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4.2.A Moral Injury in the Workplace: The Missing Link in Psychosocial Wellbeing Frameworks

Tracks
Concurrent Session B
Friday, May 22, 2026
1:20 PM - 1:45 PM
Room 2

Overview

Presenters: Anne Polley
Dr Yvonne Kallane


Speaker

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Dr Yvonne Kallane
Adjunct Senior Lecturer
The University Of Western Australia

Moral Injury in the Workplace: The Missing Link in Psychosocial Wellbeing Frameworks

Abstract Document

Workplace health and safety (WHS) legislation in Australia increasingly recognises psychosocial hazards — stress, trauma exposure, bullying, and organisational injustice — as significant risks to employee health and wellbeing. Yet one dimension remains under-examined: moral injury. Originally conceptualised in military and clinical contexts, moral injury refers to the profound psychological, emotional, and ethical distress that arises when individuals perpetrate, fail to prevent, or witness actions that transgress their deeply held moral or ethical values. In occupational settings, moral injury is emerging as a critical but overlooked psychosocial hazard with direct implications for workforce wellbeing, organisational performance, and compliance with WHS obligations. This paper argues that moral injury is a missing link in current psychosocial wellbeing frameworks. Drawing on scholarship from psychology, human resource management, and organisational behaviour, it explores how moral injury manifests in workplaces through systemic failures, unethical decision-making, role conflict, and organisational cultures that silence or punish ethical dissent. Unlike burnout or secondary trauma, moral injury is uniquely tied to value violation and erosion of trust — resulting in diminished employee engagement, high turnover, and long-term mental health consequences. For managers and boards, this presents not only a human cost but also a governance and legislative risk under WHS provisions. The paper situates moral injury within the broader landscape of trauma-informed practice and survivor-centred approaches to employee care. It emphasises the need for leadership capacity to identify, prevent, and respond to moral injury as part of integrated psychosocial risk management. Evidence from sectors such as health, justice, policing, and community services highlights how moral injury compounds existing psychosocial stressors, undermining both worker resilience and organisational safety. The analysis concludes by proposing a framework for recognising moral injury as a distinct category of psychosocial harm, and for embedding moral repair strategies — ethical leadership, organisational accountability, and supportive HR practices — into workplace wellbeing systems. In doing so, it challenges policymakers, practitioners, and scholars to expand the psychosocial discourse to address moral injury as a critical, yet missing, dimension of workplace health, safety, and dignity.

Biography

Dr Yvonne Kallane is a researcher, lecturer, and advisor specialising in psychosocial risk management, moral injury, and trauma-informed practice. Her work sits at the intersection of human resources, WHS legislation, and organisational wellbeing, with a focus on helping leaders and boards meet their duty of care while building healthier, more sustainable cultures. With more than two decades of experience bridging scholarship and practice, Yvonne has contributed to policy and legislative reform across state and federal levels in Australia. She is Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia and holds a Master of Human Rights (University of London), while completing a Master of Social Justice at the University of Notre Dame Australia. In 2024, she designed and launched Australia’s first Microcredential in Coercive Control at UWA, building capacity across justice, policing, and community sectors. As a Non-Executive Director at Yourtoolkit.com, she developed the Coercive Control Self-Assessment Tool (2023), a pioneering resource supporting survivors and service providers. Her research is shaped by survivor-centred and trauma-informed methodologies and foregrounds the emerging recognition of moral injury as a critical, but under-addressed, workplace hazard. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, co-edited landmark texts, and consulted globally with firms including Deloitte and KPMG.
Ms Anne Polley
Lecturer and Consultant
Edith Cowan University

Biography

Anne Polley is a strategic training and organisational development consultant with over 20 years’ experience working across government, mining, and not-for-profit sectors. She specialises in supporting organisations to develop best practice strategies that advance inclusion, strengthen workplace wellbeing, and drive sustainable business outcomes. Anne is recognised for her ability to navigate complexity and solve “wicked problems,” bringing clarity and purpose to teams in high-pressure environments. Her approach combines deep knowledge of workforce development with a practical commitment to collaboration, ensuring that organisational change initiatives are not only effective but also values-driven and inclusive. Her work spans leadership capability building, psychosocial risk and wellness strategies, cultural change programs, and training design. Drawing on her extensive experience in resource industries, public sector reform, and community services, Anne equips organisations to meet the dual challenges of performance and wellbeing in contemporary workplaces. An intentional collaborator, Anne is passionate about strengthening systems of work that support psychological safety and inclusion. She is driven by the belief that effective workplace cultures are built when organisations align their purpose with the well-being of their people, resulting in outstanding outcomes for both employees and business.
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