A program designed to prevent psychological injury among Tasmanian hospitality workers has won the top honour at Australia’s longest-running independent workplace safety awards.
HOSPO Health, run by Hospitality Tasmania, took out the 2026 Pinnacle Award for Excellence in WHS and the Best Safety Leadership Program/Initiative Award at the National Safety Awards of Excellence in Sydney on November 5.
The free program offers wellbeing and psychosocial safety support to workers, leaders and businesses across an industry of around 24,000 people. Hospitality Tasmania describes it as Australia’s first industry-wide program to prevent psychological injury at work.
The organisation said the program, which is backed by the Tasmanian government, had trained 96 leaders and reached almost 2,000 hospitality workers. All participating businesses reported positive early impacts.
Hospitality Tasmania said mental stress claims across all Tasmanian industries had risen 47% over the past decade, with each claim costing between $70,000 and $150,000.
Chief executive Steve Old said the people working in hospitality deserved support.
“Hospitality is the heart of Tasmania and the people who work in it deserve to be safe, supported and set up to thrive,” he said.
“When we launched HOSPO Health, we wanted to prove that prevention works in our industry.”
Old said the next goal was to take the program national.
“Now the challenge is to get other industries around the country involved, to get some federal government funding to make it even bigger and we can make a difference right around Australia,” he said.
Angela Martin, an adjunct professor at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research who has worked on the program since it began, said prevention was at its core.
“We help hospitality businesses identify and address workplace risks early, before they lead to psychological injury or workers’ compensation claims,” she said.
The program’s chief happiness officer, Sherri Ring, said the awards showed the approach was making a difference.
“This is what prevention looks like. Fix the work, not the worker,” she said.
Tourism and hospitality minister Roger Jaensch congratulated the team.
“Winning two National Safety Awards, including the prestigious 2026 Pinnacle Award, is a proud moment for Tasmania,” he said.
In September, HOSPO Health was named a finalist alongside national organisations including APA Group and Bupa Villages and Aged Care.
