FAQs

It means you agree to work towards doing things in your business, that address some or all of the recommended strategies in the Blueprint:

1. Promote work’s positive impact on mental health
2. Reduce harmful impacts of work
3. Provide mental health and suicide prevention literacy
4. Facilitate early intervention and treatment
5. Provide return-to-work and ongoing support

It also means that you will participate in a confidential evaluation overseen by the University of Melbourne. The evaluation will help the industry understand what is working best in our efforts to implement the Blueprint, and what further supports are needed.

The Australian Building and Construction industry has recognised for over 10 years that the industry experiences significantly higher rates of suicide and mental health issues amongst our workers when compared to the general population.

In response to this, the industry has stepped forward and developed programs and support mechanisms that are genuinely innovative and see the Australian Building and Construction industry positioned at the forefront internationally of work to address suicide and mental health through the workplace.

We recognise though that more needs to be done to ensure that the whole industry are better aligned to the goals of reducing the tragically high rates of suicide and delivering better mental health outcomes for all in Building and Construction.

That’s why MATES in Construction with support from Beyond Blue worked with the industry to drive the development of a Blueprint that can guide the important next steps in getting a stronger framework in place for better mental health and suicide prevention across the Building and Construction industry.

The group commissioned the University of Melbourne to conduct a review of the mental health in the construction industry, this Blueprint should be read in conjunction with the  “Summary report: Mental Health in the Construction Industry” June 2017.

You will be contacted to confirm your organisation details and to address any questions you have about the Blueprint.

Your organisation will be listed on the Blueprint site confirming you are a signatory.

You will receive updates via email as further work on the Blueprint implementation proceeds.

Becoming a signatory to the Blueprint and committing to make a real difference in your workplace(s) is the first step.

Also, encourage other businesses you work with and industry organisations you belong to, to sign up and support the Blueprint.

In late 2016 MATES in Construction and Beyond Blue convened a round table with 52 industry leaders to discuss how we could deliver better mental health and suicide prevention in the Australian building and construction industry.

The round table included Major Contractors, Unions, Associations, and industry support services OzHelp, Incolink and SuperFriend

The purpose of the roundtable was to find ways to work collectively to drive change around mental health in the industry and make a difference via achievable, tangible outcomes.

To achieve this vision, the group determined that:

1. a unified approach between businesses, unions and NGOs is required, with buy-in from stakeholders at all levels: from the board to builder’s labourers, from clients to subcontractors, from employer associations to unions
2. the industry needs to conceive a Blueprint for mental health intervention and suicide prevention (hereafter referred to as “the blueprint”) for existing workers as well as targeting the next generation though apprentice training
3. the blueprint needs to be targeted and evidence based with agreed metrics and reporting mechanisms, and
4. effective leadership can drive positive change across the industry: mental health and suicide prevention should be on the agenda of every organisation and should inform relationships in the industry so that leading and progressive organisations require buy-in from their industry partners.

And from this an industry working group was convened to develop this Blueprint.