Reimagining return to work for police

For police officers, the job doesn’t end when the shift does. Trauma accumulates, and mental injury is a common and serious risk of the work. Yet for officers seeking to return after injury, the systems designed to support their recovery can feel fragmented, overwhelming and difficult to navigate. Utility Creative’s Digital Return to Work Hub (DRTW Hub) aims to change that by replacing uncertainty with clarity and support. The initiative is one of eight projects funded under WorkSafe’s first Return to Work Innovations grant round, centred on early intervention for mental injury.

“It’s not just the trauma,” says Utility Creative founder David Stanley. “It’s the lack of control. In policing, you don’t know what you’ll face day to day. When you add an unclear or poorly coordinated return to work process on top of that, the stress compounds.”

Behind that complexity is a scale that is impossible to ignore. “It’s hard to walk away from work like this once you understand the scale,” Stanley says. “A workforce of over 22,000, with thousands experiencing PTSD or mental injury.”

It is this gap, between injury and recovery, that the DRTW Hub has been designed to address.

A public health approach to return to work

Utility Creative is a specialist digital health promotion agency with a long history of delivering technological solutions to improve public health outcomes in Australia. The team’s work is grounded in user-centred design and informed by the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, which emphasises participation, empowerment and supportive environments.

This public health lens shapes the DRTW Hub, which reframes return to work not just as an administrative task but as an opportunity to actively support recovery and reduce harm. The Hub will be built into the existing ‘equipt’ wellbeing app, already widely used by Victoria Police.

A clear, supportive roadmap for recovery

Available 24/7, the DRTW Hub will give police officers a simple roadmap to help them navigate:

• how and when to report a mental injury
• what each stage of recovery involves
• what to expect from the return to work process and
• how to prepare for conversations with managers.

The Hub will also support managers by building mental health literacy, improving understanding of common psychological conditions, and clarifying their role in supporting recovery.

“The intent is to reduce stigma and uncertainty on both sides,” says project manager and research specialist Bikram Singh. “When people share a common understanding of the process, it becomes safer and more supportive for everyone involved.”

The case for a digital approach

Drawing on previous work with Victoria Police, Singh and the team identified significant concerns around privacy and surveillance. Many officers were wary of accessing support if there was any risk their information could be tracked or used to their disadvantage. Utility Creative responded by designing systems that place control and confidentiality with the user. In earlier police wellbeing projects, the team worked directly with technology providers to ensure personal data remained on individuals’ devices – not on employer servers.

“Police understand digital risk better than most people,” says Stanley. “If they don’t trust a system, they simply won’t use it.”

That trust has translated into strong engagement. The ‘equipt’ app achieves unusually high ongoing use compared to typical wellbeing platforms, providing a solid foundation for the DRTW Hub.

Designed with police, not for them

True to Utility Creative’s user-centred design approach, the DRTW Hub is being shaped through direct engagement with police officers, peer support counsellors, union representatives and managers with lived experience of return to work processes.

Workshops and interviews are structured to minimise hierarchy and power dynamics, ensuring quieter or less confident voices are heard. Individual insights are combined with qualitative and quantitative data to reflect real-world complexity.

“We don’t build things for police,” Stanley says. “We build them with police. They are the experts in their own experience.”

Reducing risk by reducing uncertainty

Mental injury keeps many police officers away from work for extended periods, and the longer recovery drags on, the harder it becomes to return. The DRTW Hub aims to intervene early, before confusion, fear or isolation escalate harm. “With this workforce, the stakes are high,” Stanley says. “Poorly managed return to work processes can escalate risk, including suicide risk.”

By giving officers a predictable, private pathway through recovery, and by equipping managers with clear guidance, the Hub seeks to improve return to work outcomes while strengthening trust and coordination across the system. “Even small improvements can make a big difference,” says Singh. “When police are supported to recover well, the benefits extend to their families, their teams and the wider community.” And for Utility Creative, that difference begins with how systems are designed.

“This is about making sure systems don’t become another source of harm,” says Stanley. “It’s about creating pathways that support real recovery.”

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