Increased Investment in Member Services announced at the 2025 Bluehats Conference

A jam-packed room in Melbourne’s Intercontinental Hotel played host to the 2025 Bluehats conference, our fourth gathering of our dedicated peer-to-peer support workers from work sites across Australia.

Aptly held on World Mental Health Day, nearly 200 attendees gathered bright and early in the Melbourne CBD to hear a wide array of presentations from both Incolink staff and external stakeholders, all unified in our work to help support the mental health of those within the construction industry.

Benjamin Maxfield, Incolink’s Chief Operating Officer, began the event, addressing the crowd to inform everyone of Incolink’s recently approved initiative to further fund alcohol and other drug support (AOD) systems for members.

Incolink will fund three dedicated rehabilitation ‘beds’ for members across the next twelve months. This investment has been made to allow more Victorian members to seek help when they need it.

Furthermore, Incolink will be employing a dedicated Mental Health Nurse to deliver crisis intervention support to members throughout the workday, housed at the Incolink Carlton Office between 7am – 3pm throughout the week.

This will allow for members who are requiring support during the workday to have immediate access to the support they need, no matter the time of day.

Incolink’s Mental Health Professionals, Kyp Kyprianou and Chris Forde shared their powerful personal experiences out on sites across Victoria. The crowd was captivated by their stories, especially when faced with the sombre reality that their figures regarding critical incidents attended where already out of date, despite the slides being finalised just days prior.

Amongst our esteemed guests was our keynote speaker, AFL Premiership champion and WorkSafe Victoria Mental Health Ambassador Tom Boyd. Having jumped into the world of professional sport at the age of 18, Tom was living what seemed externally as the life every young man in Australia dreams of. However, as Tom was able to beautifully convey, struggles with mental health can affect anyone – nobody is immune from these struggles.

Stepping away from a career in sport that he had worked for years to achieve was not only the most important action for Tom at that moment, but the most important action he had taken in his life thus far. His message – that sometimes the hardest step to make is the most important one - was an incredibly valuable and poignant message, which all in attendance were very fortunate to have heard.

Also joining us was Paul Edbrooke MP, the Parliamentary Secretary for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. Investment into mental health spaces at a government level is incredibly valuable, and we greatly appreciate the Paliamentary Secretary’s presence at our event.

Our panel, headed by Incolink’s own Alexander Bourjiali, featured an array of thought-provoking and challenging topics. Our panellists, Marianne Kearney from Suicide Prevention Australia, Tina LaRocca from Healthcare Australia and Rachel Service from the Happiness Concierge, were all incredibly generous with their time, and helped to facilitate lively discussion amongst the group.

The Incolink Women in Construction team joined together with Jesuit Social Services to demonstrate discuss the link between gender inequality and suicide, whilst Lorraine Cassin from CBUS demonstrated the intrinsic connection between financial wellbeing and mental wellbeing.

We would like to thank Tom, Paul, all of our panellists and guest speakers for their contributions to the day, as well as thanking CBUS and WorkSafe Victoria, as our program partners.

To find out how you can support the Bluehats Program, contact our team at [email protected]