CPSU Victoria are the Community and Public Sector Union who represent the Victorian Public Service (VPS) and related agencies. It was formed from the amalgamation of the Commonwealth Public Service and State Government workers unions in the early 1990's. The union has a history going back to 1885.
Unions are organisations formed by workers with a common purpose to improve their pay and working conditions. Unions select representatives to negotiate with employers in a process known as collective bargaining. When successful, the bargaining results in an Enterprise Agreement that improve wages and workplace conditions.
Unions have a democratic structure, holding elections to choose officers who are responsible for making decisions that are beneficial to the members. Employees pay dues to the union, and in return, the union acts as an advocate on the employees’ behalf. Unions are not funded by Commonwealth or state government and act independently to support their members.
The CPSU is about improving the working environment for members. Rates of pay, career structures and employment conditions are all based within the Award and Agreements negotiated by unions. For example, CPSU negotiated the Victorian Public Service Enterprise Agreement that ensures wage increases each year. CPSU membership gives access to Industrial Specialists who advise on rights and entitlements to members in the VPS.
The union also offers training and development opportunities to members in the VPS. From health and safety courses, workplace gender equality training to the popular public sector courses in areas such as administration or policy and project work.
Vicarious trauma is an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) risk for
many Victorian government departments. Vicarious trauma is one concept
used by clinical psychologists to describe the cumulative impact of
empathetic engagement with other people’s trauma.
It is a
predictable response to work that involves engaging with other people’s
trauma. As it builds up over time, vicarious trauma is difficult to
identify until signs start to emerge. Though the impact and cost of
vicarious trauma is significant, organisational level prevention of
vicarious trauma is missing from many workplaces.
The Community
Public Sector Union (CPSU) became aware of the emergence of some mental
health issues within the public sector arising from exposure to trauma.
The union began to research some of the issues confronting the public
sector, and we were able to see that there was a pattern emerging around
cumulative trauma where there was the exposure to other people's
traumas in the workplace.
This led to the CPSU successfully
accessing funding from WorkSafe Victoria’s WorkWell Mental Health
Improvement Fund to identify best practice from around the world in
dealing with vicarious trauma and pilot vicarious trauma preventions in
the Victorian Public Service. The CPSU piloted this process in
partnership with the Department of Justice and Community Safety (DJCS)
and the Department of Family, Fairness and Housing (DFFH). There were
six pilot sites across the two departments who developed action plans
with tasks and initiatives specific to their work site requirements. The
project utilised the Institute of Safety and Recovery Research to
evaluate the worksites and the impact of their vicarious trauma
initiatives. The project has run for 42 months finishing in September
2022.
The culmination of this work is this Preventing Vicarious
Trauma website. The website contains customised resources to begin to
increase knowledge and skills for government departments to create
supportive vicarious trauma informed workplaces.
WorkSafe Victoria’s WorkWell program aims to make
mental health and wellbeing a priority in Victorian workplaces through
access to resources, funding and knowledge sharing.
The Mental
Health Improvement Fund has provided large scale investment for
workplaces to promote positive mental health and wellbeing and prevent
mental injury. The fund aims to support Victorian workers identified at
greatest risk of mental injury: young workers, ageing workers, frontline
workers and workers in industries in transition.
The resources provided on this website have been researched and collated
over the 42 month period of the project. During this time the project
developed resources in conjunction with the pilot sites from Department
of Justice and Community Safety and the Department of Families,
Fairness and Housing.
The website is intended as a starting point
for the VPS and other organisations to begin trauma-informed practices
that will inform employees, managers and leadership teams on how to
address vicarious trauma at the preventative level rather than relying
on reactive measures.
This requires policies, strategies and
whole-of-organisation awareness. The resources provided on this website
are intended as a guide or starting point for organisations to begin
this work. Ultimately, organisations will need to undergo investigation
into their organisation’s specific requirements prior to putting
strategies in place.
What we do recommend – and what is stated
throughout this website – is consultation. Consult with frontline staff,
non-frontline staff, supervisors, managers and executives. From there,
develop ‘living’ policies and strategies and keep reviewing them to keep
them relevant and trauma informed.
This project has been a collaborative effort between the CPSU, WorkSafe Victoria’s WorkWell program, teams from the Department of Justice and Community Safety (Loddon Mallee Region, South East Metropolitan Region - Southern Melbourne Area, North West Metropolitan Area) and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (Hume Moreland Area North Division, Central Highlands Area - West Division, North East Melbourne Area). Evaluation of existing practices, monitoring of the project and final evaluation of the project was undertaken by the Institute for Safety and Recovery Research (ISCRR) a joint initiative of WorkSafe Victoria and Monash University.