Lake Macquarie City Council is helping its staff build resilience and support each other by investing in Mental Health First Aid training and resources to assist employees.
Mental Health First Aid is an evidence-based training course that gives people the skills and confidence needed to have supportive conversations with colleagues and help guide them to professional help if needed.
Two staff have completed training as Mental Health First Aid Instructors. Council’s first round of targeted Mental Health First Aider training took place in late 2021 and is now being offered across the workforce.
Manager People Culture and Risk Kellie Reeves said staff across Council have expressed interest in becoming Mental Health First Aiders.
“The interest in the Mental Health First Aid program shows how important the issue of mental health is to our people,” she said.
“We want to ensure this support is easily available to all staff, which is why we made the conscious choice to provide the opportunity for an employee from our City Works department to gain instructor accreditation.
“City Works is our largest department and it’s comprised primarily of outdoor workers who can be harder to engage with due to the remote nature of their work. Additionally, the majority of City Works employees are male, who we know from statistics are less likely to seek treatment for mental health conditions and are at greater risk of suicide.”
In addition to providing Mental Health First Aid training, throughout the pandemic the Council has worked closely with its Employee Assistance Program provider to make resources available to staff, facilitated mental health webinars for Safe Work Month and R U OK? Day, and encouraged staff to participate in the Let’s Lift Lake Mac project, a partnership between Council and Avondale University aimed at improving participants’ mood and wellbeing.
“We’ve received really positive feedback from staff on these initiatives, and are proud that we can help support the emotional wellbeing of staff during these especially challenging times.”
