WORKSHOPS
Workshops will take place at the National Convention Centre Canberra from 3.00 pm – 5.00 pm on Monday 14 September and include afternoon tea and refreshments. Fees apply.
Workshop 1
Fix the work, not the worker: using the SMART Work Design model in everyday leadership
Max capacity: 80 | Cost: $75 per person
Facilitated by Comcare’s Strategic Programs team
This workshop will help you to understand what good work design is, see its relevance to your work context and take a first step to design better work for improved outcomes. The facilitators will introduce you to the SMART Work Design model as a practical framework you can use in your role. Through hands-on activities you will try out different ways to apply SMART work design, share learnings and insights with your peers, and walk away from the session with a clear plan for using SMART work design in your work.
Key takeaways
This session will be of value if you are interested in:
- preventing and managing psychosocial hazards and risks at their source
- supporting more effective people management
- driving performance and innovation at work.
Target audience
- Managers and supervisors
- WHS/HR staff
- HSRs
Workshop 2
Managing psychosocial safety through organisational change
Max capacity: 50 | Cost: $75 per person
Facilitated by Dr Laura Kirby, Executive Director & Chief Psychologist, Australian Psychological Services
Australian organisations are navigating a significant period of disruption and transformation. At the same time, under Australia's Work Health and Safety legislation, employers carry a clear and non-negotiable duty of care: to identify and manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace, including those arising from poorly handled organisational change. Organisations caught without a structured approach to change management are facing not just a people problem, but a legal, financial and reputational one.
This workshop will prepare leaders to not just meet compliance when it comes to managing change, but also equip workplaces and their workforce to navigate workplace change well. Focusing on key change mechanisms, including risk assessing and preparing adequate controls for change, consulting on change, and post-implementation supports, this workshop will provide participants with a practical toolkit for implementation within their respective workplaces. The workshop will feature a variety of interactive activities, including breakout group discussions, individual reflection exercises, and case study analyses.
Key takeaways
This session will be of value if you are interested in:
- managing change in a way that meets compliance but also protects employee psychological health and safety
- managing change and equipping your workplace to navigate workplace change well
- risk assessments, change consultation and post-implementation supports
- practical toolkits you can implement in your workplace.
Target audience
- Managers and supervisors
- WHS/HR staff
Workshop 3
Designing culturally safe workplaces: First Nations’ perspectives for safer, stronger teams
Max capacity: 80 | Cost: $75 per person
Facilitated by Little Rocket
This workshop will be delivered by Little Rocket, bringing unmatched cultural authority, lived experience and practical expertise to this session. The session will take a people-first approach by centring First Nations perspectives in the design of safer, more inclusive workplaces.
It will examine how culturally informed work design acts as a preventative control: reducing psychosocial hazards at their source, improving rehabilitation outcomes and building the organisational capability needed for sustained inclusion.
Grounded in case studies and workforce data, participants will explore the practical connection between cultural safety, psychological safety and effective leadership.
Interactive exercises will guide attendees through identifying gaps in their own organisations and developing strategies to better support First Nations employees and broader diverse workforces.
The session offers evidence-informed insight and hands-on application, ensuring immediate relevance for leaders across WHS, HR, rehabilitation and organisational governance. Case studies and lived experience are foregrounded throughout.
Key topics
- embedding cultural safety into work design, recruitment and leadership practice Addressing systemic and psychosocial barriers disproportionately affecting First Nations employees
- strengthening retention and return-to-work outcomes through culturally informed approaches
- building organisational capability aligned to RAP commitments and Commonwealth obligations
- practical frameworks that leaders can implement
Key takeaways
- practical strategies to embed cultural safety into workplace systems, work design and leadership practice
- evidence-informed understanding of how cultural inclusion reduces psychosocial risk
- and improves return-to-work outcomes
- tools and frameworks to strengthen First Nations recruitment, retention and employee experience
- practical steps to align organisational diversity commitments with RAP obligations and Commonwealth reporting requirements
Workshop 4
HSR Connect (closed audience)
Join Comcare, union representatives and fellow health and safety representatives (HSRs) to discuss current and emerging challenges and opportunities, while networking with like-minded colleagues.
This workshop afternoon will provide the opportunity to collectively problem solve and learn from real-life case studies and experience.
Registration for this workshop will only be available to HSRs and invited guests.
Comcare acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and emerging.