What are the main types of training?
| Type | What it does | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness session | Gets people talking and explains the basics | You're starting from scratch or want to reduce stigma |
| Manager training | Teaches leaders to notice, respond and adjust work | You want to change how people are supported day to day |
| Mental Health First Aid | Teaches people to recognise problems, help in a crisis and encourage professional help | You want trained people across teams and shifts |
| Personal resilience or wellbeing | Helps individuals look after themselves | It sits alongside fixing work problems, and doesn't replace it |
None of these is automatically the best. A one-hour talk after someone's crisis can feel hollow, and an accredited course may be more than a team needs when nobody's talking about this stuff yet.
Why does it matter at work?
Because it's already in the building. The ABS found 42.9% of Australians aged 16 to 85 have experienced a mental disorder in their lifetime, and 21.5% in the previous 12 months. Some of that's caused or made worse by work, and much of it isn't. Either way, it turns up at work, and colleagues usually notice before anyone else does.
In my experience training people, most can already tell when someone isn't right. The sticking point is what comes next. They worry about saying the wrong thing, so they say nothing. Good training gives them something to do instead.
What does the evidence say?
It's encouraging, with limits:
- Manager training: in a trial at Fire and Rescue NSW, work-related sick leave fell 18% among staff whose managers did a four-hour program, while it rose 10% in the other group.
- Mental Health First Aid: a 2018 review of 18 trials found better knowledge and confidence, and a small increase in the help people gave. Those effects were clearest up to six months after training, and outcomes for the people helped are less clear.
So be sceptical of big promises, including from people like me. Training builds skills. It won't make up for a badly run workplace.
Is it legally required?
A specific course generally isn't. NSW employers must eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks as far as reasonably practicable, and the approved code of practice has been legally binding since 1 July 2026. The code puts the priority on fixing hazards at the source, like workload, role clarity and support. Training can support that, but if someone says a single course makes you compliant, be wary.
How do you choose?
Start with three questions:
- What's the actual problem? A recent incident, burnout in one team and a general wish to do more all call for different things.
- Who needs it first? Often it's managers and the people others already go to, not the whole company.
- What happens afterwards? If people learn to encourage professional help, they need to know where that is. Check your EAP actually works and people know how to use it.
Also check who's delivering it and whether they've worked with people like yours. Ask for ratings, not testimonials picked by the provider. A room of site supervisors needs different examples from a room of account managers.
What does it cost?
It ranges from free to thousands of dollars. The NSW Government funds free workshops through the Black Dog Institute for privately owned NSW businesses with fewer than 200 employees and not-for-profits of any size. Public Mental Health First Aid seats tend to cost a few hundred dollars each. I've compared them in how much it costs in Sydney.
I run private, in-person Mental Health First Aid for workplaces at $4,950 + GST for up to 15 people. My average rating is 4.9 out of 5 across my last 75 participants, and if your team's average comes in under 4.5, I refund a quarter of the fee. If you're leading a team, it's also worth reading about mental health training for managers.