Centre for Mental Health

Sainsbury Centre brings leading Australian workplace depression awareness programme to the UK

9 September 2008

A training programme to help line managers to support staff with depression is from today being tested in the UK for the first time.

The beyondblue National Workplace Programme, part of Australia's national depression initiative, gives line managers in businesses across Australia the skills, knowledge and confidence to offer the right support to people who are experiencing distress.

Sainsbury Centre is testing whether the beyondblue National Workplace Programme will work in the UK. It is providing the training to line managers from UK employers including the Department of Health, Kent County Council, Royal Mail Group, the submarines business of Rolls-Royce, the Royal College of Nursing and Tate & Lyle and will then find out how useful it has been.

Sainsbury Centre research and development manager Helen Lockett said: "Mental ill health costs British business £26 billion a year. No employer can afford to ignore mental distress. Yet the majority of UK line managers do not know how to help a member of staff when they become unwell. And many people end up taking time off sick or losing their jobs because they do not get the right help and support early enough.

"We are bringing the beyondblue National Workplace Programme to the UK to see if it can help line managers to respond better to mental distress. If it is as successful in the UK as it is in Australia, we will seek to find ways of making it available throughout the country to employers of all types and sizes."

Watch Jeff Kennett, Chairman of beyondblue, introduce the Programme and the UK pilots.

Jeff Kennett, Chairman of beyondblue and former Premier of the State of Victoria, said: "beyondblue's Workplace Programme is a very good programme which works well in Australia. It has been shown to increase knowledge about depression and related disorders, reduce stigma and improve attitudes. Most importantly, it gives people the confidence to assist and appropriately manage employees who may have depression.”

On a visit to London to accredit the UK trainers, beyondblue Workplace Programme manager Therese Fitzpatrick said: "I am delighted to be visiting Britain and sharing our workplace training programme with Sainsbury Centre. We have had excellent results with it in Australia and hope that workplaces in the UK will also benefit from the programme."

For more information on why we chose beyondblue, read the summary below.

Download the beyondblue summary paper (35 KB)