ESF is thrilled to have received funding provided by the Victorian Government to deliver a new program in 2025Volunteer Leaders: Safeguarding Mentally Healthy Teams.
ESF identified a need to better support volunteer leaders meet obligations for psychological safety.
The program has been designed specifically for volunteers and will be delivered as follows:
Each program involves two dates and participants are expected to attend both and apply their learning between sessions to reflect and report back on day two.
- Program A Mt Macedon 3 May & 21 June
- Program B Caribbean Park 14 June & 9 August
- Program C Shepparton 26 July & 6 September
Registration is free. Numbers are limited.
This new program has been informed by ESF’s popular Leading for Better Mental Health program and is designed to better equip volunteer leaders to lead their teams with a psychological safety lens, improve mental health literacy, and local inter-agency connections, collaboration and relationship building. It will provide a new evidence-informed psychological health training program for volunteer leaders and demonstrate to volunteers and their families that they are valued as leaders and their wellbeing matters.
Who is Volunteer Leaders: Safeguarding Mentally Healthy Teams for?
This project is for emerging and existing volunteer leaders. It aims to address the key business issue for every frontline agency of psychosocial safety necessary to sustain the health and wellbeing of its volunteers.
The program will provide participants with the unique benefit of being able to come together to learn and network with people from a range of agencies who share the same leadership challenges. The enormous benefit of such multi agency learning is positive feedback ESF consistently receives.
The need for this program is based on findings of the Beyond Blue Answering the Call
Report findings and ESFs own research on stigma and help-seeking and in preparation for
forthcoming Psychological Health Regulations. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act), employers must provide and maintain a working environment for their employees, including contractors and volunteers, that is safe and without risks to health, so far as reasonably practicable. In Section 5 of the OHS Act, health is defined as including psychological health.
The proposed regulations recognise that hazards that pose a risk to psychological health are no less harmful to safety and wellbeing than physical hazards.
This program is essentially an early intervention that gives volunteer leaders the skills they
need to build psychological safety in a team environment. There is a strong focus on treatment of mental injury being applied at community and sector level. ESF is in a unique position to support work being undertaken by agencies by delivering important evidence informed upstream mental health programs. This program will serve to help local volunteer leaders who struggle with managing mental health concerns at brigade/unit/club level.
Meet the program facilitators
Dr Shannon Hood is a CFA volunteer, counsellor and clinical supervisor specialising in emergency services. Shannon was also embedded with volunteer fire fighting teams during multiple Black Saturday deployments and has an extensive career supporting the sector in NSW, the ACT, SA and now Victoria. He was also a SES volunteer for over a decade in South Australia.
