What is an Employee Assistance Program?
Your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a service provided by your employer which is free for you to access, voluntary and confidential.
EAPs are programs provided to assist employees in managing personal, family and work related issues that affect your quality of life.
Through access to qualified counsellors, employees and their families have the opportunity to identify problems and find ways of resolving them.
Your EAP is provided by ACCESS Programs, an external service that offers counselling to employees of a number of organisations.
All counsellors employed by ACCESS Programs are qualified and experienced.
When to get in touch?
How you feel is always a good way of knowing when you might need assistance.
If you find yourself:
- Being distracted by problems at work or home
- Getting tired or sick regularly
- Having days off work
- Running late, missing deadlines or being involved in conflicts
- Just burdened by everyday concerns
- Feeling anxious or unable to go to work
These are the times you may wish to make use of your EAP
Some of the more common issues people seek assistance for are:
- Family and Relationship Problems
- Grief and Loss
- Conflict with Fellow Workers
- Parenting
- Alcohol and Drug Use
- Stress and Emotional Distress
- Victimisation
- Bereavement
Is the EAP Confidential?
Your EAP is provided by counsellors who are outside of the workplace and are committed to confidentiality. Information shared with a counsellor will not be disclosed to your employer unless you agree in writing.
Counsellors like other professionals may be legally bound to disclose information for example in the case of risk to persons.
Your privacy is important and will be assured.
Will it affect my position?
Each EAP contract does differ, however, in most cases your employer will not know if you have attended counselling. You will always be notified if this is not the case. Counselling can be offered out of hours and in a number of locations ensuring no one need know your attendance.
Your Counsellor
All staff who work in the ACCESS Programs are experienced Social Workers, Psychologists or Specialist Counsellors with experience in a diverse range of service provision.
Appointment Times
Appointments are generally made on a fortnightly basis and take 50-60 minutes. After hours appointments are available on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings until 7.30pm.
Townsville Outreach Service
The ACCESS program provides an outreach service to Ingham, Ayr and Charters Towers. Appointments in outreach areas are made either fortnightly or monthly, depending on availability and demand.
How to make an appointment in Townsville?
You may decide that you would like to speak to an ACCESS counsellor, or a work colleague or supervisor may suggest that you consider using the EAP service. It will always be your decision to make contact.
We do require the person attending the appointment to call to make the appointment. For children under 16 years we require the parent or legal guardian to call.
You need only contact Centacare on (07) 4772 9000 and request an EAP appointment while mentioning your place of employment.
Once you have contacted Centacare, you will be offered an appointment within 2 working days of contact and an appointment will occur generally within 5 working days of contact.
Townsville office hours are:
Monday and Thursday 8.30am - 5.00pm
Tuesday and Wednesday 8.30am - 7.30pm
Friday 8.30am - 4.30pm
Centacare is an approved agency under the Family Law Act 1975.
Townsville ACCESS - Employee Assistance Brochure