l1316 - Psychological Injury | Contents
30th April & 1st May, 2007 Crowne Plaza, Darling Harbour, Sydney

Day One: Monday 30th April 2007

PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE OF THE NATION

09.00 Chair Introduction – Psychological Injury Management Strategies

Current thinking with regards to Psychological Injury, Stress and Compensation claims in Australia.

09.15 Update: Defining Psychological Injury

• The difference between stress and psychological Injury
• Most common types of injury affecting the Australian workplace –depression / anxiety / trauma
• Links between stress and psychological injury
• Causative factors and difficulties of identification
• Impact on the workplace
• Research findings from recent study in stress intervention

Dr. Maureen Dollard, Director, Centre for Applied Psychological Research (CAPR)

10.00 Update: Psychological Injury - Overview of Legislation and Legal Issues in Australia

• The Australian legal framework for stress claims
• Industrial relations and stress claims
• Analysis of different legislative provisions – do they make a difference ?
• What are the most effective provisions in reducing claims?
• Does reduction in claims save the employer money overall?
• Recent cases

Dr. Rob Guthrie, Head of School, School of Business Law, Curtin University

10.45 Coffee

PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ‘WELLBEING PROGRAMMES’ IN THE WORKPLACE 

11.10 The Worth of Wellness – Aligning Organisational Wellness to Corporate Performance at IBM 

IBM's total health management approach ensures effective management of stress and psychological health provides organisational benefits in:

• Productivity
• Risk Management
• Performance
• Financial impact

Dr. Kim Hobbs, WellBeing Services and Health Benefits Director, IBM (Asia Pacific)

11.55 Leadership and Climate Influences on Staff Wellbeing

‘Poor’ management is the single most commonly identified factor for the development of stress claims. New research has revealed definitive links between management leadership styles, its affect on climate and staff wellbeing and associated outcomes. Session will examine how effective leadership can either enhance or undermine the effectiveness of early intervention and preventative occupational health and safety initiatives.

Peter Cotton, Director, Psychology Services, Health Services Australia Group

12.40 Lunch

1.40 Proactive Intervention Strategies: Getting in early to manage workplace mental health – implementation, effectiveness and continuous improvement 

• Job Capability Assessments (JCA’s)
• Stress Awareness
• EAP’s
• Peer Support Programmes
• Debriefing v Individual counseling – discussion of benefits/drawback
• Continuous improvement

Tony Cotton, Manager, Wellbeing Network, Australian Federal Police

3.10 Afternoon Tea

3.30 Enabling Mental Health Literacy in the workplace

Since 2000 the Mental Health First Aid programme has been enabling participants to benefit from the programme’s central idea of providing a means for 'non professionals' to recognise mental distress in a myriad of forms and provide a first line of response to a 'call for help'. In the workplace the MHFA programme can provide a useful means for enabling staff to recognise the signs of mental 'ill health' and some tools for addressing the issue in the most appropriate manner. Betty Kitchener will speaker on:

• MHFA programme introduction – why developed? what’s it for? what is it NOT for? who benefits?
• Benefits that have been gained in workplaces where the programme has been implemented
• Examples from the public and private sectors

Betty Kitchener, Director, Mental Health First Aid Training & Research Program, ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne

5.00 End of Day One – Drinks reception

Day Two: Tuesday 1st May 2007

9.00 Opening address from Chair

INJURY RISK MANAGEMENT

9.15 Best Practice : Ensuring psychological health of your organisation – and mitigating hazards that could result in claims 

• Collaborative approach
• Enterprise Risk Management
• Fairness in Management
• Training
• Resourcing
• Flexibility
• Measurement

10.45 Coffee

11.00 People Risk Management: Identifying relevant mental health hazards in the workplace 

• What are the hazards in your workplace most likely to lead to injury or poor mental health of employees: bullying / poor management/ unresolved conflict / high workloads / lack of work/life balance?
• Which of them are critical/important?
• What should be done / can be done to minimize exposure to such ‘people risks’?
• Implementing a programme that manages these risks and reduces potential exposure to claims

Dr. Richard Kasperczyk, Executive Director, Resolutions RTK

11.45 SANE: Good Mental Health = Good Business

SANE Australia, the mental health charity, works for a better life for people affected by mental illness. It runs the only Freecall Helpline on mental health in Australia, and has won numerous awards for its work promoting better understanding of mental health issues. Working with a range of organisations including ATO and Centrelink, SANE has recently developed a range of resources specially aimed at improving better understanding and management of mental health issues in the workplace. Paul will speak about SANE’s experience in workplace education for managers and the workplace:

• Why mental health matters at work
• What are the challenges with developing organizational ‘mental health literacy’
• Dealing with issues in the management frontline
• The what, how and when of mental health literacy training
• Benefits for organisations that have implemented training.

Paul Morgan, Deputy Director, SANE Australia

12.30 Research: Minimising Psychological Risks within the Claims Process 

Recent research by Worksafe Victoria with the Department of Education (DoE) and Human Services (HS) indicates that in some instances the claim process itself can add to the stress undergone by a claimant – and potentially add to the financial impact of a claim. Managing and evaluating stress prevention within the claims process as part of the OH&S risk management approach at the DoE and HS has provided data that enables better decisions in claims management and the implementation of more effective RTW programmes.

Elizabeth Pratt, Senior Policy Officer, Worksafe Vic

1.15 Lunch

2.15 Personal Experience of Mental Ilness in the Workplace 

A SANE speaker will discuss mental illness and rehabilitation and its impact on their working life

3.00 Coffee

RTW AND REHABILITATION

4.45 Close of Conference

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