New Projects

Over the past two years, NCETA and NADA have undertaken a comprehensive examination of the health and wellbeing of the non-government AOD workforce in NSW. This was part of a larger project that also involved Matua Raki that examined AOD worker wellbeing in Australia and New Zealand.

The study has produced:

• A literature review examining and synthesising the extant knowledge on AOD worker wellbeing
• A summary report of the results of an online survey of non-government AOD workers in NSW.

In addition, peer reviewed publications exploring the predictors of work engagement, burnout, and quality of life are currently under development.

To date the project, and in particular the online survey, has yielded valuable data on a range of worker wellbeing factors. NCETA and NADA have therefore agreed to extend the project to further examine the:

• Workplace and personal factors contributing to worker wellbeing
• Implications for workers and organisations for developing and maintaining these protective factors.

In undertaking this project, NCETA will specifically:

• Re-analyse key demographics, workplace and wellbeing variables by sub-group (e.g. age, sex, occupational role) to identify groups with high prevalence rates of poor wellbeing and programs / initiatives to support potentially vulnerable workers
• Explore predictors of wellbeing by undertaking regression analyses using measures such as resilience, job satisfaction, quality of life and work engagement as outcome variables
• Identify and highlight the:
• Individual factors (e.g., resilience and therapeutic optimism) that predict worker wellbeing and strategies for increasing them
• Organisational characteristics (e.g., job security, adequate remuneration) that predict worker wellbeing and implications for workforce development.

NCETA will disseminate the results of the analyses to NADA and its members and will collaborate with NADA on the submission of manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals.