Find support for yourself or your colleagues

For all staff

Employee Wellbeing Support Services

The Employee Wellbeing Support Services provide free and confidential advice to proactively support the wellbeing of eligible Department of Education staff. Converge is the department’s external provider of Employee Wellbeing Support Services.

You can arrange to speak with a practitioner over the phone, via video, or in person (subject to availability) for the following services:

• Employee Counselling provides support and counselling for personal and work-related issues.
• Manager Support provides dedicated coaching support and advice to people managers on staff wellbeing matters, having difficult conversations, leading through change, developing leadership competencies and any other people management matters.
• Career Coaching provides career development advice, interview skills support and vocational counselling.
• Nutrition Support provides specialist advice on nutrition, sleep, mindfulness, addictive behaviours and positive lifestyle changes.
• Conflict Support provides strategies, tools and coaching to deal with difficult workplace and personal situations. This is not a replacement for the conflict resolution support service available to staff currently.
• Financial Coaching provides money management coaching to help staff address their financial wellbeing.
• Legal Support provides confidential legal advice for personal and non-work-related issues in the following areas of law: personal family law, wills/probate, tenancy/renting, real estate and consumer disputes.
• Family Counselling provides counselling for eligible staff and their immediate family members (aged 18 and over) needing support with personal concerns. Short-term counselling for small family groups (aged 18 and over) or couples is also available.

For people managers

Manager Support

Manager Support is a dedicated coaching support service for people managers and school leaders.

It provides advice and coaching on a range of issues such as:

• approaching a difficult conversation with employees
• managing challenging team dynamics
• leading through uncertainty and change
• supporting staff at risk and
• managing the impact of mental health issues within the workplace.

People managers can book an appointment by calling 1300 291 071 or book online via the Converge portal entering the organisational code mywellbeing.

Medical Advisory Service

The Medical Advisory Service offers principals and people leaders with free advice on:

• managing employees experiencing physical or psychological health difficulties that impact on their ability to do their job
• arranging independent medical examinations on behalf of the Department (note that this is at the cost of the workplace).

This service is managed by Max Health (formerly InjuryNet). Contact Max Health Monday to Friday, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm (excluding public holidays):

• call 1300 495 559
• complete the online form.

For principals

Principal health and wellbeing supports

Principal-class employees can access a range of programs and services that support their mental health and wellbeing, including:

• School Policy Templates Portal – provides school policy templates that meet legal, departmental policy and school registration requirements
• Principal Mentor Program – to reduce isolation and build social capital
• Proactive Wellbeing Support - provides opportunities to debrief with experienced psychologists and new principal check-ins
• Principal Health Checks - free and confidential proactive health consultations
• Complex Matters Support Team – help to minimise workload and stress associated with managing and responding to complex cases
• Early Intervention Program - proactive access to professional support to prevent health and wellbeing risks from escalating.

For more information, visit Principal Health and Wellbeing.

Principal Welcome Pack

All new and acting principals will receive a Principal Welcome Pack (log-in required). This will help them get started in their new role by connecting principals to the right resources from the start.

Principals’ Page

The Principals' Page (log-in required) contains links to important information and resources that principals need to access regularly or urgently.

For specialist and small school staff

The Early Intervention program delivered by Cogent Thinking provides free and confidential support for emerging health and wellbeing risks to prevent them from escalating into more serious health concerns.

The program can be used to address work and non-work-related matters (excluding workers’ compensation claims).

It offers access to comprehensive professional services, including:

• dedicated care coordinator: up to 15 hours of phone support per case
• psychology: up to 8 sessions per issue, with an experienced psychologist either face to face or via digital platforms
• physiotherapy: up to 6 sessions per issue
• exercise physiology: up to 6 sessions per issue
• dietetics: up to 4 sessions per issue
• referral pathways: to other support services within the Department of Education to improve health and wellbeing.

Eligible staff who access the program will be assigned a dedicated care coordinator with an allied health qualification.

Principal class, specialist and small school staff can access the Early Intervention program by contacting Cogent Thinking:

• phone: 1300 090 924
• email: eiprogram@cogentthinking.com.au

Sessions can be in person, over the phone, or by secure video conferencing app.

For more information, visit Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Management in Schools.