Why tradies turn to TIACS to support mental health

Key overview: Why talking and asking “are you okay?” can support mental health

• Things like financial stresses, self-expectations and bullying and more can pile up and leave men and women feeling pressured with nowhere to turn. TIACS is a thriving free counselling service dedicated to blue-collar workers.
• Tradesman and former contestant of reality TV series The Block Sonny Aplin champions TIACS for their free counselling lines, workplace meet-ups, referrals for advice, help and support.
• When the going gets tough – have a chat to your partner, if you can, to mates or the TIACS counsellors.
• If you need to take it that step further, ring somebody, like TIACS or a friend for advice or to put you in touch with further support services.
• Need support from TIACS? Call 0488 846 988 or simply text ‘Hi’ and the TIACS counselling team will take it from there. The service is available Monday to Friday 8am to 10pm (AEST).

As a plumber with nearly three decades on the tools, Sonny Aplin knows tradie life can be a lot of fun … but also a lot of pressure. “When all the responsibility for finding work, completing it, looking after your team and family sits squarely on your shoulders, you feel it,” the owner of Gold Coast-based Apples Contracting Plumbing and Drainage and former contestant of reality TV series The Block says. “And for some tradies, it can feel like it’s just too much.”

But the answer, he says, can be as simple as having a chat. He tells us why talking is a great way to support mental health.

How mental health conversations have come a long way

“When I started out [in trades] as a teenager in 1999, there was very much an attitude on the job that you just didn’t talk about things like mental health,” Sonny, 45, says. “And that meant a lot of people – the majority of them being blue-collar workers – were being really affected.”

Financial stresses, self-expectations, bullying and more can pile up and leave men and women feeling stuck with seemingly no way forward. “I even lost mates to suicide* because we had a large group who were suffering the most but talking the least,” Sonny says.

What is TIACS?

While working as a contestant on The Block last year, Sonny met Dan Allen and Ed Ross, two former tradies behind the TIACS initiative to end the silence.

Starting out in 2018 with TradeMutt, a workwear line of loud (and hi-vis compliant) shirts guaranteed to attract attention, the idea was to get tradies talking about what’s on their mind. In 2020, the boys launched TIACS, which grew to include onsite catch-ups and social events to announce opportunities for those who need to reach out and how they could be supported.

Fast forward to today and TIACS is a thriving free counselling service dedicated to blue-collar workers.

“There are a lot of people working in this space, but I quickly figured out TIACS is run by guys who are putting their money where their mouth is,” Sonny says. “It’s grown to where there’s now free counselling lines, workplace meet-ups, referrals for advice, help and support. That really impressed me.”

Why supporting mental health in trades is important

Bunnings Trade and TIACS began a partnership in July 2024. With that support, the TIACS message is spreading even further and making a difference, Sonny says.

“I’m an open book and talked about the mental health problems and what we can do when I was on TV,” he says. “Then, months later, I was at Bunnings and someone came up to me for a chat. He told me he had been struggling a lot and had been thinking pretty dark thoughts when he saw what we’d discussed on screen and it gave him the courage to make a phone call … and here he was, months later, sitting here talking to us.

“That’s a pretty solid example of how a chat can turn things around for people and that’s why it’s so important. Bunnings is helping get this message out.”

How to get support for your mental health

Embroidered on every TradeMutt shirt are the letters YNWA, which stands for ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, Sonny points out. That’s a key message all tradies should take on board when the going gets tough – you don’t have to do it all by yourself.

“I know it can feel like nobody else will understand or be able to help, but that’s not the case,” he says. “And the key is understanding that.”

Have a chat to your partner, if you can, to mates or the TIACS counsellors.

“You might not want to open up to someone close to you, but find someone, anyone,” he urges. And if someone reaches out to you, listen.

“I’ve got people who will call for a chat. They might not be people I work with or see all the time, but everyone needs someone to talk to,” he says.

“And if you need to take it that step further, ring somebody, like TIACS or a friend – they’re not going to judge you, they’re just going to offer you some advice and maybe put you in touch with somebody else if you need to. Whoever it is, I’m telling you straight up, nine and a half times out of 10 you’ll feel better once you speak to someone.”

Sonny’s mental health support tips

Stay active: “That’s my number one tip! Go for a run, a swim, a surf, just walk around the park, whatever. And don’t say you have no time – we’re all tradies, we get up early, so just get up a bit earlier or tack it on at the end of your day.”

Stay connected: “Spend time with friends and family. I love watching my kids play sport and realising that there is more to life than what happens onsite. It also reminds you that it’s not all on you, you’re part of a team, too.”

Stay talking: “I don’t mean to bang on about it, but the single biggest thing is to just get rid of the stigma and the idea you have to wear it all by yourself and not talk about it. That’s the opposite of what’s true! Talk, it’ll help.

Keen to know more about TIACS?

Bunnings and TIACS are working together to support tradie mental health.

*If this article causes you distress or if you need support, help is available Monday to Friday 8am to 10pm (AEST). Call TIACS on 0488 846 988 or, not sure what to say? Simply text ‘hi’ and TIACS counsellors will pick it up from there.