Managing Psychosocial Risk: Brightstar brings its workplace mental-health conference to Wellington

Managing Psychosocial Risk is a one-day conference held on 30 July 2026 at InterContinental Wellington, focused on how organisations put psychosocial risk management into practice. The programme runs from registration and coffee at 8:30 through to a networking reception after the 5:00 close, and is built around identifying and assessing psychosocial hazards, delivering effective mitigation interventions, and integrating that work into strategic HR, enterprise risk and health and safety systems. Sessions move from framing psychosocial risk as an organisational priority under WHS law and WorkSafe guidance, through burnout and work-design approaches, to a series of employer case studies and a cross-sector panel discussion.

Who runs it

The conference is organised by Brightstar, the events business of Conferenz Ltd, which describes it as its annual psychosocial risk conference being brought to Wellington for the first time. The programme is chaired by John Fitzgerald, a Registered Clinical Psychologist at Mind at Work who previously led the Mentally Healthy Work team at WorkSafe New Zealand. The speaker line-up draws on advisors and practitioners from NZ Post, Air New Zealand, ACC, the Ministry of Social Development, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Conservation, CentrePort and Health New Zealand, alongside specialists such as Dr Georgi Toma (HeartBrain Works / University of Auckland) and Sarah McGuinness (Revolutionaries of Wellbeing).

Who it's for

The agenda is pitched at those responsible for workplace mental health and safety — health and safety practitioners, HR and people-and-culture leaders, wellbeing advisors, risk managers and operational leaders. Content addresses assessing organisational maturity around psychosocial risk, coordinating responsibility across leaders, HR, operations and wellbeing teams, and building the capability of frontline teams, indicating an audience of mid-to-senior public sector and corporate professionals.

The venue and getting there

The conference is held at InterContinental Wellington, 2 Grey Street, Wellington Central, as listed by the organiser. The hotel sits in Wellington's central business district close to the Lambton Quay commercial precinct and the waterfront, placing delegates within walking distance of central government offices and the main downtown accommodation cluster. Wellington Airport is a short drive to the south of the CBD, and the venue's central location means most delegate movement between hotels, transport and the conference floor is contained within the city centre. Brightstar also publishes hotel and accommodation offers for its events for attendees who need to stay overnight.

Why it matters for NZ business events

Psychosocial risk has become a live compliance and workforce issue for New Zealand organisations, with WorkSafe developing good-practice guidance in this area. By assembling psychosocial risk leads and wellbeing advisors from large public agencies and corporates around structured case studies, the conference functions as a sector benchmarking forum for a fast-maturing discipline. Its move to Wellington — the seat of central government and many of the agencies represented on the programme — reinforces the capital's role as a hub for public-sector-heavy professional conferences.