Supporting our families
AV Family Safe Space is designed to help our families feel supported and have easy access to a range of support services when they need them.
This website has been created by Ambulance Victoria families in partnership with its Wellbeing and Support Services specialists.
We know that the work AV employees and volunteers do can have a significant impact on their families at home.
AV Family Safe Space is all about providing you, and through you, your AV family member, with helpful evidence-based resources and support so that you can access the support you need, and also the support your family member (AV employee or volunteer) or dependent may require. The aim of this site is also to provide information about the stressors that can be faced on the job, whether for corporate or operational staff members.
Current mental health of our workforce
Psychological Survey 2021
AV is committed to better understanding and improving the mental health and wellbeing of our people. As an important step in this process, we invited all AV staff and first responders to complete our Psychosocial Wellbeing Survey (PSS) in 2021. This was the third time we have completed this since 2016.
This anonymous survey was conducted in partnership with AV by Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health. Phoenix Australia are an independent, not-for-profit organisation affiliated with University of Melbourne, and are quickly becoming experts in first responder mental health.
In the two years since the last PSS (2019), we know things have not been easy for many and we have seen rates of depression, anxiety and stress, PTSD, suicidal thinking and problematic anger increase compared with the 2019 survey results. Intimate partner violence was assessed specifically in the PSS 2021 and the results from our respondents will lead to a focus on awareness, support, education and prevention strategies and pathways for our people.
We will seek to manage, and continue to advocate for broader understanding of the top sources of distress identified through the survey: workload, COVID related changes to PPE, CPG’s and working conditions (i.e working from home) and organisational and welfare conditions. Some of these areas are broader than the scope of Wellbeing & Support Services, however, we will ensure the voices of those who completed the survey are represented in relation to the impact of these factors on the wellbeing of AV employees, first responders and our families.
What are we doing about it?
Identified areas of focus:
- Depression, anxiety and stress symptoms
- Suicidal ideation, awareness and prevention
- Intimate Partner Violence
These areas of focus allowed us to have your voices and concerns recognised as we built our 2022 -2025 Mental Health and Wellbeing Action Plan (MHWAP), which launched in September 2022.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Action Plan initiatives:
Prevention and Education
Evidence-informed leaders education package: teaching and supporting our operational and corporate leaders to respond to evolving mental health issues in the workplace.
Early Intervention
Suicide Intervention Response and Engagement Network (SIREN) program: developing, implementing, and evaluating a suicide awareness and prevention training program to support our workforce and families in early recognition of increased risk of suicidality.
Building On Our Strengths
Further expanding the Victorian Ambulance Clinicians Unit (VACU) network in regional and remote areas.
Partnering For Success
Undertaking a longitudinal (5-year) study with a research partner to determine the efficacy of social support through Peer and Pastoral Care on mental health and wellbeing for our workforce.