Chapter 6 A Safe, Supportive and Engaged Workforce

6.1 Safe and Supportive Workplace

The ACTPS understands the importance of maintaining the health, safety and wellbeing of its workforce. Our people’s wellbeing is fundamental to the ACT Government’s pursuit of excellence in the services we deliver to the ACT Community.

Work Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy

The Work Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy 2019–2022 was launched in January 2019. The strategy is designed to deliver improved engagement, participation and productivity of our people through a whole of government work health, safety and wellbeing approach.

The strategy promotes a Whole of Government culture shift towards work health, safety and wellbeing and involves the implementation of activities that address workforce risks.

The strategy focuses on supporting access to safe work and workplaces, promoting health and wellbeing, and facilitating recovery or supporting people to return to work when illness and injury occurs.

In 2019-20, the Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations Group in CMTEDD will be rolling out a suite of activities to support the strategy, including the Occupational Violence Strategy, Healthy Minds – Thriving Workplaces, a physical health strategy, early intervention physiotherapy services and continuing return to work and rehabilitation management. The Work Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy is available on the ACTPS Employment Portal.

Directorates reported a range of strategies used during 2018-19 to support the health, safety and wellbeing of their employees, including:

Directorates also reported promoting the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The EAP panel of providers offers free, professional and confidential services to support employees and their immediate family members through both personal and work-related issues. Employees have access to four providers under the EAP.

All employees (permanent and temporary) and members of their immediate family and/or members of their household can access the services of the EAP free of charge with up to six sessions, per issue, for each employee/immediate family member every financial year.

Canberra Health Services promoted the MyHealth initiative to staff, to support emotional, mental and physical health and wellbeing. MyHealth includes information on the importance of making reasonable adjustments for staff, including staff with disability, to support their participation in the workplace.

Snapshot Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate

During 2018-19, TCCS delivered a range of training programs focussed on creating and maintaining inclusive, respectful and safe workplaces, which included building the capability of executives, middle managers and field-based workers.

Ensuring the safety and competence of their field-based employees is a high priority for TCCS. A wide variety of competency-based training programs were provided which support the development and maintenance of practical skills required by employees to undertake their role, including courses such as:

  • Asbestos Awareness
  • Temporary Traffic Management
  • Chainsaw operation
  • Chemical safety

TCCS launched its new Work Health and Safety Management System, SafetyNet, on 25 February 2019 following extensive employee consultation. SafetyNet is an integrated systematic approach to managing work health and safety (WHS), including organisational structures, accountabilities, guidelines, procedures and factsheets to achieve work health and safety objectives and to create an efficient recordable way of managing work health and safety.

Following the launch, TCCS has turned its focus to implementation, delivering information sessions across both office and field-based teams. Striving to improve the safety culture, SafetyNet is a living system, being continuously updated capturing changes in legislation, Codes of Practice, Australian Standards and revised as more people use the system and suggest improvements and changes.

Self-insurer for workers’ compensation

On 1 March 2019, the ACT Government became a licenced self-insurer for workers’ compensation under the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988. This change means that services are no longer provided by Comcare. Being a self-insurer enables the Government to have greater influence over the experience of ACT Government employees who have sustained an injury or illness in the workplace.

In the first 100 days of workers’ compensation self-insurance, the ACT Government:

Feedback from stakeholders, including employees with open and active claims, has been overwhelmingly positive and the Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations Group is continuing to prioritise improving the experience of employees who find themselves in need of this service.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Following the commencement of the new ACT Coordinator-General on 3 December 2018, the Office for Mental Health and Wellbeing led a co-design process to develop a Territory-wide vision and to identify priority areas for action.

The process included three successful co-design workshops and a community survey. The Territory‑wide Vision for mental health and wellbeing was developed by workshop participants. The process also underpinned the development of the Office for Mental Health and Wellbeing Work Plan (Work Plan) which was released in May 2019.

The Work Plan sets out a range of areas for action and key deliverables across three themes: mentally healthy communities and workplaces; support for individuals, families and carers and system capacity and workforce. The plan builds on the positive work already happening across the territory and brings together contributions from the mental health sector including those with lived experience, the broader ACT community, government and business.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Inter-Directorate Committee comprises officers from all ACT Government Directorates and drives across government collaboration to identify and prioritise mental health and wellbeing initiatives. The Committee contributes to the identification of systemic gaps and opportunities to address the social determinants of health. The committee will have a key role in delivering and reporting on actions in this work plan.

Directorates continue to actively support employees by providing awareness training programs and participating in events during Mental Health Week, National Safe Work Month, R U OK Day and the International Day of People with Disability.

Other strategies reported by Directorates during the 2018-19 reporting year included:

Addressing Occupational Violence

During 2018-19, a cross-directorate working group was established and focused on the development of an Occupational Violence Strategy to address occupational violence through a whole of government approach.

Occupational violence is any action, incident or behaviour that departs from reasonable conduct in which a person is assaulted, threatened, harmed or injured by a person other than a co-worker in the course of, or as a direct result of, their work.

Occupational violence can be physical, but may also include personal intimidation, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, threatening behaviour, abuse through technology (text, emails and phone calls), making vexatious complaints, and making derogatory, slanderous or threatening statements to or about another person.

The Addressing Occupational Violence Strategy, which was launched in May 2019, sits under the overarching Work Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy 2019-2022 and outlines priority actions to address occupational violence through a whole of government approach. The priority actions are:

A Whole of Government Work Health Safety Policy was recently issued to ensure Directorates develop procedures that protect health and safety of workers who have the potential to experience occupational violence, and further materials will be developed and provided to Directors-General, Human Resources directors, and directorate communication teams.

Domestic and Family Violence

The ACTPS recognises that workplaces have an important role in preventing and responding to domestic and family violence in our communities. Employers have a legal responsibility to create safe work environments. Beyond this, workplaces significantly influence our attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in both our personal and professional lives.

To reduce violence, workplace cultures need to reject sexism and discriminatory attitudes, confront organisational practices that devalue, exclude or marginalise women and support increasing the number of female leaders.

The role of violence in our society is complicated. We know that while men overall experience more violence than women, men also use most of the violence. What is clear is both men and women have an enormous amount to gain from reducing violence in our community.

Women’s experiences of violence, even if occurring in the home, impact on the workplace. By implementing programs and policies to prevent violence against women, workplaces stand to benefit through increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, decreased staff turnover and improved staff health and wellbeing.

The ACTPS Domestic and Family Violence Toolkit provides a range of guidance materials, for employees and managers, to support employees who are experiencing domestic and family violence.

The Toolkit was originally released in 2017. The Office of the Coordinator-General for Family Safety has recently led the co-design of the Family Safety Hub. Through that process, we learnt that people experiencing domestic and family violence disclose to people they trust, who are often outside the specialist service system, and that many people are afraid of the consequences of seeking help and need anonymous ways to get information to help them find safety. In 2018, the Toolkit was updated to reflect these learnings.

The Toolkit materials listed below are available on the Safer Families website:

In 2019, as part of the ACTPS ongoing commitment, staff training in understanding, identifying and responding to Domestic and Family Violence is being rolled out to all ACTPS employees, as well as managers.

The training has been developed by the Office for Family Safety in the Community Services Directorate, with expert input from domestic and family violence organisations and consultation with all directorates so that it is specifically tailored to the ACT Public Service. The training will comprise:

All Directorates took part in user testing the foundation e-learning as well as trialling the managers’ face to face training. Their feedback helped refine the content and presentation. This training is required core learning for all ACTPS employees and aligns with the ACT Government Response to Family Violence (2016) and the ACTPS Core Learning Policy.

Some Directorates reported working with CSD to develop additional training targeted at managers and staff in specific frontline positions. TCCS has appointed a dedicated project officer to administer the implementation of this training in the directorate. An implementation plan has been developed for the delivery of the training to all TCCS employees over the next 3 years. The training package acknowledges the gendered nature of domestic and family violence and gender inequality as a driver of domestic and family violence. Different levels of training will be targeted for different roles.

In June 2019, CMTEDD in partnership with the Office of the Coordinator-General for Family Safety developed a Managers’ Briefing Guide for employees within the Directorate.

The White Ribbon Accreditation Program ‘recognises workplaces that are taking active steps to stop violence against women, accrediting them as a white Ribbon Workplace’. Workplaces are required to meet ‘15 criteria under three standards to create a safer and more respectful workplace’. CSD was the first Directorate to be accredited as a White Ribbon Workplace and have successfully completed the re-accreditation process for the next 3 years. A number of directorates are working towards becoming White Ribbon Workplaces.

Snapshot White Ribbon Accreditation: Justice and Community Safety Directorate

The JACS continues its journey to becoming a White Ribbon accredited workplace. Activities undertaken during the reporting year include:

  • Establishment of the JACS White Ribbon Accreditation Implementation Committee;
  • A strong response to the Baseline Survey conducted in the previous financial year informed the Accreditation process;
  • Release of JACS Policy Statement: Violence as a Workplace Issue and factsheet;
  • Establishment and continued JACS White Ribbon Workplace Monthly messaging and information through JACS News;
  • Development of 16 JACS/White Ribbon Australia co-branded pull up banners that circulate between JACS workplaces: Courage, Integrity, Respect, and Stand Up/Speak Out;
  • White Ribbon Australia eLearning for executives and some managers;
  • South Australia Equal Opportunity Commission eLearning for executives and most managers;
  • Executive retreat sessions focusing on preventing men’s violence against women and being an active bystander;
  • Contribution to the development of the ACT Government Family and Domestic Violence training;
  • Workplace sessions hosted by David Pryce (Deputy Director-General Community Safety) for over 520 staff members. These focus on accreditation and JACS being a safe workplace;
  • White Ribbon Day events held by the Directorate and individual business units. This included fundraising for the Nguru Program (Canberra Rape Crisis Centre) and White Ribbon Australia; and
  • JACS Market Day, which brought together human resources and wellbeing staff with local service providers: Benestar, Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, EveryMan, Menslink, PeopleSense, Restorative Justice Unit, Victim Support ACT; and
  • JACS has provided significant input to the whole of ACT Government Domestic and Family Violence training being developed by the Office of the Coordinator General for Family Safety.

Job Security and Classification Review

The ACT Government is committed to the proper resourcing of the ACTPS and to promoting permanent employment and job-security for ACTPS employees. This means minimising the use of labour-hire, casual, temporary and contract employment in the ACTPS as well as the use of outsourcing. These commitments have been reinforced recently in the new ACTPS enterprise agreements and supported by the Government’s election commitment to maintain the size of the ACTPS.

To ensure these commitments are delivered, a joint ACTPS and Union Taskforce has been set up to look into existing Government employment and outsourced functions to assess if employees should be offered permanent employment or whether functions should be in-sourced. The Government has funded $471,000 in the 2019-20 Budget to support the task force and to conduct a Classification Review. The classification review will examine how classifications align across the ACTPS, focussing in the first instance on lower paid jobs to ensure that employees are fairly remunerated and recognised for the work they perform.

Union encouragement policy

The Government is committed to encouraging union membership among the ACTPS workforce and working collaboratively with unions to ensure workplace rights of staff are protected.

The Government has developed and issued a Union Encouragement Policy which recognises this joint commitment and the important role unions play in the workplace. It is the responsibility of Directorates to implement the Union Encouragement Policy. The policy has been formally communicated to staff and will be further promulgated throughout the ACTPS.

While recognising the decision to join a union remains the discretion of individual employees, the ACTPS ensures that all employees have access to information to allow them to make informed decisions about workplace rights and how they are represented. In addition, the ACTPS gives its employees full access to union officials and delegates whilst ensuring that there be proper consultation on any matter that employees or their union representatives consider is likely to significantly affect them.

The commitment between unions and the ACTPS working closely together has been further supported by specific provisions in the new ACTPS enterprise agreements.