Access DRN services

The DRN was established in response to the Black Saturday Victorian bushfires in 2009. In the days following the fires, the APS received phone calls from hundreds of members offering their services to those affected. The APS also received several phone calls from emergency response agencies, including the Australian Red Cross, inquiring about additional support to assist with the recovery effort. The APS responded by establishing the DRN for members to register their interest in disaster recovery and this has since grown to a national network. 

All DRN services are provided by DRN psychologists who have undertaken additional training in how to support frontline and emergency support workers and volunteers. These services can be tailored to the preparation, response and recovery phases of disasters, emergencies and collective trauma events.  

Current DRN service offerings include: 

• Independent wellbeing checks: A one-off telephone wellbeing check focused on the worker or volunteer’s mental health and wellbeing (up to 45-minutes). 

• Group-based wellbeing sessions: A group-based information session focused on maintaining wellbeing as a frontline worker or volunteer, delivered either in-person or online (1-hour). 

• On-site deployments: A DRN psychologist attending the scene of a disaster, emergency or collective trauma event in the immediate response phase to offer wellbeing support to workers and/or volunteers. 

With thanks to Commonwealth funding, the APS DRN can offer DRN wellbeing services free of charge to eligible not-for-profit organisations, unless the service provided falls outside the scope of standard DRN wellbeing services.

The DRN provides wellbeing services to a range of not-for-profit organisations, including healthcare services, emergency service providers, crisis centres, disaster recovery services, councils, neighbourhood centres, and other organisations. To receive wellbeing services from the DRN, organisations must sign a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the APS, which is a no-obligation agreement.     

Once signed, the APS DRN can work with your organisation to tailor services to the wellbeing needs of your workers and/or volunteers. If you are interested in learning more about how the DRN may be able to support your organisation, please email  [email protected]. 

We recognise that disasters, emergencies, and other collective trauma events can have broad, varied and compounding impacts, both in the short- and long-term, therefore DRN wellbeing services can be provided across the preparation, response and recovery phases of these events. Some organisations request DRN services on an ad-hoc basis, while others arrange for their workers and/or volunteers to receive these services periodically (e.g., on a quarterly basis) as a proactive wellbeing initiative. 

The DRN is designed to be a complementary service and sits alongside your other workforce wellbeing supports, such as EAP. However, unlike most EAP providers, the DRN: 

• Provides one-off wellbeing services that are tailored to the preparation, response and recovery phases of disasters, emergencies and other collective trauma events. 

• Can provide wellbeing services in a proactive manner, by directly reaching out to teams of workers and/or volunteers to offer support. 

• Is delivered free-of-charge by psychologists with a special interest and training in supporting frontline and emergency support workers and volunteers.  

No. DRN wellbeing services are designed to be delivered as a one-off service. Organisations are requested to share with the APS DRN team the details of any EAP or other internal wellbeing supports so the DRN psychologist can share these details with the worker or volunteer, if required. 

DRN psychologists undertake DRN services to the same professional, ethical and legislative standards as they do in their psychological practice outside the DRN, meaning disclosure of any personal information only occurs when necessary and with the individual’s consent, unless they or another person are at risk, or disclosure is required by law.