June 2025
Written by: Richard Dilly, Cluster General Manager, Merlin Entertainments Sydney Attractions.
In the heart of Sydney, Australia, where Merlin Entertainments brings joy to millions of guests through unique attractions like SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium, WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo, Madame Tussauds Sydney and the Sydney Tower Eye each year, there lies a quieter, but equally vital mission that is core to our ability to delight our audiences: nurturing the mental health and well-being of our teams. As the General Manager of these extraordinary attractions, I’ve learned that a thriving workplace isn’t just about operational and commercial excellence, moreover it’s about fostering an environment where team members feel truly valued and supported, enabling them to bring their whole selves to work so that they can genuinely bring joy, create connections and make memories for our guests. Mental health is not a peripheral concern; it’s the bedrock of sustainable success in our fast-paced and often emotionally demanding industry.
At its core, our industry is centred on care – similar to professions like veterinarians and nurses, which are known to have high rates of mental health challenges. In visitor attractions, we face numerous variables inherent to our unique environments. We continually engage with large numbers of guests eager for remarkable experiences, while also bearing primary responsibility for the care and management of our animals and adhering to stringent compliance standards and targets, from executing the highest levels of animal welfare and husbandry through to ensuring the safety of every guest who comes through our attractions. Each of these nuances demands a truly diverse team of experts and comes with the risk of unique stressors for our team members, from emotional labour for guest-facing roles through to the natural risk of compassion fatigue for our animal care teams.
With the variety and diversity of professionals in our industry, it is more important than ever that leadership capability is harnessed to engage, care for and motivate our teams, whilst prioritising their mental wellbeing. Gone are the days of parochial technical experts commanding positions of power at the behest of people-centric strategies; and we feel it more important than ever to spotlight and propel those who are able to balance the technical demands of the job with the imperative for personable, vulnerable and authentic leadership to focus not just on job delivery, but also on addressing the psychosocial hazards that can and do limit team effectiveness.
So, how do we recognise and prioritise the importance of positive mental health in businesses like ours? Unsurprisingly, it starts with culture.
Inclusion
Inclusion is at the heart of our workplace culture, essential in diverse environments like zoos,
aquariums and creative institutions where team members come from various backgrounds and levels of expertise. We strive to create a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and respected, regardless of their background or identity. This means actively embracing and genuinely celebrating diversity, not just in hiring practices, but throughout the lifecycle of our team members. Embracing diversity is also inclusive of our role as leaders to not tolerate and call out behaviours that work against our inclusion agenda. We also foster belonging by offering mentorship programs, and working to ensure that voices at every level are heard and considered in decision-making processes. When decisions made often have direct impact on not only people’s work, but also their passion, it is even more important that they are fully considered and bought into.
Normalising mental health & wellbeing
De-stigmatising mental health within our teams, particularly in our unique environments, is fundamental to fostering an environment where individuals feel safe to share their challenges and seek help. Our leaders are open about mental health with their teams, normalising discussions, and making it clear that mental health is as important as physical health. Surprisingly, little work has been done not only to understand, but importantly to support mental health priorities for professionals in aquarium and zoo settings. Pushing beyond generic mental health first aid and resilience training, we are in the process of commissioning new programs specifically focused on and informed by our animal care team members and the bespoke challenges to both mental and physical health that they may encounter so we can both normalise them, and more importantly reflect on how we can support our teams and operation to minimise.
Supporting staff recovery is a critical aspect of our mental health strategy, particularly for those who work in emotionally demanding roles such as animal care. We understand that, at times, team members may need to step back and recuperate. Providing access to Wellbeing leave, offering phased returns to work, and maintaining open lines of communication during absence ensures that staff feel supported throughout their recovery journey.
Wellness programs are another cornerstone of our approach, especially in settings where the care of animals and guest interactions are paramount. These programs encompass a range of initiatives designed to promote overall well-being, including mental, physical, and emotional health. Initiatives such as fitness challenges, and access to counselling services and employee assistance programs can have a significant impact. By providing resources and opportunities for staff to engage in wellness activities, we signal our commitment to their holistic health and help them build resilience against workplace stressors.
Purpose
It would be remiss of me not to talk about the importance of connection to purpose and how it influences mental wellbeing in our industry. It is vital that we truly understand and reflect on why our teams work with us, so that we can do more of it, and better – it might be our connection to conservation and tangible impact in our environments, rescue and rehabilitation
efforts for local fauna, creating memorable experiences for guests, collaborating with amazing people, growing personally or bettering our communities. Each of these purpose alignments can be harnessed to foster a sense of fulfillment, morale, connection and motivation leading to a mentally healthier work environment.
Nurturing the mental health and well-being of our teams is a multifaceted and ongoing commitment. By prioritising mental health, we create a thriving workplace where team members excel both personally and professionally, ensuring we continue to deliver exceptional experiences for our guests, animals and communities.
This article was originally featured in the May 2025 edition of WorkLife Business News which you can view here!
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