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 under Assessment Resources.

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.

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.

Module 1 – Knowledge Check

Key Terms – Module 1 Review

Use these flashcards to test your recall of key terms from Module 1. Click each card to flip it and reveal the definition. Use the arrow keys or the Previous/Next buttons to navigate between cards.

{ "title": "Module 1 – Key Terms", "cards": [ {"front": "Wellbeing", "back": "A person's physical, mental, social, and financial health – and how their work environment affects each dimension."}, {"front": "Psychosocial hazard", "back": "Any aspect of work that can cause stress or psychological harm. Covered under the WHS Act 2011 (Cth) and Safe Work Australia's Model Code of Practice (2023)."}, {"front": "Personal factor", "back": "Something about a person's own life, health, or circumstances – such as physical health, mental state, finances, or life events – that affects how they feel and function at work."}, {"front": "Workplace factor", "back": "Something about the job or work environment – such as workload, work hours, culture, or relationships – that affects a worker's wellbeing."}, {"front": "EAP", "back": "Employee Assistance Program. A confidential counselling and support service provided through an employer, available to all staff regardless of whether their issue is work-related."} ] }

Flashcard Activity – Click each card to reveal the definition.