Stress and psychological injury information portal

Comcare is committed to working in partnership with organisations to help prevent work-related stress and psychological injury.

This portal brings together a range of information, research and practical guides to support you.

You can access:

• What is stress and psychological injury?
• How do I identify and manage it?
• Publications
• Australian and international research
• Related topics

News and events

Comcare National Conference 2008
Taking place on 22-24 October 2008, the conference program has been developed to specifically explore work-related psychological issues and best practice in early identification and prevention of such risks. 

Find out more about the Comcare National Conference.

Employer Forum on Customer Aggression
Dealing with customers is an inherent part of day-to-day business for many organisations. In partnership with a number of Commonwealth and self-insured employers, Comcare recently hosted a forum to discuss what policy and approaches these organisations applied to address the risk of threatening or inappropriate customer behaviour.

For more information please contact Michelle Whitehead on 1300 366 979.

New research project
Comcare is currently undertaking a research project into the management of pyschological injury cases. The project will identify employer approaches to assist and support employees with psychological injuries to return to work.

In particular, the research seeks to identify examples of best practice in achieving early and durable return to work outcomes. These approaches will then be shared across the jurisdiction. Six employers representing the diversity of the jurisdiction have agreed to work in partnership with Comcare on this important project.

For more information please contact Research and Analysis on 1300 366 979.

Bullying in the workplace
This guidance provides advice to employers on the prevention of bullying in the workplace. It gives advice on what bullying is, managers' responsibilities, how to take a proactive approach to prevention and a checklist of actions for senior management.

Bullying in the workplace: a guide to prevention for managers and supervisors [pdf]

The ‘flags model’— disproportionate outcomes and complex claims management
A recent British report has found that in about 20-30% of personal injury cases, the victim suffers disability and distress significantly greater than might be expected from the injury alone. 

The report contains information about the flags model which is a method used to predict these outcomes.

Address the cause, prevent the symptoms
Research indicates that organisational approaches to addressing the causes of psychological injury are more effective in achieving sustainable prevention outcomes than approaches that only aim to increase an employee’s ability to manage their own stress responses. Comcare’s prevention and easy reference guides provide information to assist in the design and implementation of strategies to prevent work-related psychological injury.

Working Well: an organisational approach to preventing psychological injury [pdf] outlines a systematic and structured approach to risk management for stress and psychological injury.

Working well: steps to prevent and manage psychological injury [pdf] provides an easy reference guide.

Working well: strategies to prevent psychological injury at work [pdf] identifies potential risk factors and indicators and provides suitable solutions.

Getting the best from your employee survey
Employee Opinion Surveys have great potential to improve workplace people outcomes: they can be used to identify emerging 'hot spots'; reduce adverse reactions associated with organisational change processes; improve the management of absenteeism; prevent harassment, bullying and workers compensation claims; and accurately identify work environment psychosocial risk factors.

Dr Peter Cotton outlines how to get the best from employee opinion surveys [pdf].

Early intervention made easy
Early intervention is key to supporting employees who are at risk or are not coping at work. It means providing assistance to an employee before a symptom or warning sign develops into an injury or illness. Comcare’s new Easy Reference Guide aims to help managers recognise the warning signs and take action to support at their employees.

Recognition, resolution and recovery: early intervention to support psychological health and wellbeing [pdf]