Before Blue: Early intervention mental health support program

How can I access a Before Blue coach?

Before Blue is available to APS agencies who have signed up with Beyond Blue.  Please contact your relevant HR/People team to ensure this service is offered in your workplace.

This program helps you handle daily work and life stresses by connecting you with a coach to tackle issues before they snowball.

You’ll have 8 individual sessions with a qualified coach over a 6-week period, and two follow up appointments. All sessions are confidential and private.

You and your coach will work together to design a personalised plan that provides you with effective strategies and skills for handling your challenges.

If you're interested, contact your HR team to find out if the Before Blue at Beyond Blue program is offered at your workplace.

How can APS employers offer their employees the Before Blue program?

If you’re an APS employer, your agency will need to sign-up with Beyond Blue before you can offer the Before Blue program to your employees.

A Deed of Standing Offer has been established between Comcare and Beyond Blue. Any APS agencies in the Comcare jurisdiction wishing to participate in the Before Blue program, can do so by issuing a Notice of Inclusion to Beyond Blue.

To find out more, first email Comcare at beforeblue@comcare.gov.au

What is Before Blue

Before Blue provides a structured early intervention program of support across multiple weeks, offering up to 8 sessions with a dedicated coach. It focuses on practical skill-building towards a goal with weekly progress monitoring to stay on track.

Before Blue can complement existing workplace support services, such as Employee Assistant Programs, that typically offer brief single issue focussed counselling sessions to manage ‘in the moment’ issues and provide short-term relief.

How does Before Blue differ to the employee assistance program

Before Blue Blue can complement existing workplace support services such as Employee Assistance Programs.

It helps prevent or manage your stress early through a structured program of support across multiple weeks, offering up to 8 sessions with a dedicated coach.

Following a personalised assessment to determine your needs, the program focuses on practical skill-building towards a goal with weekly progress monitoring to stay on track.

Why invest in Before Blue

Before Blue transforms employee mental health. Independent evaluations of the program demonstrated that participants experienced significant improvements in wellbeing, productivity and engagement.

Benefits of Before Blue

• Before Blue works. It is not only measurable and shows sustained improvement in people’s mental health, but it is also proven to boost employee engagement and productivity.
• Using Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (LiCBT), Before Blue drives change over 6 weeks and beyond, not just in one session.
• Provides personalised plans, goals and strategies to practice, guided by an experienced coach.
• Delivers interactive content across the 8 sessions (up to) program, that keeps people engaged with videos, podcasts and interactive tools.
• Gives weekly progress tracking to boost motivation and achievement.
• Adopts a non-clinical approach that aims to destigmatise mental health and empower people with skills.
• Includes follow-up sessions to reinforce learning and give extra support where needed.
• Shows measurable results for workplaces with insightful impact and outcomes reports.

How does Before Blue work

Each week, participants will work with a dedicated Before Blue coach to review their progress and work through their planned actions.

Using LiCBT, the coach will give the participant practical activities to complete between sessions. They will also have access to:

• videos, podcasts and interactive tools with relatable stories and practical strategies to try between sessions, and
• Before Blue digital platform, to manage any bookings, cancellations, rescheduling seamlessly within their own portal.

Over 6 weeks, with the support of their dedicated coach, participants will:

• talk through their challenges
• develop a problem statement
• create a plan based on their needs
• walk through their plan
• learn practical skills
• review their progress.

When to refer an employee to Before Blue

Before Blue is suitable for employees who are experiencing day-to-day work or life pressures, such as feelings of worry, stress, anxiety, isolation, and being overwhelmed.

Before Blue coaches are specially trained in LiCBT, which is grounded in years of research and supports an early intervention approach to mental health. This builds lasting resilience and coping skills, helping people get on top of everyday challenges before they stack up.

More information

• For more information about the program, visit Before Blue at Beyond Blue
• To enquire or sign up your APS agency to the Before  Blue program, first email Comcare at beforeblue@comcare.gov.au
• To learn more about the trial program that was the foundation for Before Blue, go to NewAccess workplaces