Answering the call investigated the mental health and wellbeing of personnel in the police and emergency services sector. Australia wide there are over 120,000 employees and 240,000 volunteers in the sector.

The services are career-oriented with a high proportion of employees having worked for their organisation for many years. With the exception of the fire and rescue sector, most employees were working full-time, and the majority were doing shift work or were on call. A substantial proportion of employees were regularly working over 45 hours per week.