A lifeline for the front line

The cost of delay - and the power of staying connected

Monash Health has made great strides in improved Workers Compensation and Return to Work performance, as recognised by the WorkSafe Return to Work Inspectorate and shown through a vastly improved Employer Performance Rating. As a continual improvement initiative, Monash Health will now focus on reducing delay between injury and notification. Those weeks matter, and Monash will now endeavor to drive further best practice for the benefit of injured employees.

“At the four-week mark, people are hopeful,” Kotevski explains. “At three to four months, returning to work is often not even in their line of sight.”

Annabel explains:

Navigator’s Head of Mental Health Services, Sharn Meneilly, explains why: “The longer you’re away, the less connected you are. That distance breeds shame, guilt and worry that your workplace doesn’t want you back. Regular, consistent, genuine support from the workplace, and early access to healthcare, can make all the difference.”

This is precisely the cycle Frontline Minds is designed to break, delivering measurable improvements in:

• return-to-work outcomes within 26 weeks
• manager capability and psychological safety
• time to treatment activation
• worker experience and confidence.

“We’re designing this for scale,” Williams says. “Delays, uncertainty and psychological injury aren’t Monash-only issues, these are scheme-wide issues. If this works here, and we expect it will, it can work across the state.”

At its core: restoring control

For Williams, the initiative’s deeper purpose is simple: “Our ‘why’ is empowering people to live their healthiest life. When someone loses their sense of control, our job is to help them take it back.”

And as Gibbs notes, with the right support, the right timing and the right care pathway, “Managers can make an enormous difference. Workers feel seen, supported and less alone - and that changes everything.”

Frontline Minds is designed to make that difference sooner, more safely and more consistently, supporting the people who devote their lives to supporting everyone else.

This initiative will be delivered and evaluated over the next 20 months, and is set for completion in December 2027.