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Module 1 – Wellbeing at Work
BSBPEF201 Support Personal Wellbeing in the Workplace
BSBPEF201
Support Personal Wellbeing in the Workplace
Learner Guide
What You'll Learn
Identify personal and workplace factors that affect your wellbeing
Plan and carry out a wellbeing conversation with a trusted person
Find and document support resources available at work and in the community
AQF Level 3
Certificate III: apply knowledge in familiar contexts, exercise judgement about courses of action with guidance from supervisors.
Evidence Requirements
To be deemed competent in this unit, you must satisfy both performance evidence and knowledge evidence requirements.
Type
Requirement
Performance
Identify and reflect on personal and workplace factors affecting your own wellbeing
Performance
Initiate and complete at least one wellbeing conversation in the workplace
Performance
Locate at least two organisational and two community wellbeing support resources
Performance
Document support resources and share with a colleague or supervisor
Knowledge
Explain the dimensions of personal wellbeing and how they interact
Knowledge
Describe personal and workplace factors that affect wellbeing
Knowledge
Identify the psychosocial hazard provisions in Australian WHS legislation
Knowledge
Describe communication techniques for wellbeing conversations
Note: Work through each module in order. Activities throughout the guide are for your own learning and are not assessed – they will not be submitted to your trainer. Formal assessments appear separately.
Unit Overview · Page 1 of 4
Module 1 – Wellbeing at Work · Section 1.1
What Is Wellbeing, and What Personal Factors Affect It?
What is wellbeing?
Wellbeing is a broad term for how a person is doing across all aspects of their life. It covers four main dimensions:
Physical – your body: sleep, energy, fitness, and physical health
Mental – your mind: mood, stress levels, emotional resilience, and mental health
Social – your relationships: connections with colleagues, friends, and family
Financial – your economic situation: income stability, debt, and financial confidence
These parts affect each other. When one is struggling, the others often feel it too.
Personal factors
Personal factors are aspects of your own life, health, or circumstances that affect how you feel and function – including at work. They are not caused by the workplace, but they can make workplace demands harder or easier to manage.
Physical health
Your current physical health – including illness, injury, chronic conditions, and energy levels – directly affects your capacity to concentrate, stay motivated, and perform at work. For example, a warehouse worker managing a recurring back injury may find their ability to complete tasks fluctuates significantly on high-pain days.
Mental health
Mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, or burnout affect attention, decision-making, and interpersonal communication. A retail team member experiencing anxiety may find customer-facing duties more draining than usual, even when the role itself has not changed.
Lifestyle choices
Sleep quality, nutrition, exercise habits, and substance use all influence how a person feels and performs. A logistics supervisor who works night shifts and struggles to maintain a regular sleep routine may find it harder to concentrate during meetings that fall in the early afternoon.
Finances
Financial stress – whether from debt, unexpected expenses, or low income – is one of the most common sources of background anxiety for Australian workers. A hospitality employee whose roster hours have been reduced may find that worry about paying rent increasingly distracts them during their shifts.
Personal relationships
Challenges in personal relationships – including family conflict, relationship breakdown, or caring responsibilities – often carry into the workplace. A childcare worker managing a difficult separation may find it harder to maintain the emotional energy needed for their role.
Life events
Significant life events – such as bereavement, a new baby, moving house, or a serious diagnosis – create temporary or lasting changes in a person's capacity. A customer service officer who has recently lost a parent may find that routine complaints feel disproportionately distressing for a period of time.
Need to Know: Personal factors are not always negative. A new relationship, the birth of a child, or returning from a holiday can all lift mood and energy – and make workplace performance easier for a time. Wellbeing is dynamic, not fixed.
Activity 1.1 – Sentence Starters (Optional – not assessed)
Complete these sentences in your own words. There are no right or wrong answers.
"A personal factor that positively affects my work right now is…"
"Something I could do to better support my own physical or mental wellbeing is…"
"When my personal life is difficult, I notice the following changes in how I work…"
This activity is for your own reflection. You do not need to submit or share your responses.
1.1 What Is Wellbeing? · Page 2 of 4
Module 1 – Wellbeing at Work · Section 1.2
Workplace Factors and Why They Are a Legal Matter
Workplace factors
Workplace factors are aspects of the job or the work environment that affect how workers feel and function. Unlike personal factors, these are within the employer's and organisation's sphere of control – and in many cases, their legal responsibility.
Workload
Too much work, unrealistic deadlines, or tasks that exceed a worker's skills are among the most common contributors to workplace stress in Australia. A data entry officer asked to process twice their usual volume without additional time or support may experience sustained pressure that builds into burnout over weeks or months.
Work hours and roster
Irregular or excessive hours – including mandatory overtime, unpredictable rosters, and insufficient rest between shifts – disrupt sleep, family life, and recovery time. A hospitality worker given rotating closing and opening shifts in the same week may find it impossible to maintain adequate sleep or manage caring responsibilities.
Physical work environment
Noise, poor ventilation, inadequate lighting, extreme temperatures, or cramped workstations affect both physical and mental health over time. A call centre worker in an open-plan office with high ambient noise may experience heightened fatigue and reduced concentration as the day progresses.
Workplace relationships
Conflict with colleagues or managers, bullying, harassment, and social exclusion create a psychologically unsafe environment. A new team member who is consistently ignored in team meetings and excluded from group communications may experience social isolation and anxiety, even when the behaviour appears subtle.
Workplace culture
Organisational culture – including norms around speaking up, how mistakes are handled, and whether leadership models healthy behaviours – shapes day-to-day psychological safety. A worker at a construction company where stress is treated as a sign of weakness may avoid reporting burnout symptoms, leading to a delayed and more serious outcome.
Job clarity
Role ambiguity – unclear responsibilities, conflicting instructions from different managers, or uncertainty about performance expectations – creates ongoing cognitive stress. An administration officer who receives contradictory directions from two different supervisors may experience chronic anxiety about whether they are meeting expectations.
Need to Know: Positive workplace factors also exist – supportive management, clear communication, recognition, flexible arrangements, and strong team relationships all contribute to better wellbeing outcomes. These are worth acknowledging and protecting, not just the risk factors.
Psychosocial hazards – when workplace factors are a legal concern
Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) and equivalent state and territory legislation, employers have a duty to manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace. A psychosocial hazard is any aspect of work design, the work environment, or workplace interactions that increases the risk of psychological harm.
Safe Work Australia's Model Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work (2023) requires organisations to identify psychosocial hazards, assess the risk they pose, implement control measures, and review those controls. This is the same risk management framework applied to physical hazards.
Workers also have rights: they can raise psychosocial health concerns with their employer or a health and safety representative without fear of adverse consequences. Retaliation against a worker for raising a WHS concern is unlawful under the same legislation.
Example: A government administration assistant is asked by one manager to prioritise a minister's briefing paper and simultaneously told by another manager that the same deadline applies to a separate committee report. The conflicting demands are a psychosocial hazard under the job demands/role clarity category. Under the 2023 MCoP, the organisation is required to address this hazard as part of its WHS obligations – not treat it as the individual worker's problem to manage.
1.2 Workplace Factors · Page 3 of 4
Module 1 – Activity
Module 1 Knowledge Self-Assessment
Rate each statement on a scale of 1 (still developing) to 5 (confident). This is for your own use – it is not submitted or graded. Use your responses to decide whether to revisit any sections before starting Module 2.
{
"title": "Module 1 – Wellbeing Knowledge Check",
"skills": [
"I can name the four dimensions of wellbeing (physical, mental, social, financial)",
"I can explain how personal factors affect performance at work",
"I can identify at least three workplace factors that affect wellbeing",
"I understand what a psychosocial hazard is",
"I know that Australian WHS law covers psychosocial hazards",
"I can explain the difference between personal and workplace factors"
]
}
Self-Assessment Activity – Rate your understanding of each topic from 1 (still developing) to 5 (confident).
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Assessment Readiness Checkpoint: If you rated any item below 3, we recommend revisiting that section before attempting the formal assessment for this unit. Use the sidebar to navigate back to any section.