, are work that the home health service governs through its policies and procedures. The health service nominated authority should approve reciprocal arrangements in writing.
- Health services should agree to all reciprocal arrangements for a maximum 12-month timeframe. The health service nominated authority must review arrangements at the anniversary of the agreement or earlier.
- Organisations should seek legal counsel from within their organisation to help with the reciprocal arrangement requirements.
- Organisations should encourage employees not to provide personal phone numbers or personal email addresses in the supervisor database public listing. Organisations may approve the use of health service email addresses and landlines as the contact point.
Using the supervisor database for health service listings
- Organisations may choose to use the supervisor databases rather than create an individual health service clinical supervisor database.
- The supervisor databases provide a filter for 'service/organisation'. This filter allows organisations to see supervisors listed for a specific health service or organisation.
Further information
To discuss the supervisor database and its use, health services may contact the Collaborative Centre workforce team at workforce@vccmhw.vic.gov.au.