Designing Work That Actually Protects Your Staff’s Wellbeing with Jason van Schie | Season 4: Episode 10

Most schools have spent years working on staff wellbeing. They’ve written policies and frameworks, funded programs, and scheduled wellbeing days. And yet the workers’ compensation data reports that education now sits among the worst-performing sectors in the country for psychological injury claims, alongside healthcare and first responders.

In this episode, I sit down with Jason van Schie, organisational psychologist and founder of FlourishDx, to unpack why. Jason has worked in psychosocial risk management since 2007, in his words “before it became cool,” and he is one of the clearest voices in the country on what it takes to create work that is genuinely good for people – for staff’s wellbeing and efficacy, and the greater good of the school community.

Together, we name the shift schools are being asked to make from an ad-hoc wellbeing model (yoga, free coffee, the occasional wellbeing day) to a systems lens that looks at the design and conditions of the work itself. We dig into why prevention has to come before the wellbeing layer, why broad consultation and leader commitment are the heartbeat of the process, and why you cannot manage psychosocial risk without measuring it.

If you have ever run a staff survey and watched nothing change, or rolled out a wellbeing program that landed flat, this conversation explains what was missing and what to do instead.

In this episode:

• Why psychosocial safety requires a systems view of wellbeing rather than just layering wellbeing activities on top of harmful conditions
• The importance of recognising that the duty to prevent psychological harm has always existed under the WHS Act, with recent regulations simply making it explicit and enforceable
• How adding protective factors does little to improve outcomes unless you also reduce job demands
• The causes of a negative psychosocial safety climate, which often stem from a lack of genuine consultation and visible leadership commitment.
• Why you must consult broadly across your entire staff rather than relying solely on a wellbeing committee
• The necessity of combining quantitative and qualitative data to understand whether your controls are actually working and what steps to take next
• How to build realistic action plans that demonstrate momentum through genuine quick wins while breaking high-leverage work into visible, manageable steps.

About Jason van Schie

Jason van Schie is an endorsed organisational psychologist who has specialised in human factors and psychosocial risk management since 2007. He is the founder of FlourishDx, a company that combines consulting, education and technology to help organisations design and manage work that protects and promotes mental health. Jason is co-host of the long-running Psych Health and Safety Podcast, lead instructor on the FlourishDx Academy, and a sought-after speaker locally and internationally on psychological health and safety at work.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

• Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Theory –  Bakker & Demerouti
• Psychosocial Safety Climate – Professor Maureen Dollard, University of South Australia
• National Workplace Initiative (Australia)  Prevent, Promote, Respond framework
• Safe Work Australia Model Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work
• Victorian Department of Education psychosocial safety resources

Guest Resources

• Flourish DX: flourishdx.com  
• Flourish DX Academy  ISO 45003 Foundations Course
• Psych Health and Safety Podcast
• PHSCON — Psych Health and Safety Conference: 8-9 September 2026, Hyatt Regency Sydney  

Connect with Jason

• LinkedIn: Jason van Schie  
• Website: flourishdx.com 

Connect with me via:

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/
• Email: hello@adriennehornby.com.au
• School Partnerships: adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships/ 
• Book a Clarity Call: adriennehornby.com.au/bookings