Mental illness significantly impacts on quality of life for Australian individuals and communities. Providing effective and appropriate mental health services remains a challenge for governments, though a skilled and expert mental health workforce has been identified as key toensuring positive outcomes for mental health consumers. Skilled mental health professionalsare required to be able to respond to changing models of care, and policy and fundingenvironments. As a result, many mental health practitioners are seeking continuing professionaldevelopment opportunities to enhance their skills and capabilities. To meet the developmentneeds of mental health practitioners and respond to workforce demands, postgraduate qualifications have been introduced by higher education institutes. Continuing education has largely focussed on coursework, or “formal” education, but there is increasing interest in work-based learning as a process to improve the capability of health practitioners, increase the relevance of education, and provide professionals with the skills necessary to continue to learn across their working lives. Work-based learning was defined in this study as the process whereby universities and work organisations create new learning opportunities within the workplace (Boud & Solomon, 2001). Many students undertaking postgraduate qualifications are often already working within professional settings. It is, therefore, important that learning is negotiated and derived from the needs of the student and the workplace to ensure relevance and appropriate capacity development. In response, higher education institutes need to develop appropriate, flexible pedagogies that engage students and industry stakeholders in the education process.