Thriving at Work

Thriving at Work is a measurable, clinically led healthcare initiative that organisations who target and employ ADF veteran talent can incorporate into their existing health and wellbeing frameworks.

Aeternal Group designed this initiative to lift the work performance of ADF veteran workgroups. It achieves this by setting up the right pathways to access funded healthcare. Additionally, it reduces the unnecessary financial burden and risks (including psycho-social risk) associated with employing veterans who are likely to be managing service-related health conditions after transitioning from the defence force.

Why Thriving at Work is important for veteran employers

Health and wellbeing play a significant role in the productivity of workplaces globally. According to McKinsey & Co in their 2026 HR Monitor report, an average of 11 per cent of working hours (equal to 27 working days) are lost due to absenteeism. Health-related issues account for the largest share of lost hours globally (60.4 per cent).

Employing ADF veterans can enrich the skillset of any business with people who have above-average levels of education, leadership skill and integrity. However, having the knowledge of pathways to manage any service-related health issues – minimising absenteeism – is a crucial safeguard to their success and the performance of the business.

The following factors are compelling reasons for your organisation to work with Aeternal Group, so your veteran employees can thrive at work:

Thriving at Work is a program close to my heart. Previous to my work with Aeternal Group,
I provided HR support to a major employer of ADF veteran talent. We had many veterans working across our teams, some of whom
I'd served with at sea. I spent a lot of time in that role examining how to better support our veteran staff: how to keep them safe, how to make sure our managers were meeting their duty of care and other obligations, and how all of that would translate into better performance and outcomes for the organisation. Since then, I’ve led the strategic direction of Aeternal Group, an organisation focused on providing exemplary support to veterans. With our focus on education, wellbeing and health, we’re in the perfect position to provide Thriving at Work as a service to any company who is committed to supporting its veteran employees.

Kasey Mumford

CEO Aeternal Group

Employment is highly beneficial for ADF Veterans: Employment and meaningful activity has an outsized impact on the health and wellbeing of ADF veterans and is often a central pillar of successful transition from service, recovery and long-term health.

Health and productivity are directly related: Poor health creates drag, but well-managed health drives performance gains.

WHS Obligations: Veterans bring specific, well-documented psychosocial risk factors into the workplace that most generic mental health training doesn’t address. This initiative provides a documented control measure specific to a hazard that may not have been considered. Regulators expect organisations to identify hazards, assess risks, implement controls and consult with workers, with penalties for failing to do so. Importantly, a supportive culture alone is not considered a legal defence. Regulators want a documented, living system.
Duty of Care: For a typical employee, poor healthcare usually affects performance and attendance and is managed by HR via policies and other related mechanisms. Health is much more complex from the outset as many are already managing service-related injuries and mental health conditions for a veteran employee. Poor healthcare can reactivate or worsen service-related conditions and therefore management extends beyond normal HR processes to consideration of workplace duty of care.
Maturation of Veteran Employment Strategies: Enabling organisations to strengthen their veteran employment approaches through the implementation of targeted health and wellbeing programs that deliver measurable outcomes and mitigate risk. This is a reputational and government-recognition upside of being seen as a genuine veteran employer (not just a hirer).

Delivery:

Mode: Face-to-Face

Duration: 2.5 Hours

Cost: Price on Application

The complete initiative includes:

A clinically led information session covering a range of topics relevant to veteran healthcare entitlements and how to access these supports.
Medical workup for DVA supported programs.
The opportunity for attendees to discuss individual health requirements privately with a registered clinical staff who are experts in veteran healthcare.
Measurement Framework (Scorecard) for leaders to assess the effectiveness of health and wellbeing initiatives for ADF veterans.
An ADF veteran specific psychosocial risk policy and procedure.
Ongoing support via 6 and 12 month check in (optional).