What is ARC?
See the person, not just the behaviour.
Frontline workers regularly deal with people who are distressed, unwell, intoxicated, or having the worst day of their life. Most staff are never taught how to read it — so they treat distress as defiance, and it escalates.
ARC is a practical, non-clinical course that builds the judgement to work out what's actually going on and respond accordingly. Participants aren't trained to diagnose or counsel anyone. They're trained to handle the first few minutes well, keep themselves safe, and know where to hand over.
Course Content
What the course covers.
This course covers
- Recognising distress, vulnerability and mental ill-health
- What drives difficult behaviour
- Recognising and escalating self-harm and suicide risk
- Communication that de-escalates
- Personal safety and disengagement
- Support pathways and escalation
- Cultural safety and working with vulnerable people
- Incident reporting
- Self-care after a difficult interaction
Learning outcomes
- 1Recognise distress, vulnerability and mental ill-health in others
- 2Judge whether a situation is distress or danger, and respond accordingly
- 3Recognise self-harm and suicide risk and escalate appropriately
- 4Communicate calmly and with dignity under pressure
- 5Maintain personal safety and disengage when required
- 6Connect a person to the appropriate support pathway
- 7Record and report an incident factually
Delivery
One day. Face-to-face. Contextualised to your team.
ARC is delivered on-site at your workplace or at a training venue. Scenarios and content are contextualised to your operating environment and the cohort attending — the situations practised are the ones your people actually encounter.
Competency is assessed during the day through questioning and direct observation. Participants who meet the criteria receive an EYESTAR Certificate of Completion. Electronic course feedback is collected and a post-course report is provided to your organisation for internal filing.
Practical note
The course includes a supervised practical component teaching protective, escape-focused personal safety skills — not restraint. A risk assessment is completed and participants give consent and complete a short health declaration before taking part.
Why ARC?
Practical. Contextualised. Delivered by practitioners.
Built for the frontline
Written for people who deal with the public, not for clinicians. Practical, immediately usable.
Contextualised
Scenarios built around your environment and your cohort, not generic role-play.
Delivered by practitioners
Instructors who've operated in high-pressure roles and handled these situations themselves.
Supports your WHS duties
Provides a documented training control supporting psychosocial risk management under WA WHS law.
Frameworks are referenced for consistency of structure and terminology. Training supports, but does not by itself discharge, an employer's work health and safety duties.
Work Health and Safety
Supports your work health and safety duties.
Employers in WA must manage risks to workers' physical and psychological health, and violence, aggression and distress are recognised psychosocial hazards under the Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022 (WA). Providing training is a named control in the WorkSafe WA codes of practice — and this course gives you the documented evidence that you did it.
What the course documents
- Attendance record for every participant
- Competency assessed against defined criteria
- Certificate of Completion for each participant who meets them
- Participant feedback collected electronically
- Post-course report for your WHS records
Training is one control, not the whole answer. It supports your duties — it doesn't discharge them.
Ready to train?
Whether you're looking to upskill your team or develop your own skills, contact Eyestar to arrange ARC training — in-house for your organisation or as an individual — or to talk through which course fits your situation.
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