Chief OHS Officer | Department of Health and Human Services

To enable choice and support for employees for early help-seeking and self-determination of care, consistent with the Department’s vision to achieve the best health, wellbeing and safety of all Victorians so that they can lead a life they value, Nicole introduced a new employee wellbeing and support model.

The model focuses on providing different pathways of support to recognise that everyone seeks support in a different way and has different needs. Three main layers of support allow for “warm” referrals between the services: Employee Wellbeing and Support Program, Peer Support Network and Workplace Facilitator.

Nicole and her team achieved this through:

Re-branding and re-shaping external wellbeing support services as the Employee Wellbeing and Support program to avoid the perception of a rubber stamp EAP offering.
Challenging the notion that wellbeing support is the go-to only after an event has occurred.
Focusing energy on promoting use of the supports as a ‘check-up from the neck up’ and a holistic and preventative resource by referring to the coloured ‘wheel’ of supports.

Habits are shifting, and people are becoming familiar with new language and thinking differently about how they and those around them can be supported.

Historically utilisation rates for externally provided support was roughly 8%. One year into the new approach utilisation rates average 14-16%. Over the past two years the peer support network has averaged two contacts per day. A positive sign that people are reaching out for support!