Mental Health & Resilience
Leadership Development
Physical Wellbeing
Workplace CulturePsychosocial risk programs that support your WHS obligations
Psychosocial risk management is a work health and safety responsibility, not a wellbeing add-on. Employers have a duty to manage the risk of harm from psychosocial hazards at work, alongside physical hazards.
The specific duties, terminology and regulator differ by state and territory. Most Australian jurisdictions have adopted some version of the model Work Health and Safety laws and Safe Work Australia’s Model Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work, while Victoria manages psychosocial hazards under its own Occupational Health and Safety framework, including Psychological Health Regulations that commenced on 1 December 2025, and NSW strengthened its requirements through the WHS Regulation 2025. Confirm the specific duties that apply to your organisation with your WHS regulator or adviser.
Psychosocial risk programs are training, leadership and workforce interventions that build the capability, culture and systems an organisation needs to identify and respond to psychosocial hazards. Holistic Services Group delivers these for Australian organisations, drawing on 20+ years of workplace wellbeing delivery and evidence-informed practice.
HSG’s programs support an organisation’s psychosocial risk management approach. They do not replace hazard identification, worker consultation, control implementation and ongoing review, or the selection and implementation of risk controls, which remain the organisation’s responsibility.
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What are psychosocial hazards?
A psychosocial hazard is any aspect of work, including the design, environment, organisation, or management and supervision of work, that has the potential to cause psychological or physical harm. The key regulatory reference is Safe Work Australia’s Model Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work, which identifies the following recognised hazards:
High job demands
Excessive workload, time pressure, emotionally demanding work, exposure to traumatic content or events
Low job control
Limited autonomy over how work is done, inflexible work arrangements, lack of input into decisions affecting one’s role
Poor support
Insufficient support from supervisors or colleagues, poor access to information or resources needed to perform the role
Low role clarity
Unclear expectations, conflicting priorities, and uncertainty about the scope or boundaries of one’s role
Poor organisational change management
Poorly communicated or managed restructures, redundancies, or changes to work conditions
Low recognition and reward
Lack of acknowledgement for effort and performance, perceived unfairness in remuneration or progression
Poor organisational justice
Perceived unfairness in decision-making processes, inconsistent application of policies or procedures
Traumatic events or material
Exposure to distressing incidents, material, or situations as part of the work role
Remote or isolated work
Physical isolation from colleagues, limited access to support, and reduced social connection at work
Bullying and harassment
Repeated unreasonable behaviour directed at a worker or group that creates a risk to health and safety. Sexual harassment and unlawful discrimination are separate, legally defined hazards that can occur alongside or independently of bullying.
Conflict or poor workplace relationships
Interpersonal conflict, poor team dynamics, breakdown of trust between colleagues or between managers and staff
Violence and aggression
Threats or acts of violence directed at workers, including from clients, customers, or the public
Poor physical environment
Uncomfortable, unsafe, or poorly maintained physical work areas, including noise, temperature, lighting, or workspace design issues that add to workload strain
Importantly, psychosocial hazards are properties of the work environment and work design, not characteristics of individual employees. Managing them requires organisational and leadership-level intervention, not only individual skills training, and HSG’s programs address both.
What’s at stake
The cost of unmanaged psychosocial risk is both human and financial, and it is rising.
- Mental health claims are climbing fast: mental health conditions now account for 12% of all serious workers’ compensation claims in Australia, up from 6.5% a decade ago, with serious mental health claims rising by 161.1% in the decade to 2023-24, according to Safe Work Australia’s Key Work Health and Safety Statistics 2025.
- These claims take far longer to resolve: the median time off work for a mental health claim is 35.7 weeks, nearly five times the median for all serious claims (7.4 weeks), per Safe Work Australia’s Key Work Health and Safety Statistics 2025.
- Poor psychosocial safety climate has a measurable cost: in a Safe Work Australia study of 4,242 Australian workers (2014–15), people in workplaces with a low psychosocial safety climate took 43% more sick leave and had 72% higher performance loss than those in high-climate workplaces. That cost employers an estimated $1,887 per employee a year, around $6 billion nationally (Becher & Dollard, Psychosocial safety climate and better productivity in Australian workplaces, 2016).
Proactive psychosocial risk management can help reduce this exposure and supports an organisation’s broader risk-management obligations.
Who This Is For
- WHS, HR and People & Culture teams building a documented psychosocial risk management approach
- Organisations responding to an identified psychosocial hazard, such as a restructure, a workload spike, or a bullying or conflict issue
- Leadership groups whose decisions shape job demands, role clarity, support and fairness
- Workforces in high-demand or emotionally demanding roles, or exposed to traumatic material
- Distributed, remote or isolated teams where support and connection are harder to maintain
- Organisations across multiple sites or states needing a consistent, coordinated response
The regulatory context
Most Australian jurisdictions require PCBUs (persons conducting a business or undertaking) to identify psychosocial hazards, assess risks where necessary, consult with workers, implement control measures to eliminate or minimise those risks so far as is reasonably practicable, and review their approach on an ongoing basis. For the underlying Australian claims data and the work conditions most often implicated, see our workplace stress research summary. Safe Work Australia’s Model Code of Practice sets out the approach most jurisdictions have adopted, while Victoria applies its own Occupational Health and Safety framework and NSW has its own WHS Regulation. Requirements, terminology and enforcement vary by state and territory, so HSG recommends confirming your organisation’s specific obligations with your WHS regulator or a qualified adviser.
HSG’s programs support, not replace, a comprehensive psychosocial risk management system. They do not constitute a risk assessment, legal advice, or a substitute for the organisation’s own control-selection process.
A Three-Level Approach to Psychosocial Risk Management
HSG supports psychosocial risk management at three levels, each playing a different role. Organisational and leadership-level interventions address root causes such as job design and management practice; management capability building increases managers’ ability to notice early signs of risk and respond appropriately; and workforce-level programs build individual skills, awareness and help-seeking behaviour. Individual-level training complements organisational risk controls; it does not replace them.
Organisational and leadership level
Psychosocial risk is fundamentally a leadership and systems issue. HSG’s Culture of Wellness© and leadership programs help leaders strengthen the conditions that support psychosocial safety, including clear roles, fair management, and genuine support for workers in difficulty.
Researchers call this psychosocial safety climate: how far senior leaders prioritise and protect psychological health, in policy and in practice. It can be measured. On the 12-item PSC scale, a score of 41 or above is the benchmark associated with low risk of job strain and depressive symptoms, and a score of 37 or below signals high risk (Bailey, Dollard & Richards, 2015).
Management capability
Managers have significant influence over job demands, role clarity, recognition and support, making manager capability an important organisational leverage point.
Bullying shows why. When University of South Australia researchers analysed 342 bullying complaints made to SafeWork SA, the complaints clustered around everyday people-management tasks: managing work performance, coordinating hours and leave, and shaping how team members relate to each other (Tuckey et al., 2022).
Workforce skills
Individual-level programs build resilience and mental health literacy. These do not substitute for organisational risk controls, but they help workers manage demands and raise concerns when they arise.
Programs that support psychosocial risk management
These programs are directly relevant to psychosocial risk management obligations. They can be delivered standalone, combined into a structured program, or integrated into a broader annual wellbeing program.
Psychological safety training
Psychological safety can help team members raise questions, mistakes and concerns earlier. It is a team climate, not a comprehensive psychosocial risk control, and it does not replace action on hazards such as unreasonable demands, poor role clarity or inadequate support. A dedicated leadership version is available: see Psychological Safety for Leaders.
For managers and team leaders: how to recognise early signs of psychosocial distress, initiate supportive conversations, connect workers to resources, and create team conditions that can help reduce exposure to psychosocial hazards.
Dealing with workplace harassment and bullying
Bullying and harassment are explicitly listed as psychosocial hazards. This workshop covers what they are, their consequences, and the rights and responsibilities of employees and managers, with a separate manager version on preventing bullying, encouraging safe reporting, and responding effectively to complaints.
Resilience training and growth mindset
Builds individual resilience through evidence-informed strategies, giving participants practical tools for managing high job demands, uncertainty and change. It builds coping capacity; it does not correct unreasonable workloads or substitute for work-design controls. See Resilience Training & Growth Mindset.
Stress and burnout prevention
Chronic exposure to unmanaged hazards, particularly high demands, low control and poor support, can contribute to burnout. This workshop helps participants recognise the warning signs and build sustainable performance, with a focus on the organisational factors involved. See Stress & Burnout Prevention Workshops.
Building a psychosocial risk management program
A comprehensive program involves more than training: it requires hazard identification, risk assessment, control implementation and ongoing monitoring, the same systematic process applied to any WHS risk. HSG can work with your HR, WHS and People & Culture teams to design a program of interventions that forms part of your documented approach, recommending which programs address which hazards and providing evaluation data to support your risk review. For a data-led plan first, the Custom Workplace Wellbeing Strategy is the natural starting point. We strongly recommend engaging your WHS adviser to align the design with your specific obligations.
Psychosocial Risk Programs in Practice
Rheem Australia — Multi-site anxiety and worry workshops
Industry
Manufacturing, multiple sites
Challenge
A multi-site organisation wanting to address anxiety and worry consistently across several locations.
What HSG delivered
Coordinated Anxiety & Worry workshops across five locations, with consistent content and speakers at each site.
Outcome
A simple coordination process, strong staff feedback at every site, and a repeat engagement within the same year.
Talk to us about your psychosocial risk obligations
Tell us where your organisation is: an identified hazard, a compliance gap, or a documented program you’re building, and we’ll recommend the right interventions at the right level.
Call us: 1300 889 073
We had Holistic Services coordinate Anxiety & Worry workshops across 5 locations. The whole process was simple and all speakers at each site received great feedback from our staff. I highly recommend their speakers and the whole process along with their content. this is the second time using them this year and will be using them for future events for certain.
Charlotte
Rheem Australia
Why HSG
Holistic Services Group has delivered workplace wellbeing programs across Australia since 2003. As one provider across mental health, leadership and culture, HSG can build a psychosocial risk program that works at organisational, management and workforce level rather than in isolated pieces. Sessions are delivered by credentialed specialist facilitators, onsite across all states and territories and virtually nationwide and across the Asia-Pacific, and HSG responds to all enquiries within 12 hours. These programs sit within HSG’s Mental Health & Resilience pillar.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The amended model Work Health and Safety Regulations, adopted across most Australian jurisdictions, require persons conducting a business or undertaking to identify and manage psychosocial hazards. Safe Work Australia’s Model Code of Practice provides detailed guidance, and regulators in each state and territory can inspect workplaces and issue penalties for non-compliance.
HSG offers programs at organisational, management and workforce level: Psychological Safety Training, Empowering Leaders, Dealing with Workplace Harassment and Bullying, Resilience Training and Growth Mindset, and Stress and Burnout Prevention. These can be delivered standalone or integrated into a broader program.
No. Workplace training and wellbeing programs can support a broader psychosocial risk management approach, but they are not themselves a substitute for the full WHS risk management process of hazard identification, risk assessment, control implementation and ongoing monitoring. Regulators expect higher-order controls, such as work design and workload management, alongside training. HSG’s programs are designed to support and complement a comprehensive psychosocial risk management system, not replace it.
Yes. HSG delivers across all states and territories, including remote and regional locations, with live-webinar delivery for distributed and hybrid teams. Psychosocial risk regulations vary in detail across jurisdictions, so we recommend confirming the specific requirements in your state or territory with your WHS adviser.
EAPs are primarily reactive controls: support becomes available once a worker is experiencing distress or other impacts of psychosocial risk. In contrast, Australian WHS laws require employers to proactively identify, assess and control psychosocial hazards. Since 2022–2023, jurisdictions adopting the model WHS regulations have introduced specific psychosocial risk management requirements, requiring employers to eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks so far as is reasonably practicable and to apply the hierarchy of controls in the same way used for physical hazards (Safe Work Australia, Model Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work, 2022). Awareness training, policies and EAPs alone do not meet this standard; regulators expect higher-order controls such as work design, supervision and workload management. HSG’s psychosocial risk programs work alongside an existing EAP, addressing the organisational and leadership factors an EAP cannot reach.
Directly, organisations receive attendance and participation data, manager and participant feedback, and documented training records that support a psychosocial risk file. Over time, our experience shows that programs can support reduced hazard exposure, more consistent early intervention by managers and a stronger case that reasonably practicable controls are in place. HSG provides evaluation data your WHS, HR or People & Culture team can use in ongoing risk reviews, though outcomes depend on the wider controls your organisation implements alongside training.
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More than 1,600 organisations have trusted HSG to deliver practical workplace wellbeing programs across Australia. Tell us what your team needs, and we’ll help you identify the right next step.
We respond to all enquiries within 12 hours.
Trusted by 1,600+ organisations across Australia and Asia-Pacific
Supporting corporate, government, healthcare, education and not-for-profit sectors
HSG has supported more than 1,600 organisations across corporate, government, healthcare, education and not-for-profit sectors, including Microsoft, Telstra, Commonwealth Bank, BHP, the Department of Defence, St Vincent’s, the University of Sydney, Deakin University, The Smith Family and headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation.