Grief First Aid is an Australian, evidence-informed training program that equips employees and leaders with practical, peer to peer and non-clinical skills to respond to loss with confidence, compassion and steady presence.
What participants learn:
What grief actually is and the many losses beyond bereavement that trigger it, from diagnosis and divorce to redundancy and change
How to be present with a grieving colleague: what to say, what not to say, and why presence matters more than perfect words
Practical skills for acknowledging loss, holding boundaries, and knowing when and how to refer to professional support
How leaders can respond to loss in their teams- including return-to-work conversations and the months after the casseroles stop
Building consistent, caring practices that make grief support part of your culture, not a scramble in a crisis
Why it matters for your business:
Unattended grief is a psychosocial hazard, contributing to distraction, impaired judgement, stress and fatigue, with real implications for safety, wellbeing and your psychosocial risk obligations. A caring manager and supportive policies matter, but they are not enough, and EAPs rarely reach people in these moments. Grief First Aid complements programs like Mental Health First Aid: where MHFA focuses on mental health crises, Grief First Aid builds everyday, relational capability for being with loss.
Support that is good for your humans, smart for business.
Who this is for
Individuals, leaders and managers - who want to support others through loss with gentle and compassionate confidence rather than avoidance
HR, People & Culture and wellbeing teams - building internal capability and psychologically safe cultures
Whole teams and organisations- especially those navigating significant change, or where a loss has touched the workplace
Organisations in safety-critical or high-care sectors where unattended grief carries heightened risk
About your Hosts
Nicola Vague
I'm a transition guide, leadership coach, Certified Grief Educator ( David Kessler) and Grief First Aid Instructor. I am the founder of Melbourne-based Evolving Leaders. I've spent over 30 years working with organisations on culture, leadership and change. I now guide people 1:1 through the transitions that break us and can remake us - inculding separation, career endings, illness and loss of a loved one. My grief work began with my own loss, and with the people who met me in it. I now help workplaces build the confidence and language to do the same.
Candice Smith
I’m a leadership development consultant and coach, Thinking Environment® specialist, Indigenous allyship facilitator, and Grief First Aid Facilitator based on Wurundjeri country in Melbourne. I partner with individuals, teams, and organisations to cultivate generative leadership, deep listening, and more human ways of working. Trained by Thinking Environment® founder Nancy Kline, I’ve spent more than two decades creating the conditions for people to think well together and navigate complexity with clarity and care. Today, my work is increasingly focused on building grief literacy, helping workplaces and communities respond to loss with confidence, compassion, and humanity.