HEALTHY MINDS

Mental health is a significant issue across society and within every workplace.

According to health authorities, almost half of all Australian adults will experience mental illness at some point in their life while a record number of New Zealanders are accessing specialist mental health and addiction services.

Mental health conditions are common and don’t discriminate – even the most resilient person can be affected by stress related to their work and life challenges.

At Ventia, we have made significant strides in promoting mental wellbeing in our organisation over the past year. A key element of this has been the launch of our mental health plan, Healthy Minds.

Healthy Minds helps us to deliver on our commitment to raise awareness, reduce stigma and support those with mental health conditions.

Supporting our workers through mental health conditions is not only the right thing to do, it helps individuals build self-esteem and coping skills, it creates a more productive workforce and it enables us to retain our skilled and experienced employees.

KEY FACT
Approximately 45% of people in Australia and New Zealand will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime.

Building a mentally healthy workplace
Our leaders play an important role in driving our health and wellbeing agenda. In recognition of this, we’ve been rolling out Ventia-specific mental health training to help our leaders foster an environment which supports good mental health, to identify signs of mental illness and to know what to do if someone on their team is experiencing mental health issues.

For a copy of the Leader guide contact Karin.Gaylard@Ventia.com.au

Arming leaders with tools, training, strategies and, a deeper awareness of mental health issues, helps us to build a supportive environment in which our people feel comfortable discussing their health. We recently transitioned to an online delivery mode in
response to the coronavirus restrictions, and in recognition of the critical nature of the training during this time.

However, it’s not just our leaders who can make a difference.

In our Infrastructure Services division over the past year, more than 900 employees participated in suicide prevention training run by MATES in Construction, a charity that seeks to reduce the high level of suicide among Australian construction workers.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING CARE OF OURSELVES

John Bennett is a General Manager in our Visionstream business. From personal experience, he understands how important it is to raise awareness and to work in a supportive and safe environment where individuals can talk about their mental health.

“I have a diagnosed mental health condition that for much of my adult life I chose to ignore, left unchecked and untreated, primarily due to my inability to find the courage to ask for help,” John says. “It wasn’t so much a conscious decision, more one borne of the circumstance created by the embarrassment, fear and shame of acknowledging that I needed help. That inability to find a way to seek the help I desperately needed almost ended in a situation where I may not have been here to share my story.”

John’s experience has and continues to shape the person he is today, as well as his outlook on life.

He is a passionate advocate of the importance of taking care of ourselves. He says “We need to focus on ourselves first and foremost and I urge all of you to do one simple thing and that’s to take a moment to assess how YOU really are.”

John also believes taking the time to care for each other’s wellbeing is fundamental to our ability as a society to properly function. He says, “As human beings, it’s incumbent upon all of us to not only look after ourselves but also each other. Now more than ever we need to drop the façade and truly open up to each other in order that we can remain intact during the ever increasing levels of challenge the world is facing.”

John Bennett

OUR EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM – THERE FOR YOU 24/7

Sometimes you may need help to get through a challenging time, at work or at home, and this can start with a conversation.

All Ventia employees and their families have access to confidential counselling through our free Employee Assistance Program (EAP), provided by Assure. It’s staffed by experienced psychologists, on hand 365 days a year to discuss any issue that’s weighing on your mind.

We are heartened that an increasing number of our employees are utilising this valuable resource in times of need. EAP usage is up more than 40% over the past two years, the number of males using the service is up by 8% and the number of family members using the service has doubled. We are succeeding in raising awareness about the importance of mental health in the workplace.