By the Australian Public Service Commission, Diversity and Inclusion team
Creating a mentally healthy workplace where people feel safe and supported isn’t just good leadership – it's an obligation under Australia’s Work Health and Safety legislation. When organisations prioritise psychosocial safety, they strengthen employee engagement, wellbeing and performance. Identifying potential risks early is key, and ADDRESS: An APS model for responding to psychosocial hazards provides a range of practical tools to help agencies take proactive steps to identify and respond to psychosocial hazards in their workplace.
The Australian Public Service (APS) Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Unit (the Unit) has reviewed and updated the ADDRESS suite in line with the release of the Work Health and Safety (Managing psychosocial hazards at work) Code of Practice 2024 (Commonwealth Code). This Code has identified additional psychosocial hazards related to job insecurity, fatigue and intrusive surveillance, bringing the total number of psychosocial hazards to 17. These new inclusions reflect growing awareness of how work design, organisational practices and technology can affect mental health.
The updated guidance ensures the ADDRESS model covers all 17 psychosocial hazards, adds new questions to the Census Psychosocial Hazard Screener and Hazard Identification Tool, and including additional Example controls. Other updates include:
- a 2-page brief on the differences between psychosocial and psychological safety
- a facilitator’s guide to support the staff consultation processes
- an implementation guide for agency consideration.
Currently, agencies can view a baseline of their potential psychosocial hazards using the 2023 or 2024 APS Census survey. Once the 2025 APS Census Survey results are released, the Unit will share the 2025 version so agencies can conduct a deep dive into where potential psychosocial hazards currently exist within their workplace and look to action planning to control for these hazards.
These updated ADDRESS tools not only support agencies to comply with WHS legislation, but also contribute to safer, healthier, more engaged and more productive workplaces.
All these updates including guides and resources are available at no cost to APS agencies through APSLearn under the APS Mental Health Capability Hub.
You can contact the APS Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Unit on MHSP@apsc.gov.au if you would like more information on how to utilise ADDRESS in your workplace.