Martin currently serves as General Counsel of AAMPH. His distinguished legal career has included appointments as a Senior Member and Chairperson of an administrative appeals tribunal, Senior Counsel Assisting, Senior Prosecutor and senior Legal Adviser within Australia's policing, law enforcement and criminal intelligence agencies.

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With more than 22 years of experience in the investigation and disruption of serious and organised crime in Australia, Martin has worked in complex, sensitive and high stakes legal and operational environments. His responsibilities have included providing strategic legal and operational advice to senior decision makers, conducting and overseeing complex investigations, assessing legal and evidentiary risks, and navigating intricate statutory, regulatory and procedural frameworks.

These roles have required sound judgement, strategic analysis, procedural fairness, professional independence, effective decision making and leadership in circumstances where operational risks, legal accountability and the consequences of critical decisions are paramount.

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Beyond his legal career, Martin has an extensive military background, having completed more than 26 years of full time and reserve service in the Australian Army, retiring in late 2025 at the rank of Major. A proud military veteran, he held command, operational, leadership, legal and senior advisory appointments and undertook three military deployments during his service.

His military experience is complemented by a substantial background in policing, law enforcement, emergency services and frontline operational response. Throughout his career, Martin has served, worked with, or undertaken specialist professional education, training and development involving policing and law enforcement organisations in Australia, New Zealand, England and the United States of America.

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Martin is also an experienced first responder, having undertaken emergency response and community service roles including with St John Ambulance and the Country Fire Authority (CFA). His involvement in these organisations reflects a longstanding commitment to public safety, emergency preparedness, operational response and community service.

Collectively, these experiences have provided Martin with direct insight into high pressure operational environments, critical incident management, workplace trauma, cumulative exposure to psychologically demanding situations, organisational risk and the professional challenges encountered by emergency services personnel, frontline workers and organisational leaders.

Martin has also contributed to professional education and academic development as a university lecturer in law and criminology. He is a published author whose works encompass law, policing, community safety and crime prevention.

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He holds 27 tertiary undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications across law and legal practice, policing and criminal justice, leadership and management, education and training, and associated professional disciplines. His academic background complements his extensive practical experience across the legal profession, law enforcement, military service and public administration.

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In addition to his legal practice and the AAMPH, Martin currently serves as an elected Councillor in Local Government in Victoria, Australia, and is a former Mayor of that municipality. His local government responsibilities draw upon his experience in governance, legislative and regulatory compliance, public accountability, organisational leadership, strategic decision making, workplace health and safety, and community service.

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Across his legal, military, law enforcement, emergency services and local government careers, Martin has developed a particular professional interest in the relationship between organisational leadership, workplace culture, psychosocial risk, occupational trauma, psychological health and legal accountability.

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His multidisciplinary background provides a practical understanding of the responsibilities of employers, governing bodies and senior decision makers to recognise foreseeable workplace hazards, assess organisational risks, implement effective preventative measures and meet their statutory and common law obligations.

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Of particular relevance to his conference presentation is the distinction between providing support to an employee after psychological harm has occurred and taking reasonably practicable steps to prevent foreseeable psychological injury in the first place.

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Drawing upon his combined experience in law, complex investigations, organisational governance, high risk operational environments and public sector leadership, Martin brings a legal and practical perspective to the question of whether referring an employee to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is sufficient to discharge an employer's legal obligations when workplace conditions expose that employee to a foreseeable risk of psychological harm.

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His presentation examines the responsibilities of employers to move beyond reactive support services and address the underlying workplace conditions, organisational practices and psychosocial hazards that may contribute to psychological injury.

His central focus is on the legal responsibilities of employers, effective organisational governance, accountable leadership and the prevention of foreseeable psychological harm in the workplace.

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​At Stronger Together, Martin will present "Beyond the EAP Referral" and include a panel discussion reflecting on: Is referring an employee to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) sufficient to discharge an employer’s legal obligations when workplace conditions expose them to a foreseeable risk of psychological injury? This is the central question explored in Martin Taylor’s presentation, Beyond the EAP Referral: Employer and Organisational Responsibilities for Psychosocial Health and Workplace Trauma in Victoria.

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Presentation Abstract:

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EAPs, counselling and psychological support services can provide valuable assistance to employees experiencing distress, occupational trauma or psychological injury. However, supporting an affected employee is not the same as fulfilling an employer’s legal obligations to identify, assess and control the workplace hazards contributing to that harm. Where risks such as bullying, harassment, occupational violence, traumatic exposure, unreasonable work demands or inappropriate management practices are known or reasonably foreseeable, effective preventative action is essential.

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Drawing on his extensive experience in legal practice, law enforcement, military leadership, emergency services and organisational governance, Martin examines the responsibilities of employers, senior executives and organisational leaders under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 (Vic), relevant common law principles and judicial decisions.

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Through practical hypothetical scenarios, case law and operational examples, the presentation distinguishes reactive employee support from proactive psychosocial risk management. It explores the potential legal and organisational consequences of relying on EAP referrals while leaving workplace hazards inadequately controlled, and highlights practical strategies for effective prevention, accountable leadership, policy development and psychologically safer workplaces.

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The presentation, followed by a panel discussion, will examine eight interconnected areas of employer responsibility:

1. Identifying psychosocial hazards: Recognising workplace behaviours, conditions, systems and organisational practices that may expose employees to psychological harm, including bullying, harassment, workplace violence, occupational trauma and unreasonable work demands.

2. Assessing foreseeable psychological risks: Understanding how the nature, frequency, duration and severity of exposure, together with employee complaints, warning signs and other available information, may affect an employer's obligations.

3. Implementing effective risk controls: Examining the requirement to address workplace hazards through reasonably practicable preventative measures, appropriate management intervention, safer work systems and effective organisational controls.

4. Responding to workplace complaints and warning signs: Considering an employer's responsibilities when concerns about bullying, harassment, psychological distress, traumatic exposure or unsafe workplace conditions are reported or otherwise become apparent.

5. Understanding the role and limitations of EAPs: Evaluating the contribution of counselling, psychological support and employee assistance services, while recognising that these measures do not necessarily control the workplace hazards responsible for psychological harm.

6. Leadership, governance and organisational accountability: Exploring the responsibilities of employers, governing bodies, senior executives, managers and other relevant duty holders in overseeing psychological health and safety and ensuring appropriate organisational responses.

7. Monitoring and reviewing risk controls: Examining the importance of assessing whether preventative measures are effective, rather than relying solely on policies, incident reports, counselling referrals or administrative processes as evidence of compliance.

8. Preventing psychological injury: Considering how early intervention, informed leadership, organisational culture, effective governance and systematic psychosocial risk management can reduce the likelihood of foreseeable workplace harm.

 

The Central Message

An Employee Assistance Program is an important support mechanism, but it is not a substitute for an employer meeting its legal obligations to provide and maintain, so far as is reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risks to health, including psychological health.

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Where an employer knows, or ought reasonably to know, that workplace conditions present a foreseeable risk of psychological harm, offering access to counselling or an EAP may not, by itself, be sufficient to satisfy the employer's obligations.

The central issue is whether the employer has taken the measures required by law to identify the relevant hazards, assess associated risks where appropriate, implement reasonably practicable controls and evaluate their effectiveness.

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The presentation challenges participants to consider a fundamental question:

“Is your organisation actively preventing foreseeable psychological injury, or merely providing support after the harm has occurred?”

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At the conclusion of this presentation and panel discussion, participants will have developed a clearer understanding of:

1. The legal and practical responsibilities of employers in identifying and managing workplace psychosocial hazards.

2. The distinction between providing psychological support and implementing effective preventative risk controls.

3. The circumstances in which an EAP referral may be insufficient to address an employer's occupational health and safety obligations.

4. The significance of foreseeability, employer knowledge, workplace complaints and organisational warning signs in assessing legal responsibilities.

5. The importance of executive leadership, effective governance and organisational accountability in preventing psychological injury.

6. The role of practical risk management, early intervention and ongoing evaluation in creating psychologically safer working environments.

 

The session will encourage participants to critically examine their organisation's approach to psychological health and safety, assess whether existing policies and support services adequately address underlying workplace hazards, and consider the practical steps necessary to strengthen prevention, compliance and accountability.

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Effective workplace psychological health and safety requires more than responding to harm after it occurs. It requires employers to recognise foreseeable risks, address the conditions contributing to those risks and implement effective, reasonably practicable measures to prevent psychological injury.

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Drawing together Victorian workplace safety law, common law principles, judicial decisions and practical organisational experience, Martin's presentation examines why an EAP referral should be understood as one component of employee support rather than a substitute for effective psychosocial risk management.

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The fundamental question is not simply whether an employer offered assistance to an affected employee, but whether it took the steps required by law to protect that employee from foreseeable workplace harm.

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