
A deep dive into psychosocial safety and workplace mental wellbeing
21-22 October 2025 | Crowne Plaza, Auckland
Managing Psychosocial Risk

Psychosocial Safety in the Workplace
10 September 2025, Crowne Plaza, Auckland
Understand key concepts in psychosocial risk management: Equip yourself with the knowledge and tools to proactively manage psychosocial hazards in your workplace and cultivate a thriving workforce.

Wellbeing at Work
11 September 2025, Crowne Plaza, Auckland
Empowering the wellbeing at work: Discover innovative strategies and best practices to safeguard the mental health and wellbeing of your employees.
Are you ready to create a workplace where your employees can not only survive, but thrive?
This conference provides a comprehensive approach to managing psychosocial safety and improving workplace mental wellbeing. Understand the key concepts in psychosocial risk management and equip yourself with the knowledge and tools to proactively address psychosocial hazards in your workplace and manage the psychosocial risks for your business.
To conference will deliver a deep dive into the critical importance psychosocial risk management and psychological safety for all organisations. Designed specifically for business leaders, operational managers, HR professionals, risk teams, wellbeing leads, health & safety professionals, and anyone committed to creating a healthier more supportive work environment for all.

Here's why you can't miss it
Frameworks for Psychosocial Risk Management
Learn best practices for identifying, assessing, and controlling workplace hazards.
Building a Culture of Psychological Safety
Discover strategies for managing trauma and supporting high-stress roles.
Data-Driven Wellbeing Strategies
Harness data to measure impact and drive informed wellbeing decisions.
Designing Work for
Wellbeings
Structure work to minimise hazards and reduce risk at its source.
Real-World Wellbeing Solutions
Explore case studies of successful frontline worker initiatives.
Practical Tools for Workplace Challenges
Address burnout, aggression, and critical incidents effectively.
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We are currently working on the programme and agenda.
If you would like to have input into our research programme please email xxxx@brightstar.co.nz
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Venue
The location and how you can get there
Address
Crowne Plaza, Auckland
128 Albert Street, Auckland Central, Auckland 1010
Agenda
Agenda to be announced
8:50 | Registration and Coffee |
9:00 | Welcoming remarks from Conference MC |
9:10 | WorkSafe update: Supporting organisations to manage psychosocial risks
Vanessa Cooper, Principal Advisor Mentally Healthy Work, WorkSafe | Mahi Haumaru Aotearoa |
9:50 | Examining the Australian approach to managing psychosocial risk
Nathan Lee, Director - Legal and Framework Policy, Safe Work Australia |
10:30 | Morning break |
11:00 | Understanding the legal landscape around psychosocial risk and workplace psychological safety
Catalijne Pille, Special Counsel, Anthony Harper |
11:40 | Embedding mental wellbeing and psychosocial risk as a key business risk management priority
John Fitzgerald, Registered (Clinical) Psychologist, Mind at Work |
12:20 | Lunch |
1:20 | Developing the capability for leaders to address psychosocial risk
Dr Dougal Sutherland, Principal Psychologist, Umbrella |
2:00 | Supporting the professionalisation of wellbeing in New Zealand
Terry Buckingham, Chair, Workplace Wellbeing Professionals Association and Wellbeing Lead, ASB |
2:30 | Panel discussion: Everybody’s business - coordinating the role of different teams in the management of workplace mental wellbeing and the prevention of psychosocial risk
Deborah Douglas, Health and Safety Lead, ASB Bank Megan Elmiger, General Manager People, Safety and Marine, CentrePort Limited |
3:15 | Afternoon break |
3:35 | Developing a psychosocially safe organisational culture
Vanessa Matakatea, Senior Safety Manager – New Zealand, Linfox Australia and New Zealand |
4:15 | Better Work By Design: How to design mentally-healthy work
Keri Woods, Partner, Leading Safety & Philip Voss, Partner, Leading Safety |
5:00 | Summary remarks from the Chair & networking drinks |
9:00 | Welcome back from Conference MC |
9:05 | Undertaking identification and assessment of the psychosocial risks within your organisation
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9:45 | Ensuring psychological safety through organisational change and transformation
Hansini Gunasekara, Founder & Lead Organisational Development Consultant, Upthrive Leadership |
10:30 | Morning break |
11:00 | AI technology innovation to prevent and manage psychosocial risk
Dr Tessa Bailey, Chief Executive Officer & Principal Psychologist, The Opus Centre for Psychosocial Risk and Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide |
11:40 | Case study: Delivering psychosocial risk management at Hato Hone St John Jill Heaslip, Wellbeing and Psychological Health Advisor, Hato Hone St John | Aotearoa New Zealand |
12:20 | Case study: Achieving organisational and leadership buy-in to psychosocial risk and wellbeing
Drew Divehall, Senior Wellbeing Advisor, Department of Conservation - Te Papa Atawhai |
1:00 | Lunch |
2:00 | Reducing psychosocial risk by tackling workplace stress and burnout
Sarah McGuinness, Founder | Leadership & Wellbeing Strategy Partner, Revolutionaries of Wellbeing |
2:30 | Tackling bullying, racism, and sexual harassment
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3:00 | Psychosocial risk management for remote, isolated workforces, lone workers and home workers
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3:30 | Chair’s summary remarks and close of conference |
Speakers
Speakers to be announced

Sarah McGuinness
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Drew Divehall
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Jill Heaslip
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Dr Tessa Bailey
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Hansini Gunasekara
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After completing a Bachelor of Psychology with first-class honours at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA, Hansini moved to the UK to pursue a Master of Research Methods in Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, where she received the Faculty of Science and Technology Scholarship. Following the completion of her Master’s, Hansini spent nearly a decade working in leadership and management consulting prior to embarking on a Ph.D. She also has extensive experience in research methods, having taught the subjects at the university level.
In her industry and academic work, Hansini has created strategies around a range of areas, including psychological safety, leadership, employment relations, change management, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Upon receiving the prestigious AUT Doctoral Scholarship, Hansini embarked on her Ph.D. in management in 2023 at the School of Management at the Auckland University of Technology, researching the role of leaders in fostering psychological safety among diverse employees in Aotearoa New Zealand. Hansini is committed to helping organisations create environments where all people can thrive. Today, via her work at Upthrive Leadership, Hansini collaborates with organisations to develop effective, people-centric management strategies, aiming to create research-backed, everyday psychological safety for all.

Dr Philip Voss
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Keri Woods
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Vanessa Matakatea
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Megan Elmiger
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Deborah Douglas
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Terry Buckingham
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John Fitzgerald
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Sponsors
Sponsors to be announced
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Separately Bookable Workshop
Workshop for NZ operational leaders, H&S, HR, and Wellbeing Professionals
PRE-CONFERENCE ON MONDAY 20 OCTOBER
This workshop you will cover:
Psychosocial risk is increasingly recognised as a key work health and safety concern in Aotearoa New Zealand, even though it is not yet as formally regulated as in Australia. But for many professionals, the big question remains: What can we actually do about it in practice – today?
This full-day, practical workshop is designed to equip H&S, HR, and wellbeing leaders with the tools, clarity, and confidence to move from confusion to meaningful action. Whether you’re just starting out or seeking to strengthen your organisation’s approach, this session offers grounded guidance tailored to New Zealand’s regulatory and workplace landscape.
Covering:
- What you can do now: An overview of New Zealand’s current psychosocial risk obligations and opportunities under existing WHS law and WorkSafe guidance.
- Building the business case: How to engage leadership by linking psychosocial risk to performance, reputation, and regulatory risk. Learn how to quantify psychosocial risk using available data, and demonstrate return on investment (ROI) through reduced absenteeism, improved retention, and enhanced productivity.
- Real-world scenarios: Interactive case studies showcasing real-world scenarios from our audits or line manager training: reflect on root causes underpinning psychosocial hazards such as high workload or incivility, analyse how psychosocial hazards interact and what can be done to control them.
- Applying the hierarchy of controls: Learn how to identify and implement controls—beyond posters and fruit bowls—and map them to a psychosocial risk-specific hierarchy.
- Psychosocial risk management in action: What good looks like—from interviews with psychosocial risk inspectors and regulators.
You’ll Walk Away With:
- A clear understanding of what’s expected in NZ under current laws and guidance.
- The confidence and skills to put together a compelling business case for psychosocial risk management.
- Tools and frameworks to assess and control psychosocial risks.
- Real-world examples you can apply in your own context.
- A strengthened ability to engage leaders and influence change
Who Should Attend:
Operational leaders and General Managers
Health and Safety Advisors and Managers
HR and People Leaders
Wellbeing, OD, and Culture professionals
Anyone responsible for psychosocial health and safety at work

Dr. Georgi Toma
Director
Heart and Brain Works
Workshop Leader is Dr Georgi Toma, who is a leading expert in psychosocial risk and workplace mental health.
She directs Heart Brain Works, supporting organisations across Australia and New Zealand to manage psychosocial hazards and build mentally healthy workplaces.
An honorary research fellow at the University of Auckland, she studies burnout, stress, and risk factors like poor leadership and bullying. Georgi created the Psychosocial Risk Maturity Scale™ and the Wellbeing Protocol, a validated program proven to reduce burnout and improve wellbeing.
Her work combines evidence-based strategy, legal compliance, and systems thinking to embed mental health into organisational culture, leadership, and work design.
Known for her clarity, warmth, and deep subject-matter expertise, Georgi is a sought-after speaker, educator, and advisor. Her work is guided by the belief that mentally healthy work isn’t just possible – it’s essential for long-term organisational success, psychological safety, and human dignity.
TICKET OPTIONS
Register your interest, we will be in touch when tickets are available.
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
Separately Bookable-
For valid ticket, payment by 20 October, 2025.
DOUBLE PASS
-
Must be from the same organisation & book at the same time. For valid ticket, payment by 21 October, 2025.
Registration Conditions
Ticket Terms
All prices are in New Zealand dollars ($NZD)
A surcharge of 2.5% + GST applies to credit card payments on top of the total amount.
Pre-Sale Tickets are valid only for the specific event for which they were purchased and cannot be transferred to other events. To remain valid, Super Saver and Early Bird tickets must be paid by date quoted.
Group ticket options are valid for registrations from the same organisation, booked at the same time.
By selecting any special pricing offer for classes of organisation, sector, or individuals or using any promotion code, you are asserting to the organiser your right to claim any such pricing offer, and acknowledge the organiser’s right to audit such claim and, if in the opinion of the organiser using its sole discretion the conditions for special pricing are not met, reject any registration.
For full terms & conditions, please visit https://www.brightstar.co.nz/terms-and-conditions
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Got questions? Write to us.