Australasian Sustainable Wellness Academy

04/03/2026

Take the lead in creating your wellness career.

Take the next step by building your capabilities for creating and maintaining sustainable well-being in any organisation.

Contact us for training and development options at www.aswa.net.au

25/02/2026

Wellbeing isn’t a program — it’s a practice that lives within the culture of an organisation.

When wellness is designed into systems, strategy, and daily practices, it becomes part of how people work, lead, and connect — not just something they do.

That’s why we created Australia’s first nationally accredited Diploma of Wellness Leadership qualification a decade ago— to help professionals develop the skills to embed wellness sustainably within workplaces.

Join our next available intake for this revolutionary qualification course at www.aswa.net.au

18/02/2026

Just like safety, wellness is a collective effort.

Wellness is an inside job, so Make it Yours.

Discover how to cultivate a culture where everyone contributes to a healthy and sustainable high performance culture.

Contact us for training and development options at www.aswa.net.au

11/02/2026

Psychosocial risk is now a core workplace risk.
Are you equipped to manage it—properly?

The Psychosocial Safety Officer (Workplace Mental Health Skill Set) gives you the practical capability to identify, assess and manage psychosocial hazards in line with WHS obligations—while strengthening wellbeing, culture and performance.

This course is ideal for professionals working across:
✔ Workplace Health & Safety
✔ Human Resources
✔ Wellbeing & Mental Health
✔ Culture, People & Change
✔ Leaders responsible for healthy and safe systems of work

What sets this course apart:
• Fully online and flexible
• Personalised support from experienced wellbeing specialists
• Built for real-world application—not theory overload
• Aligned with contemporary WHS and psychological health and safety requirements

Plus — powerful added value
✔ Option for nationally recognised accreditation
✔ 1-unit credit towards the accredited Diploma of Wellness Leadership
✔ A clear pathway into becoming a qualified Workplace Wellness Specialist

If you’re responsible for people, safety, risk, culture or change—this capability is no longer optional. It’s essential.

👉 Start Now:
https://aswa.net.au/course/mental-health-skill-set/

04/02/2026

Wellness doesn’t start with perks, policies or posters. It starts inside the systems, behaviours and environments we create every day at work.

Psychosocial hazards—such as constant change, poor role clarity, low support, poor relationships, bullying, lack of autonomy and excessive workload—directly shape how people feel, function and perform. These factors can also result in a psychological injury/illness.

A robust, practical and relevant employee wellbeing strategy:
• Addresses psychosocial risks at their source
• Builds psychological safety, not just awareness
• Aligns wellbeing with WHS, leadership and culture
• Supports people to adapt, deliver, grow and thrive—not just cope

When we focus only on individual resilience and view wellbeing as only an output, we miss the bigger picture.

When we address the work environment itself, in combination with other core fundamentals, wellness becomes sustainable.

Because real wellbeing isn’t something you add on. It’s something you integrate into structure, systems, policies, procedures and culture.

28/01/2026

🌟 LEVERAGE YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE 🌟
Are you ready to upskill to support employee mental health and wellbeing?

Join our next Diploma of Wellness Leadership intake where you'll learn how to craft a powerful and effective evidence-based employee mental health and wellbeing strategy tailored to a workforce's unique needs.

In just one year, you'll gain:
✅ Deep insights into the fundamentals of wellbeing
✅ Skills and tools/templates to develop individual and group wellbeing plans
✅ A proven framework for designing a custom wellbeing strategy aligned with your company's ethos and strategic goals
✅ Best practices for incorporating mental health support into your strategy to ensure regulator compliance
✅ Practical tools for engaging leaders and driving participation
✅ Techniques for measuring success and demonstrating ROI
✅Gain a nationally recognised accredited qualification for recognition of your skills and knowledge.
✅Boost your career options in the ever-growing field of wellbeing.

Don't miss this opportunity to develop sought-after skills and confidence for supporting the mental health and wellbeing of work and community members.

Limited spots available – secure yours now!
https://aswa.net.au/all-courses/diploma-of-wellness/

28/01/2026

Stories like Gracie the bare-nosed wombat are a powerful reminder of the life-saving work carried out every day at Bay Wildlife Hospital.

Behind each rescue is a dedicated volunteer workforce operating in emotionally demanding conditions. Through the successful securing of a grant, the hospital is investing in mental health and wellbeing training to strengthen psychological health and safety, connection and peer support within the volunteer team.

We’re proud to be supporting the volunteers behind stories like Gracie’s through sustainable mental health and wellbeing training to ensure that stories like Gracie’s continue.

Supporting those who care for others is central to sustainable wellbeing.

24/01/2026

Together, we are stronger.

When we replace 'I' with 'we,' even illness becomes wellness.

Let's join forces to create healthier workplaces.

21/01/2026

🌟CALLING ALL ACCREDITED MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AIDERS.

Join our next facilitator-led LIVE online public REFRESHER Mental Health First Aid course to ensure you remain accredited in 2026.

TIME AND DATE: Fridays 9am to 1pm QLD time

BOOK NOW at: https://aswa.net.au/all-courses/refresher-for-mental-health-first-aid/

31/12/2025

Reflections from ASWA Founder, Angela Derks.

As we close out the year, I’m feeling deeply hopeful about the direction workplaces are heading.

In 2025, ASWA saw the largest intake ever into the Accredited Diploma of Wellness Leadership since its launch in 2017, with strong representation from the health sector (over 30%), and growing participation from education, mental health and wellness professionals.

We also experienced a 400% increase in Psychosocial Safety Officer certifications, largely from Safety and HR professionals, including Return to Work Coordinators — a clear signal that (private) organisations and individuals are investing in internal capability, not just compliance.

Disappointingly, the public sector continues to lag behind the private sector. Australian government agencies must catch up by developing leadership capabilities in strategic wellness. In particular, the health and education departments need wellbeing capabilities that enable front-line workers to effectively care for our community members and shift the needle on our country's mental health and wellbeing statistics in the right direction. Our future generations need us to leave a healthier legacy.

Through mentoring, I’ve had the privilege of reviewing wellbeing strategies that are being designed, implemented, and evaluated by leaders across Australia and globally — from Europe to Africa, Asia, and the UAE.

Seeing the Angela Derks Workplace Wellness Framework (2022) being embedded into real systems and cultures has been one of the highlights of the year.

Looking ahead to 2026, ASWA will be launching newly developed courses focused on core evidence-based wellness principles, designed to build strong foundations and support our strategic and systemic wellbeing programs and systems.

If you’re ready to strengthen capability, influence culture, and create healthier workplaces, we’d love to support you.

The future of work can and will be healthier — and together, we’re building it.🌿 Angela

30/12/2025

We love this guidance from Buddhism to take into 2026🙏

Wisdom doesn’t shout.
It arrives quietly, after years of watching the mind suffer… and heal.

Here are six simple truths an old monk once shared—gentle reminders for a calmer, kinder life:

🟢 1. If it still bothers you after 24 hours, speak up within 48 hours.
Unspoken pain doesn’t disappear—it sinks deeper. Silence may feel peaceful, but unresolved emotions slowly turn into resentment. Speak calmly, honestly, and early. Your peace matters.

🟢 2. Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for taking care of.
You wouldn’t starve, insult, or exhaust someone you love—so don’t do it to yourself. Rest, nourish, protect, and speak to yourself with the same care you offer others.

🟢 3. A bad day doesn’t mean a bad life.
Clouds don’t cancel the sky. One difficult moment does not define your entire journey. Let the day pass without turning it into a story about your worth or your future.

🟢 4. The harsh voice in your head is not the truth.
That inner critic is shaped by fear, old wounds, and past conditioning. It does not represent reality, and it does not want what’s best for you. Learn to observe it, not obey it.

🟢 5. Your mind cannot be grateful and anxious at the same time.
Anxiety thrives on lack. Gratitude grounds you in enough. When fear arises, gently name one thing you’re thankful for. This simple shift changes the nervous system.

🟢 6. Stop apologizing for expressing your feelings.
Every time you say “sorry” for being honest, you teach yourself that your emotions are a burden. They are not. You deserve space. You deserve to be heard.

🌱 Mental health is not about fixing yourself.
It’s about understanding yourself with compassion.

Sometimes healing begins not with change…
but with kindness toward your own mind.

15/10/2025

At ASWA, we’re continually inspired by the incredible journeys of our graduates — and today we’re proud to share one of them. 💚

Daria Andrievskaya, a hospitality strategist and consultant specialising in wellbeing, team development, Gen Z engagement, and workforce innovation, has written a powerful new article for the ASWA Blog:
👉 The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Wellbeing in Management Roles

In this piece, Daria shares her personal journey of thriving as an ambitious manager and reminds us that:

“Wellbeing isn’t the opposite of ambition — it’s the fuel that makes ambition sustainable.”

Daria first joined the Diploma of Wellness Leadership program during COVID as a part-scholarship recipient. Since then, she has continued to lead with courage and purpose — embodying what it means to be a wellness leader in action.

Her story is a powerful reminder of why investing in wellbeing — both for ourselves and our teams — is essential for sustainable success in any industry.

📖 Read Daria’s full article here: https://aswa.net.au/the-hidden-costs-of-ignoring-wellbeing-in-management-roles/

✨ Applications for our next Diploma of Wellness Leadership intake are now open. Learn more about how you can become a certified workplace wellbeing leader: https://aswa.net.au/all-courses/diploma-of-wellness/

Wellbeing isn’t the opposite of ambition — it’s the fuel that makes ambition sustainable. Today's workforce has a new definition of success and ambition.