Incentive program for workplace health and wellbeing

Work safety commissioner Mark McCabe has launched the ACT Small Business Workplace Health and Wellbeing Incentive Program.

“The program, to be managed by Healthier Work, the ACT Government’s free workplace health support service, will provide funding for small businesses in the ACT to kickstart health and wellbeing initiatives in their workplace or to extend and add value to existing programs,” McCabe said.

The program will provide funding to organisations for activities that promote healthy lifestyle choices for ACT workers by targeting the following key health areas:

• Increased physical activity;
• Healthier eating;
• Reduction in harmful alcohol consumption;
• Smoking reduction/cessation;
• Improved social and emotional wellbeing.

The program offers funding for workplaces of up to 50 employees, in the private and community sectors, to develop and run health and wellbeing activities. Depending on the number of employees, workplaces can apply for funding of $1000, $3000 or $5000.

“Some examples of activities workplaces could organise include on-site exercise classes, fruit and veggie baskets for staff, provision of counselling services or a health and wellbeing expo,” McCabe said.

Applications for the program open on Monday 18 February and will close on Friday 12 April. To be eligible for funding, applicants must have have had a visit from a Healthier Work industry advisor within six months prior to the date of applying.

“Creating healthier working environments not only has real potential to positively influence the health of our workforce, it also makes good businesses sense - increasing employee engagement and team cohesiveness in the short term and leading to reduced absenteeism, increased productivity and improved corporate image in the longer term,” McCabe concluded. 

Healthier Work forms part of a joint Australian and Territory Government initiative under the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health, which is committed to reducing the risk of chronic disease.

Application forms can be downloaded from the Healthier Work website. To arrange a workplace visit from an industry advisor, please call (02) 62051596 or email.