UNSW's Employee Assistance Program is changing.

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a confidential counselling, coaching and wellbeing service free for all for UNSW leaders, staff and their immediate family members. The service can help you manage work and life experiences, issues or concerns that arise from time to time.

At UNSW, the Employee Assistance Program services are currently provided by TELUS Health, (formerly known as Benestar). The TELUS Health contract will finish on 31 March 2024. Any cases opened on or before 31 March will be managed by TELUS Health until their completion.

From 1 April 2024 onwards, the EAP service will be provided by Converge International. All new cases from 1 April onwards will be managed by Converge.


Why are we changing EAP providers?

Our EAP contracts run for five years. At the end of each contract period, the service is put out to tender. The tender process was concluded earlier this year and Converge International was awarded the new contract.

Why Converge International?

Converge has more than 60 years experience in providing mental health and wellbeing services. Converge currently provides services for more than 2 million Australians. With several other universities already Converge customers, and a very high level of satisfaction among clients, we are confident that Converge will be a good fit for UNSW staff.

What will change?

The most important change will be the phone number you call to book an appointment.

  • Until 31 March, EAP services will continue to be provided by TELUS Health (formerly Benestar). Contact 1300 360 364 to make an appointment.
  • From 1 April onwards, EAP services will be provided by Converge International. Call 1300 687 327 to make an appointment.

What will stay the same?

UNSW staff will continue to be able to access up to six sessions per issue, per year, free of charge. Immediate family members will also continue to be covered by the service.

For managers, if you need to call Converge out to campus to support your team, there will continue to be an additional charge to your work unit. Please speak to your HR Business Partnering Team if you'd like to know more.

 

What are the key features of the Converge EAP service?

Converge offers more than just counselling, with a suite of health and wellbeing services and resources at your fingertips. The EAP service has eight streams:

  1. Employee Assist
  2. Manager Assist
  3. Career Assist
  4. Conflict Assist
  5. Nutrition & Lifestyle Assist
  6. Money Assist
  7. Family Assist
  8. Legal Assist

In addition to the eight EAP streams, Converge offers a range of specialist phone helplines:

  • First Nations Helpline
  • LGBTQI+ Helpline
  • Domestic and Family Violence Helpline
  • Aged Care Helpline
  • Disability and Carers Helpline
  • Spiritual and Pastoral Care Helpline
  • Youth and Student Helpline

 

Remember, to have the best EAP experience there are two key tips:

  1. Provide the booking staff with a high level description of what you want help with (eg. financial advice, anxiety, assisting a troubled employee, team conflict etc.) so they can match you with the most suitable counsellor.
  2. Rapport with your counsellor is at the heart of a successful experience, so if you don't feel you initially get the right counsellor for you, you are strongly encouraged to request a different person for your next booking.

 

The following instructions relate to our current service with TELUS Health (formerly Benestar) and apply only up until Sunday 31 March 2024.

 

How do I access EAP?

1. Phone for an appointment

Call TELUS Health (formerly Benestar) on 1300 360 364.

This is the fastest way to access support and it is always best to phone if your matter is urgent. When you phone 1300 360 364 you will be able to make a face-to-face or phone or video call appointment. If your matter is urgent and you need to speak to someone straight away, you will be able to do so.

The phone is answered 24/7.

2. SMS

You can access support 'in the moment' for a specific issue by texting 0480 032 310 to initiate an SMS chat. Clinicians are based in Australia and will respond to your messages Monday to Friday between 7:30am-7:30pm. If you message outside of these hours you will receive a reply the next working day.

3. Live Chat

You can access the Live chat feature in the BeneHub online portal. Once in the BeneHub, click the green 'Live chat' button and go straight through to a clinician from the digital clinical team.

Live chat is available from 7:30am-7:30pm Monday to Friday.

To access the BeneHub, first you will need to create a BeneHub account. 

To create a BeneHub account, visit www.benestar.com and click on 'BeneHub Login' at the top of the screen. You will need these details:

ID: UNSW
Token:
 UNSW01

Then provide a few details and choose your own password. Every time you visit BeneHub after you register you can login directly with the details you chose. There is also a free app for iOS and Android.

For more information and help logging in see the Benestar UserGuide.

4. Appointment Request Form

You can use this booking form to request an appointment. It takes longer to access help this way (as there will be some conversation back and forth with you via email) and this is recommended only for non-urgent matters. 

The EAP service is available to all staff at UNSW, including staff from UNSW Canberra, UNSW College, CCIA, the Black Dog Institute, Unisearch and Arc@UNSW. Casual staff are included.

Onsite Services

TELUS Health counselling sessions are available onsite at the Kensington campus between 9am - 2pm every second Wednesday. These sessions are held in Room G033 in the Quadrangle Building.

You can book an appointment with the virtual onsite counsellor in advance by calling 1300 360 364. 

 
Online resource library

The BeneHub online resource library allows you access to a vast library of health and wellbeing resources. This includes a variety of content such as learning modules, videos, articles, podcasts, activities and resource toolkits.


Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Support Line

Benestar has a team of clinicians who either identify as, or who have in-depth cultural awareness and experience in supporting Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Call the contact centre to make either a face-to-face or telephone appointment with a clinician from this team.

The contact centre is available from 7am-9pm Monday-Friday (excluding public holidays).

Please call 1800 816 152.


Confidentiality

All consultations are strictly confidential. TELUS Health will not share information about you with UNSW unless you authorise for them to do so.

When making appointments, you may be asked for information on your organisation and faculty or office and some demographic questions. This information may be used towards high level reporting on trends and utilisation rates.

Need more help?

Contact your Wellbeing Champion or HR Representative.