Sometimes the pressures of life and work can get too much and you need advice, direction or just someone to speak to. Positive mental health allows you to lead a more enriched life and perform better at work. UOW is committed to ensuring the University is a mentally healthy workplace that supports its employees.
Healthy mind
UOW healthy mind
UOW offers staff a range of resources, training and awareness campaigns to encourage employees to learn more about mental health and use that knowledge to grow personally and take control of their mental wellbeing.
UOW workplace mental health strategy
As part of the University’s Strategic Plan, the University is committed to providing a mentally healthy workplace for its staff that allows them to work at their best and contribute to the success of the University. The workplace mental health strategy outlines the University continuing commitment to providing a mentally healthy workplace and the specific objectives to achieve it. The strategy was developed following completion of the mental health risk assessment (UOW login required to view).
Employee assistance program (EAP)
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a professional and confidential counselling service is offered to UOW employees and members of their immediate family for both personal and work related issues. UOW utilise TELUS Health as the external provider of the Employee Assistance Program. TELUS Health also provide online resources for a range of topics.
To arrange a consultation with a counsellor, please call 1300 361 008. After hours consultations are available upon request.
Manager assistance hotline
The Manager Hotline provides UOW Managers and Supervisors access to a telephone based ‘helpline’ for brief support and advice on people related matters. For more information on this, please call: 1300 361 008.
Mental health training
UOW is excited to offer staff access to Mindarma.
During Mindarma you will learn all about your brain and discover practical strategies to help you manage difficult thoughts, uncomfortable emotions and times of high stress. We encourage everyone to continue to make mental health a true priority and take some time out to complete the program.
Want to find out more? Check out the Q&A with Dr Sadhbh Joyce or try a simple guided mindfulness exercise from Mindarma.
To gain access to Mindarma, please email whs-admin@uow.edu.au
Upcoming events
- TELUS Health - Alcohol and Other Drugs Webinar, Thursday 18th July at 1 pm AEST
- Mindarma - How to get a good night's sleep webinar, 24 July, 12 pm AEST
Alcohol and other drugs can be used at different times by individuals across all settings and environments as a way of managing stressors. In this webinar, we learn about the effects of alcohol and other drugs on a person’s life and work. Participants are invited to reflect on their alcohol and other drug use and its effect on their lives. We explore some practical strategies to reduce alcohol and drug use and how to look after their mental health as a way of managing stress.
Discover the big, brain-boosting benefits of sleep and gain practical tips to help you get more of the good stuff.
Topic: How to get a good night's sleep
Date: Wednesday 24July2024
Time: 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm AEST (11:30am SA, 10:00am WA)
Expert panelists
- Associate Professor Nicole Lovato
Associate Professor in Sleep Health, Higher Degrees by Research Deputy Coordinator, Psychologist (Provisional), Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute: Sleep Health, Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, College of Medicine & Public Health, Flinders University (SA)
Moderator
- Dr Sadhbh Joyce, Senior Psychologist, Co-Founder of Mindarma, Meditation Teacher, External Fellow, Black Dog Institute/UNSW Medicine (NSW)
Access is via Zoom or Livestream, whichever works best for you.
Not available at this time? Register, and we'll send you a link to the recording to catch up on at a more convenient time.
LivingWorks Suicide Prevention Training
UOW is aware of the importance of suicide prevention and has partnered with LivingWorks Suicide Prevention to deliver various courses to better equip staff and students with the skills needed to support their peers.
LivingWorks is an organisation with an industry-leading approach to suicide prevention. The goal of these courses is to empower everyone to play a role and help keep communities everywhere safe from suicide.
By completing one or more of the LivingWorks courses you will:
• recognise signs that someone is at risk from suicide and know where to refer the person to support pathways
• deeply listen and engage
• engage in problem solving capacity and help the person develop a safety plan
For more information on the different LivingWorks training courses, please view the UOW LivingWorks Suicide Prevention Postvention Training pack.
Registrations are now open for the training.
Session dates and times can be found here: Session information: LivingWorks Suicide Prevention training.
External support and resources
"We all have good days and bad days. Then there are those days when something isn't quite right, you've got something on your mind, or things just seem too much. Whatever it may be, sharing the load with someone else can really help." (BeyondBlue)
UniSuper Financial Wellbeing Hub
Empower your financial decision-making with UniSuper’s Financial Wellbeing Hub
Our collective financial wellbeing is often put to the test, and we face many financial challenges: cost of living pressures, scam awareness, growing our super and retirement planning, just to name a few. For some of us it can all be a little daunting, and that’s okay. Money matters can be tricky, but the great news is there’s help available from those who know.
UniSuper is nurturing its higher education and research roots by launching its Financial Wellbeing Hub in partnership with Money 101, a place where the University of Wollongong employees can go to empower their financial decision-making—no matter the level of financial knowledge.
The state-of-the-art hub offers a diverse range of engaging learning material such as articles and interactive webcasts, covering a variety of topics. There’s never been a better time to empower your financial decision-making amid the uncertain financial climate. The hub is founded on focus group feedback—made up of real people facing real issues. You don’t have to be a UniSuper member to access the Financial Wellbeing Hub.Consider kick-starting your financial wellbeing journey with UniSuper’s live Managing your financial wellbeing webcast. It’s a great way to get familiar with the financial wellbeing topic, and an interactive way of acquiring financial knowledge from a UniSuper expert.
Get financially confident with the Financial Wellbeing Hub, and sign up for the Managing your Financial Wellbeing webcast or another UniSuper webcast that interests you. If you can’t make your preferred webcast, don’t worry—it’s available on demand.