Articles

This page lists all practical and feature articles available on RTWMatters. From top ten tips, how to guides and case studies, through to webinar recordings and video interviews with industry experts.

Click the ‘Topics’ button below to drill down into all articles and research updates on your topic of interest.

Click the ‘Quick Guides’ button for practical bit sized guides that give you a sound basic knowledge base.

‘You’re speaking my language’ — how to translate research into action and real change

contributorLauren Finestone

A case study shows how ‘intermediaries’ — like work injury scheme stakeholders — can take the...

Workers’ compensation re-imagined from a lived experience perspective — Part 2

contributorLauren Finestone

What would a workers’ compensation scheme designed by people with lived experience of such...

Webinar recording: Speak to recover — the art of messaging in injury care

contributorDr Mary Wyatt

Dr Mary Wyatt explores the effects of messaging on managing work-related injuries. She uses 2...

Workers’ compensation re-imagined from a lived experience perspective — Part 1

contributorLauren Finestone

What would a workers’ compensation scheme designed by people with lived experience of such...

Evidence-based messages about self-management

contributorLauren Finestone

Messages that empower people to self-manage their injuries contribute to better RTW and recovery...

The feel-good factor — why your thoughts and emotions matter to recovery

contributorLauren Finestone

Injured workers will benefit from the message that their thoughts and emotions can affect how...

Nine to thrive — the health benefits of work

contributorLauren Finestone

An important message for healthcare providers to give injured workers is that working is good...

Webinar recording: How WorkCover Queensland commenced their journey to implementing value based healthcare

contributorTanya Cambey

Tanya Cambey, Specialist Lead at WorkCover Queensland, talks us through WorkCover’s vision and...

It pays to share (evidence-based messages)

contributorRTWMatters team

Ten reasons to share the key messages from It Pays To Care with everyone who works with workers’...

When inactivity hurts and movement heals

contributorLauren Finestone

An important message for healthcare providers to give injured workers is that inactivity is more...

Messages to help people with back pain get their lives back

contributorLauren Finestone

Anne’s story compares how positive and negative messages about the body have a huge impact on...

Do you know how to develop a return to work plan?

contributorLauren Finestone

Research shows workers have poorer health outcomes if they are away from work for a long time. A...

Millions of Australians have a chronic illness. So why aren’t employers accommodating them?

contributorPeter Ghin & Susan Ainsworth

More than 20 million Australians have at least one long-term health condition, 63% of whom are...

Steering Healthy Minds — a peer support program to prevent mental illness in the transport sector

contributorSharon Stratford

An industry peer support program to prevent mental injury is driving change in the transport...

Heading mental health injury claims off at the pass

contributorLauren Finestone

Tips for some proactive strategies organisations can use to address mental health concerns...

Where are we at? — psychosocial risk and regulation in Oz, the UK and the US

contributorLauren Finestone

How do Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States compare when it comes to regulating...

How do Work Health and Safety psychosocial regulations line up with RTW laws? And how do employers comply with both?

contributorRTWMatters team

What should employers do to make sure they're complying with both Work Health and Safety...

Webinar recording — The Uncomfortable Truths About Psychosocial Safety

contributorDr Michelle McQuaid

Best-selling author and workplace wellbeing teacher, Dr. Michelle McQuaid, talks us through how...

The power of words in health (Part 3) — 5 tips to shift the way you talk about osteoarthritis

contributorLauren Finestone

Five suggestions for how clinicians can shift the conversation from an ‘impairment’ to a...

Emotional demands — the invisible forces that influence the experience of work

contributorLauren Finestone

What are emotional demands in the workplace? And how do they affect workers' well-being? The...

Webinar recording — Eliminating psychosocial risks

contributorJacquline Agius

Jacqueline Agius, the ACT’s WHS Commissioner, talks about what psychosocial hazards are, the...

The power of words in health (Part 2) — changing the conversation about osteoarthritis

contributorLauren Finestone

Clinicians and people with knee osteoarthritis can shift the conversation about osteoarthritis...

The power of words in health — changing the conversation about osteoarthritis (Part 1)

contributorLauren Finestone

How we talk about health profoundly impacts how we think and act when managing our well-being.

Webinar recording — Translating Employer Insights

contributorMegan Buick

Megan Buick, General Manager of the Strategic Partnerships and Engagement Group at Comcare talks...

Webinar recording — Navigating RTW with ease: CGU's Early Intervention Program for SMEs explained

contributorTegan Moffat & Amanda England

Learn about CGU's partnership with Workfocus Australia to develop an early intervention program...

Work's wellness factor — the challenges of involuntary loss of work

contributorLauren Finestone

An article in the Sydney Morning Herald about the emotional toll of involuntary retirement...

WorkSafe ACT’s Psychosocial Maturity Indication Tool — in a nutshell

contributorLauren Finestone

RTWMatters speaks to WorkSafe ACT about their Psychosocial Maturity Indication Tool

Tools to assess psychosocial safety in your workplace

contributorLauren Finestone

Free psychosocial risk assessment tools can be a valuable starting point for organisations that...

Tipping points — are psychosocial hazards present in your workplace?

contributorLauren Finestone

Four groups of psychosocial hazards leaders need to look for, and what they can do practically...

Building a culture of 'and' — balancing cultures of care and legal compliance for workplaces to flourish

contributorLauren Finestone

Complying with laws ensures a baseline level of safety. But people and teams do, and feel,...

Speak up cultures — how leaders can build healthy and supportive work environments

contributorLauren Finestone

A Harvard Business Review article gives leaders some practical tips to create positive work...

Psychological safety in the workplace — Part 2: bridging the ‘safety gap’

contributorLauren Finestone

Research shows there's often a gap between the psychosocial support leaders say they’re...

Psychological safety in the workplace — Part 1: moving beyond risk assessment and compliance

contributorLauren Finestone

To create psychologically safe workplaces, leaders need to go beyond just assessing risk and...