What does Australia’s legislative shift means for Aotearoa - and why is it time to rethink psychological safety?
Australia has moved fast on psychosocial harm. Regulators now expect the same level of rigour for mental health risks as for physical hazards. This shift signals where Aotearoa is heading and raises critical questions for HSWA duty holders, safety practitioners, and leaders.
This session explores how psychosocial risk thinking intersects with neurodiversity, why traditional models of psychological safety are no longer enough, and what this means for designing safer and more human systems.
- Setting the scene: what Australia changed and why it matters for Aotearoa
- The growing gap: what organisations still miss about psychosocial risk
- Neurodiversity as a hidden lens for psychosocial harm
- Psychological safety: beyond speaking up
- Systems that either harm or hold us
- A simple framework for New Zealand workplaces
- Practical tools attendees can take away today
Enjoy watching a great session!
Your Presenter: Nicola Knobel
Nicola is the Head of Safety, Risk and Assurance at Whānau Āwhina Plunket and a specialist in organisational risk, psychological health and safety, and governance. She holds a Master of Laws focused on Health & Safety and employment law, which shaped her evidence-informed and people-centred approach to risk culture and leadership, and she has a long-standing interest in developing emerging talent.
Nicola's work is known for combining strategic clarity with practical application, and for advocating for inclusive, neuro informed approaches to safety and wellbeing at work.