Investing in Our People to Strengthen Our Communities

Supporting people across remote and regional communities takes skill, confidence, compassion, and resilience. At TRACQS, investing in our team is an important part of making sure our people have the knowledge and support they need to deliver quality mental health and wellbeing services in the communities where we live and work.

In June, the TRACQS team took part in two workshops delivered through the Community Owned Response to Eliminating Suicide (CORES) training program, strengthening skills in self-care, mental wellbeing, and suicide intervention. The sessions focused on two closely connected areas: looking after our own wellbeing, and building the confidence to respond when someone else may be struggling.

Practical tools for self-care and wellbeing

Through the Self-Care and Mental Wellbeing Workshop, team members explored practical ways to develop personalised wellbeing plans, set healthy boundaries, recognise signs of stress, and understand how self-talk can influence the way we relate to ourselves and others.

The workshop also encouraged participants to think about wellbeing more broadly, including physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual health, as well as the people and resources they can turn to when they need support.

For people working closely with participants and communities, these skills can help create healthier ways of managing pressure, maintaining balance, and recognising when it’s time to reach out for help.

Building confidence for difficult conversations

The team also completed Suicide Intervention Training, developing skills to recognise signs that someone may be at risk and respond in a safe, respectful, and appropriate way.

The training covered warning signs, safe and respectful language, help-seeking behaviours, protective factors, available support services, and safety planning.

These can be difficult conversations, and having the right knowledge and language matters. The training gave team members greater confidence to respond thoughtfully, encourage people to seek support, and help connect them with appropriate services.

It also reinforced the importance of looking out for one another as colleagues, creating greater awareness of when someone around us may need support.

Learning that supports the work we do

The skills developed through the CORES workshops are relevant well beyond the training room. They build our team’s confidence to recognise when something isn’t right, respond with care, and know when and how to connect someone with further support.

For TRACQS, developing these skills is part of creating a workplace where our people can continue to grow, look out for each other, and bring care and confidence to the work they do every day.