Social work and counselling

How to become a mental health support worker

Official title: Mental health support worker

Also called: Mental health worker, Child and adolescent mental health worker, Mental welfare worker, Mental health and substance abuse worker

Mental health support workers assess and treat individuals with mental health or substance abuse problems with drugs or alcohol.

Main tasks

Help people with personal issues
Advise people about substance abuse issues
Help people get the right help and treatment
Interview clients to understand their background
Assist people with day-to-day issues
Adjust treatment plans to suit people's needs
Monitor people’s treatment progress
Maintain records

How to become one

You usually need experience to become a mental health support worker. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a driver licence; to pass a medical assessment and drug test.

See the full Tahatū profile

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $51,604 to $57,553 a year (median $54,579), a TEC estimate before tax.
Upper: $60,528 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
People employed in the group Aged and Disabled Carers: 9,888 at the 2018 Census and 6,801 at the 2023 Census (-31.2%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 1,500 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Aged and Disabled Carers, 84% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Aged and Disabled Carers work (2023 Census): Auckland 23.6%, Canterbury 15.7%, and Wellington 9.1%.

Questions people ask

How do I become a mental health support worker?

How much does a mental health support worker earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $54,579 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $51,604 to $57,553 a year.

Will AI change the work of a mental health support worker?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026