Continued Commitment to Mental Health First Aid Training

In 2019, legalsuper supported the initial development of the Mental Health First Aid Training course designed specifically for the legal profession in collaboration with the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association, the College of Law and other key legal community stakeholders.

This program is an evidence-based first aid course focused on providing knowledge and skills to enable non-health professionals to assist a person showing the signs and symptoms of a developing mental health problem or crisis.

Since its inception, 578 people have become accredited Mental Health First Aiders and many more legal professionals have attended monthly on-line training courses either organised through their firm or as individuals.

In addition to courses conducted in collaboration with ALPMA and the College of Law, sessions have more recently been co-presented with organisations including the Australian Law Students Association and Leo Cussen Centre for Law.

At its December 2021 meeting, the legalsuper Board approved continued funding for the important and well-regarded Mental Health First Aid Training program for a further three years to the end of 2024. 

In April 2021, ALPMA released its annual Australian HR Issues and Salary Survey for 2021 which showed managing employee resilience and mental health was ranked as the third highest HR challenge and issue facing law firms for the coming year.