Reports | Future Of Work Institute

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This report presents the results of Design for Care participant interviews assessing their experiences of work redesign. It identifies key organisational, leadership, group, and individual factors that supported or hindered the effectiveness of the work redesigns.

Unpacking the Enablers and Hindrances on the PARRTH to SMART Work Design

2025

Monica Trezise, Dr Lucinda Iles, Dr Anu Jolly, Dr Arian Kunzelmann, Dr Cheryl Yam, Professor Sharon Parker

This report presents the findings from the evaluation of the ‘Ascent’ Leadership Program that was designed and delivered by the CEPAR research team with the aim of developing and empowering leaders to manage the challenges and opportunities associated with an ageing and more age-diverse workforce by applying the Include, Individualise and Integrate (“3I”) strategies and behaviours.

CEPAR Industry Report 2025/1: Leading for Age Diversity: Evaluation of the Ascent Leadership Program

2024

Dr Leah Zoszak, Dr Eva Zellman, Associate Professor Daniela Andrei, Professor Sharon Parker

This report is the result of a collaboration between the Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) and an Australian financial advisory firm, Viridian Advisory. The presented findings highlight interview insights for retirement decision making processes.

CEPAR Industry Report 2024/2 Mature Workers in Organisations: Understanding Retirement in Australia

2024

Dr Leah Zoszak, Associate Professor Daniela Andrei

This toolkit includes resources to help senior prison officers to conduct a learning-focused operational debrief. These tools and insights aim to foster open and honest discussions, empowering team members to voice questions, concerns, and ideas. The goal is to explore lessons learned for continuous improvement.

From Incidents to Insights: A Guide to Leveraging Frontline Perspectives in Operational Debriefs

2024

Katrina Hosszu, Henry Gunson, Alex Boeing, Judy Chi, Professor Karina Jorritsma

This toolkit provides guidance on how police officers (or similar) can ask for support that helps them in times of difficulty (care check-ins), can help them develop professional mastery (learning check-ins), and can help them continue to grow (career check-ins).

Initiating Care and Career Check-ins at the WA Police Force: A Guide to Making Work, Work for You

2024

Henry Gunson, Alex Boeing, Katrina Hosszu, Judy Chi, Professor Karina Jorritsma

This toolkit provides guidance on how police supervisors (or similar) can support their officers in times of difficulty (care check-ins), can help them develop professional mastery (learning check-ins), and can help them continue to grow (career check-ins).

Promoting Care and Careers in the WA Police Force: A Guide to Checking-in with your People

2024

Alex Boeing, Henry Gunson, Katrina Hosszu, Judy Chi, Professor Karina Jorritsma

This toolkit provides guidance on how to ask for, and give peer support on station that can help people in times of difficulty (care conversations), can help them develop professional mastery (learning conversations), and can help them continue to grow (career conversations).

Wellbeing on Station: A Toolkit for Firefighters and Station Officers

2024

Alex Boeing, Henry Gunson, Katrina Hosszu, Judy Chi, Professor Karina Jorritsma

This toolkit provides guidance to APs (mentors) and PIs (mentees; including Ambulance Officers (AOs) and Medics) on how to foster an effective and mutually beneficial informal mentoring relationship from the outset of working together to support the mental wellbeing of St John WA Ambulance crews.

Partnering for Success: A Guide to Enhancing Ambulance Crew Mentorship

2024

Katrina Hosszu, Henry Gunson, Alex Boeing, Judy Chi, Professor Karina Jorritsma

This toolkit provides guidance on how park rangers (or similar) can ask for and give peer support that can help people in times of difficulty (care conversations), can help them develop professional mastery (learning conversations), and can help them continue to grow (career conversations).

Together We Thrive: A Toolkit for Learning, Care and Career Development at DBCA

2024

Alex Boeing, Henry Gunson, Katrina Hosszu, Judy Chi, Professor Karina Jorritsma

This report outlines the results of a two-year study which explored how to reduce psychosocial risks associated with increased job demands in the aged care sector.

Designing SMARTer work to reduce psychosocial risks: Evaluating the effectiveness of a participatory workredesign intervention in aged care

2024

Associate Professor Daniela Andrei, Dr Madison Kho, Dr Jane Chong, Professor Sharon Parker, Dr Lucinda Iles, Dr Hayley Moore, Dr Eyal Karin

This report presents the results of Design for Care participant interviews assessing their experiences of work redesign. It identifies key organisational, leadership, group, and individual factors that supported or hindered the effectiveness of the work redesigns.

Changing work design to improve mental health in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry

2024

Dr Lucinda Iles, Dr Anu Jolly, Dr Arian Kunzelmann, Cati Thomas

This report presents the results of the worker survey and interviews assessing and understanding the experiences of WA mining workers in relation to the three focus areas.

The Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Program Landmark Study: Insights from the Worker Survey and Interviews

2024

Dr Cheryl Yam, Dr Melissa Chapman, Dr Lucinda Iles, Martin Anderson, Professor Sharon Parker

This report presents a detailed qualitative study of mature age individuals navigating Australia's mandatory employment services while on income support

Caught between Obligation and Exclusion: The Plight of Mature Age
Jobseekers in Australia’s Employment Services System

2023

Dr Cheryl Sykes, Professor Marylène Gagné

This report outlines a range of organisation- and sector-level policy recommendations to better prepare, attract, recruit and retain employees in the specialist homelessness services (SHS) sector

Investigative panel into building and retaining an effective homelessness sector workforce

2023

Professor Patrick Dunlop, Dr Jess Gilbert, Professor Marylène Gagné, Hawa Muhammad Farid

This report delves into key findings from the ongoing Thrive at Work Survey conducted among Australian workers and workplaces, and represents the culmination of our extensive efforts at the intersection of research and practice.

Thriving Sustainably: Navigating the Complex Landscape of Workplace Mental Health - A Thrive at Work Survey Insights Report

2023

Dr Belinda Cham, Professor Karina Jorritsma, Professor Mark Griffin, Professor Sharon Parker

This report spotlights the insights from the ongoing Design for Care
research project about the key psychosocial risks in the Healthcare
and Social Assistance (H&SA) industry, and aspects of work design
that can protect against these risks.

How work design shapes mental health in the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry

2023

Dr Anu Jolly, Dr Arian Kunzelmann, Dr Cheryl Yam, Professor Sharon Parker

This report presents the results of a workplace policy and practice survey that assessed the initiatives that mining companies report engaging in to support worker well-being.

Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety in the mining industry – The MARS Program Landmark Study: Workplace policy and practice survey

2023

Dr Cathy Drane, Dr Cheryl Yam, Martin Anderson, Professor Karina Jorritsma, Professor Sharon Parker

The Thrive at Work Audit Toolkit walks through the steps required to undertake a comprehensive stocktake of your organisation’s existing activities towards building a mentally healthy workplace.

Thrive at Work Audit Toolkit – Take stock and mature your organisation’s mental health and wellbeing practices

2023

Professor Karina Jorritsma, Dr Belinda Cham, Judy Chi, Dr Melissa Chapman

The Thrive at Work Focus Group Toolkit provides step-by-step guidance for facilitating focus groups to better understand your workers’ experiences regarding workplace mental health and wellbeing.

Thrive at Work Focus Groups Toolkit – Diagnose and develop solutions to improve the work design of your people through consultation

2023

Professor Karina Jorritsma, Judy Chi, Vanessa Moore, Alex Boeing

The Thrive at Work Survey Toolkit walks through the steps required to design and implement a survey to enable you to understand your workers’ experiences regarding workplace mental health and wellbeing.

Thrive at Work Survey Toolkit - Develop a strategic and integrated employee wellbeing survey

2023

Professor Karina Jorritsma, Judy Chi, Dr Belinda Cham, Dr Melissa Chapman

This report report provides an overview and assessment of employee well-being in the Australian mining sector and develops an innovative approach to construct measures of employers’ prioritisation across three focus areas: mental health and well-being, physical health and safety, and workplace culture and sexual harassment/assault.

Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety in the mining industry – Towards a healthy and safe workforce in the mining industry: A review and mapping of current practice

2022

Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre

As part of the Volunteering in Australia research, this report provides an important contribution to the evidence base informing the National Strategy for Volunteering. The focus of this report is the organisational perspective, exploring the characteristics of volunteer involving organisations and the challenges they are facing

Volunteering in Australia: The organisation perspective

2022

Professor Patrick Dunlop, Hawa Muhammad Farid

This report provides an overview and synthesis of the current literature concerning the three focus areas: mental health and well-being, physical health and safety, and workplace culture and sexual harassment/assault.

Mental awareness, respect and safety in the mining industry – The landmark study: A review and synthesis of the literature

2022

Dr Cheryl Yam, Professor Sharon Parker, Martin Anderson, Dr Cathy Drane

This report compares the frequency, incidence, nature and duration of workers’ compensation claims for psychological injury in specific occupational groups of HSA industry workers; and identify risk factors for claims.

Psychological injury in the New South Wales Healthcare and Social Assistance industry: A retrospective cohort study

2022

Healthy Working Lives Research Group

This report provides a
consolidated, overview picture
of emerging workforce
challenges and opportunities
likely to face emergency
service organisations over the
coming decade. It is a first
step in bringing together the
wide range of research that
can inform and strengthen
strategic workforce planning
in these organisations.

Emergency Services Workforce 2030

2022

Dr Jane Chong, Professor Patrick Dunlop

The report collates a high-level evidence base around nine major themes related to internal workforce management approaches and working environments of fire, emergency service, and rural land management agencies.

Emergency Services Workforce 2030 - Changing Work Literature Review

2022

Dr Jane Chong, Professor Patrick Dunlop

The Changing Landscape Literature Review collates a high-level evidence base around seven major themes in the changing landscape (i.e., the external environment) that fire, emergency service, and rural land management agencies operate in, and which will shape workforce planning and capability requirements over the next decade.

Emergency Services Workforce 2030 - Changing Landscape Literature Review

2022

Dr Jane Chong, Professor Patrick Dunlop

The purpose of this report was to systematically evaluate and better understand the risk factors associated with psychological injuries among healthcare and social assistance industry workers in the non-hospital settings.

Risk factors associated with psychological injury among Healthcare and Social Assistance workers in non-hospital settings: Systematic scoping review

2022

Healthy Working Lives Research Group, Professor Sharon Parker

The resource kit comprises three modules full of evidence-based, interactive and engaging videos, documents and activities that were developed in partnership with emergency service volunteers and their leaders.

Support Your Volunteers: Volunteer Leader Toolkit

2022

Professor Patrick Dunlop,Hawa Muhammad Farid

This guide provides evidence-based recommendations on how to effectively lead and manage flexible working to optimise the well-being and productivity of employees.

How to Lead Flexible Work: A Guide to Successful Policy and Practice for Managers

2020

Lena Neumeier, Professor Sharon Parker, Professor Karina Jorritsma, Dr Caroline Knight

This guide provides evidence-based recommendations on how to effectively lead virtual teams to optimise team member performance and wellbeing.

How to Manage Virtual Teams: A Guide for Managers

2020

Kiri Adams, Professor Sharon Parker, Professor Karina Jorritsma, Professor Mark Griffin

This guide provides practical, evidence-based strategies on how the worker can optimise their performance and well-being when working flexibly.

How to make my Flexible Work SMART: A Guide for Workers

2020

Kim Parker, Professor Sharon Parker, Professor Karina Jorritsma

This white paper aims to explore opportunities, challenges and best practices for scaling and promotion of collaborative technology to enhance future work in the areas of healthcare and higher education?

How Digital Collaboration is shaping the future of Healthcare and Education

2020

Dr Zitong Sheng, Dr Keyao Li, Professor Mark Griffin

The survey focused on perception of organizational practices that can support mature workers, as well as the
lived experience of mature workers.

Maximising Potential: Findings from the Mature Workers in Australia Survey (MWOS) Report

2019

Associate Professor Daniela Andrei, Professor Sharon Parker, Dr Lucinda Iles, Dr Gigi Petery, Leah Zoszak, Shannon Chen

This report introduces the MAPNet approach to explain the deep structure of work tasks, skills and activities that are fundamental for enabling success in uncertain and interdependent work environments.

MAPNet: Rethinking Work Skills for the Future

2019

Professor Mark Griffin, Melissa Chapman, Katrina Hosszu, Megan Orchard, Professor Sharon Parker, Professor Karina Jorritsma, Professor Marylene Gagne, Professor Patrick Dunlop

This toolkit introduces the Thrive at Work initiative, showcasing the vision, framework, step-by-step implementation process and further available resources.

Thrive at Work Toolkit

2019

Professor Karina Jorritsma, Professor Sharon Parker, Professor Mark Griffin

This report brings together findings from a literature review with a comprehensive analysis of 59 FIFO studies, a survey of more than 3000 FIFO workers, in-depth interviews, surveys of FIFO partners and former FIFO workers, and a study that tracks how workers’ experiences vary across five points of a swing.

Impact of FIFO work arrangements on the mental health and wellbeing of FIFO workers

2018

Professor Sharon Parker, Professor Mark Griffin, Professor Karina Jorritsma

The current paper analyses work design evidence and theory linked to the principles.
Although it acknowledges physical, biomechanical, and cognitive work characteristics
described in the handbook, this paper focuses on psychosocial work characteristics such as
autonomy, support, variety, and a moderate level of demands.

Does the evidence and theory support the good work design principles? An Educational Resource

2015

Professor Sharon Parker

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