As we near the 12-month mark of the disruption and change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and look to learn from those subsequent changes and challenges across many workplaces, I had the chance to reflect on and discuss these issues for the public sector as part of a Mandarin webinar this week.

Looking back and looking forward in a period of constant churn and change is difficult… and on reflection it’s the ‘why’ we’ve done things in the workplace, and how we’ve communicated this that really piqued my interest.

It was also the understanding that we need to pace ourselves, and manage expectations going forward by encouraging each other to take the time to plan, think and reflect for the year ahead, especially following the year that has been and the sustained peak for many.
In the public sector, many departments and thousands of public servants, both state and federal, have had to ‘surge’ from March last year to deliver new policies, programs and systems, and have had to maintain that surge for 12 months now.

For those on the frontline of service delivery, be it the many people who administered and processed nearly 40,000 COVID tests in a single day in Melbourne, or those providing home delivery services, or trucking resources around the country and across borders, the stress levels and challenges have been high and constant.

At Mental Health Australia one of the ways we’ve tried to manage the sustained stress and challenges resulting from COVID is to elevate the conversations in the workplace and not assume they are occurring. By this I mean talking about how the changes are working, where they are not working, and identifying team-based opportunities for improvement and reflection.

For those not on the frontline, who have been fortunate to be able to work from home, this has meant missed interpersonal benefits of being present in workplaces, so we’ve had to look for ways to schedule it in. We’ve had to do more than assume, and work together to find the balance of what works for some people, what works for others, and then what works as a team.

The additional challenges of working from home and knowing when to stop, and what is work, and what is home time, has really challenged people, especially in the public sector, and again when workplaces, managers and leaders reflect on this, and the sustained nature of such activity, there will be a lot to learn both positive and challenging.

Personally, and having started in this role during the pandemic, leading Mental Health Australia in this type of environment has been tough, but equally rewarding. And I’m sure that has been the case across many organisations and sectors, particularly the public sector where changes in an office working environment, or post-election changes, or the machinery of government changes, have always thrown up challenges.

In every workplace there has always been the need to respond to critical issues, crises and change and we need to acknowledge that these have only been amplified as a result of COVID.

Ultimately what the pandemic has shown us is that there is no certainty, so managing uncertainty has become part of our day-to-day business. Acknowledging this, and understanding and managing change in an organisation, is about over communicating and involving people to engage both with the problems and with the solutions.

We know that when there IS NOT good communication about the ‘why?’ behind changes people are often left to try and understand it themselves. When the uncertainty and change is constant like we have experienced together through this pandemic, the why, why, why is even more important, especially how it fits with an organisations values and how it is communicated.

Reflecting and learning from the ‘why?’ we did things — why we need to make changes and how we communicated then and now — can only help organisations and individuals move forward in 2021, and that can only benefit workplace mental health.

Mental Health Australia is a proud member of the Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance and to find out more, including a number of COVID specific resources available to small, medium and large workplaces, please click here.

Have a good weekend.

 

Leanne Beagley
CEO

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Select Committee on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention calling for submissions

The Select Committee on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention is now calling for submissions by 24th March 2021. The Committee has been established to consider a range of strategic reviews of the current mental health system, and whether the recommendations are fit for purpose to address the fallout from bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental Health Australia will be developing a submission pointing the Committee to previous policy positions and submissions relevant to their deliberations. Members are welcome to provide input to this process by emailing policy@mhaustralia.org

NEXT WEEK On Monday we have a Mental Health Australia Governance Committee meeting and then I’m meeting with Mohammad Al-Khafaji from the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) On Tuesday I’ll be taking part in the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities COVID-19 Health Advisory Group meeting and on Wednesday I’ll be meeting with Pain Australia CEO, Carol Bennett. On Thursday the National Safety and Quality Community Mental Health Service Standards Advisory Group Meeting will be held and then later that day I’ll be meeting with the Australian Borderline Personality Disorder Foundation.

 

Member Benefits and Profiles

Communicate your news or upcoming events to more than 5,000 people in the mental health ecosystem weekly. Mental Health Australia members are invited to send us news, announcements, events or other notices for inclusion in the Weekly CEO Update newsletter. To do so, simply fill out this form by COB each Wednesday for your notice to appear in the newsletter the following Friday. Member Profiles Blue Knot Foundation Blue Knot Foundation is Australia’s National Centre of Excellence for Complex Trauma, empowering recovery and building resilience for the more than five million adult Australians (1 in 4) with a lived experience of complex trauma, including childhood trauma and abuse, their families and communities. Movember Since 2003, Movember has funded more than 1,250 men’s health projects around the world, challenging the status quo, shaking up men’s health research and transforming the way health services reach and support men. Movember’s areas of focus include prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.

Embrace Multicultural Mental Health News The Australian Department of Health’s implementation plan sets out principles to ensure that information and services for the COVID-19 Vaccination Program are delivered in appropriate languages and formats for people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and within appropriate facilities and locations. You can access the plan here.

Mental Health News

Spotlight report – living with complex trauma Commissioned by the National Mental Health Commission, Blue Knot Foundation and BEING – Mental Health Consumers, have prepared the Living with and Healing from Complex Trauma report. The report integrates lived experience evidence with the latest clinical and research evidence to better inform practitioners and services within the mental health and related sectors about complex trauma, its impacts and their relationship to mental distress. Read more Psychiatrists essential in suicide prevention says taskforce At a time of increasing public interest and government focus on the reduction of suicide, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) taskforce on suicide prevention has released a new position statement. The new statement acknowledges suicide is complex but there is substantial evidence regarding clinical and social measures which can help to prevent suicide. Read more Steps taken to manage health during COVID-19 pandemic Most Australians (86%) took steps to manage their physical health and two in three (67%) took steps to manage their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Read more Time for national action on loneliness, the unnoticed epidemic A report on loneliness, an issue which clouds the lives of many Australians and exposes them to increased risk of depression and other illness, has called for a national plan of action to address the often unrecognised condition. A significant proportion of Australians (15%) were considered to be experiencing high levels of loneliness, according to a 2019 survey, yet there remain significant gaps in knowledge and community awareness of the extent and impact, the report finds. Read more Digital tool to dial back COVID-19 anxiety, depression and alcohol use With more than a third of Australians now drinking alcohol daily, compared to 6% pre-COVID-19, researchers are developing a digital tool to help communities manage the ongoing impacts of COVID-19. A team of researchers from the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) has been awarded one of 10 NSW Ministry of Health COVID-19 Research Grants, designed to fund research in priority areas to directly support the NSW Health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more Yahoo News Australia and Lifeline Australia partner for mental health series Yahoo News Australia has teamed up with Lifeline Australia to launch a new content series to raise awareness of mental health and the real-life struggles of Australians. The new ‘What’s Up?’ series shares original stories from everyday Australians who have been affected by mental illness. Read more Mental Health Safety and Quality Engagement Guide The National Mental Health Commission has launched the Mental Health Safety and Quality Engagement Guide. The Commission has developed this guide for consumers and carers to strengthen their role in safety and quality initiatives. This was an action in the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan. The Guide aims to empower and support our mental health workforce to engage in meaningful partnerships, to improve the safety and quality of mental health services. Read more National Redress Scheme financial sanctions A new Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) governance standard is now in place which requires registered charities to take reasonable steps to join the National Redress Scheme if an application has been made, or is likely to be made, against them. Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said this would allow institutions which have been named as failing to join the Scheme to be stripped of their charitable status and, therefore, lose associated tax concessions. Read more Lived experience leaders expect transformative change from Royal Commission A group of leaders with first-hand personal experience of the mental health system are demanding radical change from the Victorian Royal Commission, due to release its report next week.  They say a radical overhaul is needed and the urgent need to embark on transformative change will be made difficult by terms of reference that limited focus on abuse, and by the failure to appoint a Commissioner who has lived experience of mental health issues and of using the system. Read more

Reminders

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre Network Member expressions of interest The Black Dog Institute is seeking expressions of interest in becoming a National Network Member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre. The Centre aims to advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to be embedded across mental health and suicide prevention initiatives. Find out more here. Swallowing Awareness Day Like breathing, swallowing is essential to everyday life. Around one million Australians have a swallowing difficulty, which can occur at any stage of life. Swallowing Awareness Day 2021, 17 March, is an opportunity to bring attention to swallowing disorders and to connect people with speech pathologists, the professionals who can help. The strong correlation of mental health conditions and swallowing conditions reinforce the importance of speech pathology involvement in the mental health system. Find campaign resources here. Draft National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia have been asked by the Australian Government to renew the 2013 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy (NATSISPS) in consultation with stakeholders and community members. The NATSISPS will be available for comment here in the coming weeks.