A new partnership between the West Australian government and the University of Western Australia will see the development of a comprehensive set of mental health support resources for WA workplaces.
The Mental Health Commission has partnered with The University of Western Australia's Centre for Transformative Work Design to develop evidence-based activities and resources within the centre's statewide Thrive@Work Strategy.
According to Mental Health minister Roger Cook workplaces have the potential to impact on people's mental health both positively and negatively.
"This funding will assist the Centre to better support organisations throughout WA address the health and wellbeing of their employees and create thriving workplaces.
"With one in five of us experiencing mental health issues in any given year and the many hours we spend at work, it is critical that workplaces know how to create environments that help their employees thrive,” said Cook.
"Creating thriving workplaces is good for employees, good for the wider community and can reduce the impact of lost productivity on business."
The assessment tools, training modules, educational materials and other resources will assist WA workplaces to promote positive mental health and wellbeing, and support employee mental health.
The funding will also support the implementation of the Western Australian Workplace Mental Health Standards, a set of voluntary guidelines for organisations seeking to be mentally healthy.
The development of the standards has been commissioned by the Mental Health Commission as part of the implementation of the Suicide Prevention 2020 strategy.
Image sourced from Flickr cc: WillieTanner