Comparing Talked for Work vs Converge

Employee assistance programs have long been a priority in many workplaces, but the landscape has evolved, and so have employees’ expectations.

Where employee counselling services used to be enough, the expectation now is for workplaces to minimise both physical and psychosocial risks, provide confidential wellbeing services across the stages of the stepped care model, and include immediate family members in employees’ health benefits, among other measures.

In Australia, two key players in this space are Talked for Work and Converge International. If you’re still considering which service provider to work with, or you’re ready to switch providers, this comparison article can help.

Key features at a glance

Both Talked for Work and Converge offer packages that businesses can choose from.

Talked for Work has three tiers: Essential Care, Enhanced Care, and Complete Care. Each package has its pre-defined inclusions as well as optional add-ons, like critical incident response services, psychosocial workshops, and monthly webinars.

Converge offers two tiers: Converge Essentials and Converge Enterprise+. The latter is customisable, and you can also purchase separate services like psychometric testing for prospective hires and access to learning modules.

Exploring Talked for Work

Talked for Work is an Australian-based wellbeing service provider that has gone above and beyond traditional EAP. Guided by the stepped care framework, our services range from preventative and early intervention to crisis response, medical advice, and recovery support.

Some benefits, particularly counselling and therapy, can also be extended to employees’ partners and family members.

Based in Melbourne, Talked’s services are primarily designed for Aussies by Aussies. All Talked psychologists and counsellors are registered and accredited by Australian peak bodies, such as the AHPRA for psychologists and the PACFA for counsellors.

Talked is committed to ensuring a human-first approach, so employees get a real, expert, and compassionate human connection at every touch point. Our core mental health team consists of carefully vetted AHPRA-registered clinical and general psychologists, PACFA-registered counsellors, psychotherapists, and mental health nurses.

Anyone who wants to use Talked can start by using our matching tool or by manually browsing therapist profiles and choosing someone who fits what you’re looking for. You can also book free 15-minute consultations so you can get to know different therapists, then choose one you’d like to have full sessions with.

Depending on your organisation’s wellbeing package, you might also have access to a clinical triage where you can speak with a mental health nurse and receive tailored recommendations and/or referrals.

Exploring Converge International

Converge is one of the country’s longest-standing EAP providers. Just like Talked, their services also cover different health and safety needs of employees, like counselling, critical incident response, and leadership development programs.

In terms of mental health support, Converge has a team of clinicians who can support different concerns, like workplace issues, grief, relationship issues, and more. However, it’s unclear if their clinicians include AHPRA-registered psychologists or if all of them are counsellors.

Converge clearly outlines what’s included in their packages, with additional services available separately if needed.

Human-first clinical triage

Depending on the tier, Talked for Work can begin each support journey with clinical triage. Here, an employee can speak with a mental health nurse through video, voice call, or chat and receive guidance on next steps and necessary referrals.

This ensures people aren't left trying to figure out who to see or what service they need, which is especially helpful in times of distress or uncertainty.

Converge does not include a formal triage process as part of their access model. Employees typically initiate contact themselves and choose from counselling or coaching services based on what they feel they need, which may work for some but lacks clinical direction from the outset.

Free initial psychologist and counsellor consultations

Initial consultations can help you determine how aligned and comfortable you feel with a therapist. This client-therapist connection is very important, and it’s actually a proven strong predictor of positive therapy outcomes.

Free consultations aren’t available on Converge, but you can access them on Talked. Talked lets anyone access free, no-obligation 15-minute consultations with any clinician of their choice.

Psychology, counselling, coaching

Talked for Work provides psychology sessions, general counselling, and leadership coaching within a single platform. Employees can select their preferred practitioner or receive guidance through the triage system, ensuring that the support aligns with their needs. In-person sessions are also available for some tiers.

Converge also offers counselling and coaching services, but it’s not clear if they provide sessions with psychologists. They cater to a broad range of concerns, including work stress, personal issues, and career transitions, but employee choice in practitioners may be more limited.

One thing that Talked and Converge have in common, however, is they both extend their counselling services to employees' partners and families.

Preventative and early intervention resources

Mental health support isn’t only for people in crisis or those who have diagnosed conditions. After all, it’s still always better to prevent than to cure.

This is why Talked provides digital resources aimed at prevention and early intervention, including a wellbeing index tool, mental health assessments, and self-help resources and courses.

Both Talked and Converge also offers resources outside of mental health, such as financial and legal counselling, nutrition advice, and workplace safety and leadership seminar and workships.

Psychosocial risk assessment & management

Defining and addressing psychosocial hazards in the workplace is a key part of risk mitigation and prevention. It also reduces an organisation’s exposure to legal risks and hefty worker compensation claims.

Both Talked and Converge offer structured psychosocial risk assessment and management services in line with Safe Work Australia’s guidance. These help employers identify and address environmental or organisational risks that could impact mental health.

Welfare checks

Talked offers built-in welfare check services that can be initiated by managers or the clinical team when there are concerns about an employee’s wellbeing. These checks are supported by follow-up care and, if needed, coordination with emergency services, helping to ensure timely and appropriate support.

Converge doesn’t provide formal welfare checks, but employees and their immediate family members can access a 24/7 hotline for urgent concerns. This service supports a range of issues, from personal and family matters to work-related stress and trauma, offering immediate guidance and connection to a counsellor.

Medical advice & GP consultation

Talked includes optional access to a GP and mental health nurses within some tiers of its plans. This allows employees to discuss physical and mental health together, including medication concerns and getting a mental health treatment plan under Medicare.

Converge does not currently provide medical advice or GP consultations as part of its EAP offering.

Critical incident response & follow-up

Talked supports organisations through critical incidents with both remote and on-site response options. This includes immediate support, ongoing follow-up, and post-incident reporting and training to help teams recover and rebuild.

Converge also has experience in this area and offers rapid crisis response, on-site trauma support, and staff debriefing. They also provide training for managers and teams dealing with grief, violence, or workplace trauma.

Real-time safety services

Talked includes personal safety features like a "check on me" safety timer and live care coordination to support individuals in high-stress or high-risk situations. These tools can activate welfare checks or emergency contact if a session is missed or a risk is flagged.

Converge provides 24/7 counselling support but does not offer real-time digital safety tools or automated check-in features. Safety support is typically handled through phone-based communication and manager referrals.

Manager support

Talked provides dedicated support for managers, including coaching, care coordination, and tools to request welfare checks for team members who might be in crisis. Leadership teams also get guidance on psychosocial risks and wellbeing conversations through one-on-one and group coaching sessions delivered via their preferred method, whether online or in-person.

Meanwhile, Converge supports leaders through consultation services and manager-specific coaching. Their services are designed to help managers deal with complex team issues or high-risk staff concerns.

Wellbeing library

Talked’s wellbeing library is designed to support different learning styles and personal preferences. It includes a wide range of resources such as video guides, audio content, self-paced courses, and easy-to-read articles.

These resources are available on-demand and complement clinical care by helping employees build practical skills over tim.

Converge also offers a digital resource hub through its website and app, featuring articles, tip sheets, and wellbeing tools. These materials cover a range of topics, but the format follows a more traditional, information-based approach. It doesn’t include the same level of multimedia diversity or interactivity found in Talked’s library, but it can still be helpful in raising awareness and determining issues that might need more than self-help.

Real-time dashboard and insights

Talked gives organisations access to real-time analytics on usage, wellbeing trends, and engagement levels - all without breaching confidentiality. This enables HR teams to spot patterns early and adjust wellbeing strategies accordingly.

On top of this, Talked also provides quarterly reports to help HR teams assess what’s been going on in their team and if there are any wellbeing needs that have not been addressed or that need additional support.

Converge doesn’t provide real-time data, but they do provide a dashboard for daily as well as long-term trends.

Customisable plans

Both Talked and Converge offer flexible plans or tiers, allowing organisations to customise support based on headcount, budget, and workplace risk profile.

Add-ons like GP access and psychosocial assessments, etc. can be included in your Talked tier based on business needs. Meanwhile, Converge lets you avail of supporting services, such as individual assessment, psychometric testing, and witness or investigations support, among others.

This flexible nature of both Talked and Converge services lets you be more in control and better ensure that you’re prioritising initiatives based on actual needs or employee feedback.

Final thoughts

Every workplace has different needs when it comes to mental health and wellbeing. For some, a modern, integrated platform like Talked for Work offers the flexibility and depth to support teams through change, growth, and stress. For others, a traditional and wide-reaching service like Converge International provides the reliability and breadth they’re after.

Choosing a provider is about more than ticking boxes. It’s about making sure your team feels genuinely supported and has timely access to the kind of care that suits them. If you’re reviewing your current EAP or looking to implement one for the first time, consider setting up meetings with both providers to understand how their models work in practice.

Feel free to request a demo or reach out to us anytime via team@talked.com.au.