11th Psychological Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace Congress

22-23 October 2025, Melbourne

Day One – Wednesday 22 October 2025

8.30 Registration opens

9.00 Opening remarks from conference chair

9.10 Upskilling your employees effectively in psychologically safe practices

Identifying the most useful skills for creating psychologically healthy workplaces
Developing key mental health skills for supervisors and team leaders
Engaging internal/external partners to provide evidence-based psychological safety training
Addressing feedback on training strategies for effective skills development in future

Irina Tchernitskaia, Manager Psychological Services, Fire Rescue Victoria

9.55 Utilising line manager support sustainably for best-practice psychological wellbeing

Constructing effective strategies around the capabilities and vantage of direct supervisors
Allocating training and resources around ‘soft skills’ to commencing line leaders
Tackling the increased psychological strain placed on line leaders supportively
Safeguarding coalface employees from worsening psychological health through supervisor engagement

Ashley Bennalack, Head of Wellbeing, Village Roadshow

10.40 Morning coffee break

11.10 Navigating the psychological wellbeing responsibilities of WHS and HR business functions

Developing a realistic understanding of your shared responsibilities for psychosocial safety
Organising key avenues for collaboration between safety and people management branches
Generating productive outcomes between service leaders in terms of both prevention and response to psychological injury
Situating other areas of your organisation in relation to your psychological safety response

Anji Head, Senior Manager Health Safety and Wellbeing, University of Sydney

11.55 Case Study: Building a culture of psychological safety from across organisational divides

Shaping psychological safety from internal advocacy to organisational response
Producing awareness before formal internal programs were established
Advocating from outside traditional HR and WHS roles for meaningful culture change
Creating opportunities to contribute to wellbeing through visible and consistent advocacy
Empowering proactive psychosocial safety strategies through employee-led influence
Supporting mental health and wellbeing champions with organisational buy-in

Todd Hopwood, Manager Customer and Business Integrity, Wollongong City Council, and Mental Health Advocate

12.40 Lunch break

13.40 Understanding your legal obligations around psychosocial risk according to recent developments

Situating your organisational psychosocial risk strategy in the context of current regulations
Highlighting recent prosecutions and cases when updating your mental health approach
Investigating your current psychological safety strategy for potential blind spots
Translating legal expectations into effective psychological safety, beyond compliance

Catherine Dunlop, Partner, Maddocks

14.25 Engaging effectively with regulators around psychological health and safety

Formulating your psychological safety strategy according to regulator expectations
Understanding the resources and capabilities which can be accessed through regulators
Collaborating effectively with regulators during inspections and investigations
Keeping your relationship with safety regulators appropriate and productive

Narelle Beer, Strategic Safety and Leadership Advisor, Narelle Beer Consulting

15.10 Afternoon tea break

15.40 Case Study: Developing psychological health and safety effectively at Bupa

Developing maturity in your psychosocial safety strategy
Conducting effective psychosocial risk assessments
Utilising available data for effective safety risk management
Producing positive outcomes within an effective Psychosocial Hierarchy of Controls
Supporting your organisational wellbeing with commitment from leadership

Katrina Tsoutsoulis, Psychosocial Safety Lead, Bupa Asia Pacific

16.20 Collaborating effectively with Nominated Treating Doctors and care teams in psychological injury

Building positive relationships between your employees and their support teams
Ensuring your communications with treating professionals is meaningful and appropriate
Taking appropriate action when working with NTDs is not productive
Supporting an effective recovery process through regular communication with care teams

Associate Professor Caroline Johnson, Academic Specialist Primary Care, General Practice Expert and Practitioner, University of Melbourne

17.00 End of Conference Day One and Networking event

Day Two – Thursday 23 October 2025

8.00 Registration opens

8.30 Opening remarks from Chair

8.35 Dealing with workplace bullying and harassment risks in a psychologically safe way

Managing different types of bullying and harassment appropriately
Ensuring incidents of inappropriate behaviour are reported and addressed
Addressing all involved parties respectfully in accusations of employee misconduct
Taking account of the broader impact of bullying and harassment and your intervention

Chanelle McEnallay, Group Chief Safety Officer, Ramsay Health Care

9.20 Centring overwork and burnout as a key psychosocial risk in your organisation

Understanding the risks of high job demands for psychological ill-health
Negotiating potential resources and supports for employees at high risk of burnout
Designing key strategies to ensure early detection of potential burnout
Engaging constructively with overworked employees with a person-centred approach
Revising expectations to balance psychosocial job demands and resources

Rachael Palmer, Manager Change, Department of Health Victoria

10.05 Morning coffee break

10.35 Utilising executive support to empower your psychological health and safety programs

Approaching executive leadership teams with mental health strategies productively
Appreciating the role of c-suite leaders as key partners in psychological health and safety
Accessing language and data around psychological wellbeing that resonates with executives
Utilising executive support to empower your psychological health and safety programs

Dr Megan Dobbie, Director Wellbeing Services, Principal Psychologist, Ambulance Victoria

11.20 Containing the fallout of realised psychosocial risks and critical incidents

Situating psychosocial hazards within the context of the broader workplace
Ensuring your incident response addresses the risks of vicarious trauma
Assessing the long-term risks of secondary injury after a physical safety incident
Treating psychological safety incidents in consideration of potential cumulative exposure

Nicole Fauvrelle, General Manager Health Safety and Wellbeing, Country Fire Authority

12.05 Lunch Break

13.05 Ensuring best-practice Critical Incident Response in serious psychological hazard events

Providing resources and training on-site to provide immediate psychosocial support
Engaging key stakeholders within your organisation to harmonise incident procedures
Delegating authority and responsibility to leaders and staff for serious traumatic events
Managing the wellbeing of yourself and your team alongside the injured worker

Nicole Terry, Group Manager Wellbeing Services, Victoria Police

13.50 Communicating the importance of positive mental health and wellbeing in your organisation

Producing effective whole-of-business communications around mental health
Ensuring clear avenues to psychological wellbeing resources and supports for your teams
Adapting your communication style to each team and demographic within your workforce
Recognising the impact of regular face-to-face communication between leaders and employees

Nathan J Lester, Director Health, Safety, Rehabilitation, and Accessibility, Department of Parliamentary Services, Australian Parliament House

14.35 Afternoon tea break

15.05 Case Study: Providing effective psychological wellbeing and check-ins through peer support – SVHM’s STAR Program

Jacqueline Bloink, STAR Peer Support Program Manager, WHS Psychosocial Risk, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne

Psychological Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace Congress – Draft Agenda