Two major Australian media outlets are continuing to focus on the issue of working from home (WFH), criticising the concept and some local political moves. WFH offers some significant mental health benefits that are being largely ignored. The front page of The Australian newspaper for September 1, 2025, provides the latest example.
Discussion about workplace psychosocial hazards seems to be everywhere. This is a good thing, as everyone needs a better understanding of the risks workers face and what prevention mechanisms are expected from employers and business owners. But that discussion needs to be measured and accurate. A recent article written about this issue for accountants is slightly inaccurate about occupational health and safety (OHS).
Lisa Leong has followed up her This Working Life podcast with a more detailed look at the practicalities of addressing work-related psychosocial hazards with Dr Laura Kirby. It is worth listening to, but there is a term repeated in the podcast that needs examining – “leader”.
Australia’s Economic Roundtable recycled the same institutions and failed metrics that have long masked our productivity crisis. As Amy Remeikis notes, those who shaped past policy failures now feign surprise at the fallout. Meanwhile, important drivers of productivity, such as safe and quality work, remain ignored. OHS is treated as a compliance chore, rather than a strategic asset. If the Albanese government truly wants productivity reform, it must stop listening only to the “profit class” and start measuring what matters: worker health, dignity, and contribution.
There was a row of cheering trade union supporters in the late session of the documentary “Union” at Carlton’s Cinema Nova earlier this week. The film was showing as part of a documentary festival, and the cinema was less than half-full. The film showed an example of grass-roots union organising. There were optimism and failures, and the occupational health and safety (OHS) catalysts for the unionism were mentioned in passing.
Any new book from Sidney Dekker is worth reading. His latest is called “Safety Theater – How the Desire for Perfection Drives Compliance Clutter, Inauthenticity, and Accidents”. I am not sure that this book, the third in a series, offers solutions, but it reframes many of the contemporary perspectives on occupational health and health and safety (OHS), and with some intriguing connections.
Canadian Mary Ann Baynton speaking about the Canadian Mental Health Standard at a recent conference in Sydney was the first speaker to mention the importance of consensus – an important element of workplace negotiation often missing from how consultation is applied.
