South Australia has approximately 1800 SES volunteers across 70 units who stop what they're doing to help South Australians when they're most in need, often in extreme circumstances such as wild storms, floods or serious crashes.
In times of crisis, these volunteers frequently encounter traumatic experiences within their own local communities, working at the frontline of major incidents and facing frequent exposure to grief, high stress and unique organisational pressures.
To help its volunteers report and assess the psychosocial risks, the South Australian Government has provided $200,000 to the SES to trial a new smart technology product that will enable it to oversee the wellbeing and sustainability of its workforce and improve its workplace safety obligations.
HumnIQTM is a purpose-built cloud platform to manage and report hazards, incidents, controls and governance metrics, providing the SES with real-time, evidence-based psychosocial risk analysis, incident reporting and governance dashboards.
"The South Australian State Emergency Service is pleased to partner with Humn IQ™ and the Department of State Development on this important initiative," said A/Chief Officer Kristy Phelps.
"Our people operate in complex, high-pressure environments, and tools that help us better understand and manage psychosocial risks are an important part of supporting their safety, wellbeing and readiness.
"This trial provides an opportunity to bring innovative South Australian technology into an emergency services setting, helping turn complex safety obligations into practical, measurable actions. By working with Humn IQ™, we can contribute operational insight while strengthening how we support our volunteers and staff now and into the future."
The trial is part of the Go2Gov program, which provides grant funding to local startups to pilot innovative products and boost government agencies' tech and artificial intelligence industry capability.
Local technology startup Humn is the latest of 19 local companies to benefit from Go2Gov, with co-founders Kristen Raison and Sam Young saying that the grant will enable them to test and refine the product under real operational conditions.
"This grant backs a vision, not just a product, giving us what every startup needs - the backing to build at pace and a real, demanding environment to prove the products in," they said.
"Humn IQ™ is a South Australian-built system that turns complex work health and safety requirements into clear, measurable action, helping organisations of any size identify psychosocial hazards, put effective controls in place, and support their people's wellbeing.
"With the rest of the global market only just waking up to psychosocial safety, this is our opportunity to build something in South Australia, prove it here first, then take it to the world."
Go2Gov allows government agencies to benefit from access to new technology solutions that address public sector challenges, while local startups can refine their technology and achieve proof of concept. The program is part of South Australia's Research and Innovation Fund, which invests in the entire research and innovation value chain.
