Mental Health Framework supports Intereach staff

Human and community services provider Intereach today (Thursday September 10) launched its Mental Health Framework.

The occasion was a significant milestone for Intereach, as it provides a framework that supports its staff and highlights the organisation’s ongoing commitment to their wellbeing. The Framework was developed by a specialist company through significant consultation with staff via a whole of staff survey, focus groups, and opportunities for feedback to be provided prior to endorsement of the Framework.

“At Intereach our staff are our greatest strength,” said CEO Keryn Fox.

“The Intereach Mental Health Framework is a commitment from the Intereach Board and Executive to provide, to the best of our ability, a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. This framework was developed from feedback from our staff and acknowledges the mental stresses we can all face in our day-to-day duties at Intereach.

“Some of these duties include working with and supporting our communities, and quite often some of the most vulnerable people within those communities. We want all of our staff to feel mentally healthy, regardless of their role here, and this framework provides the foundation to work toward this goal,” Ms Fox said.

She said the framework was “not the beginning nor the end of our journey toward a mentally healthier staff and workplace – it simply offers a set of objectives and outcomes which we can check and reflect upon”.

Intereach encourages employees at all levels to engage in self-care, look after each other, develop their resilience and support their psychological health at work. This can be achieved by following the four objectives of the framework which are:

1. Demonstrate supportive leadership for our people and our communities.
2. Promote and support growth, wellbeing, resilience and self-awareness.
3. Intervene early, support, and keep staff at work.
4. Support employee return to work after injury and illness.