Australasian Sustainable Wellness Academy

29/08/2025

Thanks for sharing this great Wellness Leadership read Angela Derks 👏

📚 Wellbeing + Leadership Book Reflections #1

I once watched my friend, a senior operations director, step off an early evening flight and rush straight to the supermarket because her kids needed lunches by morning—while her male colleague on the same flight simply texted his “wife” to say he’d be home soon to a warm dinner.

That invisible split is at the heart of Annabel Crabb’s The Wife Drought. This book peels back the polite silence around who really keeps families—and careers—afloat.

Crabb’s first lesson is piercing: having a “wife”—someone who shoulders the domestic load—is often the hidden advantage behind uninterrupted careers. For generations, many men have quietly depended on unpaid, unacknowledged labour at home: someone to remember birthdays, manage sick days, organise holidays, and carry the daily mental load. When women step into high-powered jobs, they rarely inherit this same support structure.

This isn’t about blaming men or fuelling a gender war. It’s about understanding history, so we can do better—at home, in our communities, and in our workplaces.

As leaders, we need to ask:
✨ How can we better support capacity and capabilities in our teams?
✨ How can we create workplaces where invisible labour is acknowledged, balanced, and not a barrier to wellbeing or leadership opportunities?

I recommend this book to all team leaders—it’s a powerful lens on equity, wellbeing, and the structures that shape how we work and live.

💭 Have you read this one? What’s your biggest takeaway?

26/08/2025

Our flexible and relevant mental health and wellbeing professional development options support you to write your next chapter/s.

Speak to one of our Careers Advisors today.

24/08/2025

Leaders, enable your team to take charge and effectively drive organisational wellness. 'Wellness is an inside job.' Developing in-house capabilities is critical to support a thriving workplace.

Choose key members of your team to join Australia's next cohort of Diploma of Wellness Leadership participants to become qualified Workplace Wellbieng Specialists so they have the fundamental competencies required to embed wellbeing across your organisation for sustainable success

21/08/2025

"'Wellness is an inside job."

Building mental health and wellbeing in the workplace requires internal capabilities, a committed leader, and strategic alignment with people and WHS objectives.

Empower and enable your people by supporting the development of the key competencies required to effectively shift the needle on employee mental health and wellbeing.

20/08/2025

Some great insights here from Dr Karen Coates

Our Diploma of Wellness Leadership participants learn about the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen in their Nutrition unit. This enables them to share this information with individuals and teams, and refer appropriately, within their various professional wellness career roles.

If you've been thinking of turning your passion for wellness into a sustainable and fulfilling career, come join our next Diploma monthly intake at www.aswa.net.au

18/08/2025

🟠 SES Week 2025 🟠

This week we join in celebrating and thanking the incredible SES volunteers across Queensland. 💛

At ASWA, we’re proud to support our own team members who give their time as SES volunteers. Their commitment to stepping up in times of need reflects the very heart of what we do—building individual and workplace capabilities that strengthen mental health, resilience and wellbeing.

Just as the Queensland State Emergency Service plays a vital role in keeping communities safe and supported, our mission at ASWA is to help organisations create cultures where people can thrive—because community wellbeing starts with people who are equipped, supported and connected.

A huge thank you to all SES volunteers for the commitment, skills, heart and courage you bring to our communities. 🙌

14/08/2025

A Friday Reminder from Angela Derks, our CEO and the Course Developer of Australia's leading qualification for Workplace Wellbeing Specialists💥

🌱 Planting Seeds for Culture Change

Being a Wellness Leader means playing the long game.
You bring evidence-based strategy, you talk about culture, and you aim for measurable outcomes…
…and sometimes you’re met with:
🙄 “We’ve tried that before.”
😏 “Sounds nice, but we have KPIs.”
😶 Crickets.

Here’s the thing: culture doesn’t shift overnight. Strategy takes time.
Every conversation you start, every healthy behaviour you model, every small process you tweak—it’s all planting seeds.

You may not see the results right away, but those seeds grow quietly until the conditions are right. That’s when you’ll see your measurable outcomes: a safer, healthier, sustainable high-performing workplace.

💡 Keep going. Your influence is more powerful than you think.
Even the strongest workplace cultures started as ideas someone refused to give up on.

And remember: the mighty oak? Still just a nut that stood its ground. 😉


Australasian Sustainable Wellness Academy

03/08/2025

Today, and every day, we aim to help individuals and organisations increase their collective awareness and understanding of mental health and wellbeing.

What will you do this week to show you care without judgement?

31/07/2025

Managers. Colleagues. Parents. Partners. Teachers. Practitioners. Leaders. Neighbours.

Mental Health First Aid is for everyone who cares.
We have a course running today. Because when people know what to do, they act sooner—and kinder.
We all deserve that kind of support.

Join one of our upcoming public courses or book a private course for your work or community group at www.aswa.net.au

30/07/2025

Compassion and competition can thrive together 💚

Some moments speak louder than words.

This powerful scene of Alex de Minaur sitting beside and having a cnversation with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina after a heartbreaking loss, (Fokina had only 3 championship points to win his first title), is much more than just good sportsmanship—it’s an example of healthy masculinity in action.

In a world where boys are often taught to be tough, stoic, and emotionally guarded, gestures like this model something far more important: empathy, respect, and connection.

These are the moments that open doors for meaningful conversations with the boys and young people in our lives—about how to show up, especially when emotions run high.

To grow into men who contribute positively to relationships, families, teams, and communities, they need to see what that looks like.
They need to see strength and softness, competition and compassion.

This moment brought to mind a quote by Desmond Tutu:

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”

Thank you, Alex and Alejandro, for reminding us that character isn’t just built on the scoreboard—it’s built in how we treat one another when it matters most.

Let’s keep showing our boys how to be great humans, not just great players.

30/07/2025

Progression is more important then perfection ✔️
Keep going
Small steps
Big changes.

17/07/2025

Some great tips from the Black Dog Institute 👏

Have you stopped to take a break today? 🧠 This week, we're reminding you to take a little time out for yourself! 🧡

If you've been feeling anxious or overwhelmed, don't be afraid to slow down and try the 5,4,3,2,1 technique👇

Practicing mindfulness can aleviate stress 😌 For more, visit our fact sheet 👉 https://bit.ly/47seDU9