Projects

The Emergency Services Foundation (ESF) has been funded by WorkSafe WorkWell to:

1. Bring together emergency management organisation representatives and subject matter experts to share resources and experiences about how to improve mental health and wellbeing across the sector.
2. Collaboratively develop and trial innovative solutions that use evidence and best practice to respond to and address the work-related factors that influence workplace mental health and wellbeing.

Working with emergency management organisations, they have developed the Leading for Better Mental Health program, to address the identified gaps between mental health best practice and current agency activities. This unique program focuses on the needs of leaders of frontline teams who can have a significant impact on the management of workplace wellbeing.

The Charles Sturt RWOR team are working with ESF to evaluate the impact of the pilot Leading for Better Mental Health program on organisational practices and the mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of emergency service workers.

The aims of the Charles Sturt University “Women in Trades” project are to investigate areas that are fundamental to understanding how women, in regional Australia, achieve sustainable careers in the manual trades. It explores why and how women are recruited and retained in such occupations, how they contribute to productivity in the workplace and how these factors promote longevity and career satisfaction.

Our project explores the role of individual resilience, socio-cultural factors and workplace cultures in supporting women’s personal and professional success in the manual trades. Our research ultimately explores why some women prosper in jobs that are considered traditionally male-dominated, while others do not.

Currently we are partnering with Cadia Mines to undertake a survey of the experiences of tradeswomen in the mining sector, and with TradesWomen Australia to evaluate the impact of their CareersPlus program which aims to place women apprentices in male dominated trades in metropolitan and regional Victoria.

This project was funded from Charles Sturt University grant program to support communities during COVID-19 through socially relevant research. It investigated the impact of COVID-19 on police and paramedics from across Australia as well as child protection workers and health workers from one state of Australia.

The online survey included 1,542 frontline workers and investigated issues such as levels of stress, depression, anxiety and workplace burnout during the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also researched potential contributors to workplace wellbeing during the pandemic, examining issues such as family circumstances, workplace consultation and communication and support offered by peers, workmates, family and friends.