Announcements like the University of California Office of the President’s pronoun awareness initiative generate headlines for what they say about identity and language. Less discussed is the broader trend they belong to: large employers steadily expanding what they consider part of a healthy, respectful workplace. Inclusion training, mental health days and employee assistance programs now sit side by side in many staff handbooks.

From inclusion to wellbeing

The logic is straightforward. An organisation that wants staff to feel safe at work has to think about more than the words colleagues use. Stress, isolation, money worries and addiction all affect how people perform and whether they stay. Universities, with their mix of administrators, researchers and students, often become test beds for these programs before they spread to the private sector.

Critics argue that such initiatives can become box-ticking exercises. Supporters say that even imperfect programs open conversations that would otherwise never happen. Both points can be true at once, and the real test is whether anything changes for the people the program is meant to help.

The topics that are still awkward

Gambling is one area that wellbeing programs have been slow to address. Unlike alcohol, it leaves no visible trace, and with smartphones it can happen during a lunch break without anyone noticing. Some employee assistance services now list gambling harm alongside other dependencies, but awareness among managers remains patchy.

Australia offers a useful comparison. Poker machines are part of everyday life in many clubs and pubs there, and online play has added a new dimension. Anyone trying to understand that landscape, whether as a researcher, a policy writer or simply a curious reader, can see how offshore sites market real money pokies to Australian players and which terms they attach. Seeing the commercial side clearly is part of having an informed debate about it.

What good programs have in common

The wellbeing initiatives that seem to work share a few features:

• they are voluntary and confidential, so staff are not afraid to use them;
• they are explained in plain language rather than legal jargon;
• they connect people to outside specialists instead of handling everything in-house;
• they are reviewed and adjusted rather than announced once and forgotten.

For gambling specifically, that means pointing staff to helplines and reminding everyone that betting is an adult activity, 18+ at minimum, that should stay within limits set in advance.

A wider definition of respect

Whatever one thinks of pronoun guidance, the underlying idea is that people do better at work when their circumstances are acknowledged rather than ignored. Extending that principle to money worries and risky habits is a logical next step. It is less glamorous than a headline-making announcement, but it may end up mattering more to the people it reaches.