Mental health is a rising issue in workplace

Mental health-related claims costs have risen 80 per cent in three years, research shows.

Three in five Australian employees have experience­d a mental illness this year, according to new research.

Mental health-related workers compensation claims costs have increased by 80 per cent over the past three years and three in five Australian employees have experience­d a mental illness this year, according to new research.

Data compiled by SuperFriend, a workplace mental health analyt­ics company, suggests­ that 60 per cent of the Australian workforce has experienced mental health issues this year and more than a quarter of those people­ had never had such problems before — with the corona­virus pandemic and assoc­iated stresses one possible cause.

The Thriving Workplace report­ ­was compiled from a study of more than 10,000 Australian workers and gives an insight into the effects the pandemic is having on their mental wellbeing.

SuperFriend chief executive Margo Lydon said the findings showed that COVID-19 has had profound effects on workers, particularly­ casuals, and presented a compelling case for business leaders to improve workplace mental health strategies.

“Over the last few years we have noticed a persistent decline in outcomes for casual workers and industries with higher casualised workforces,” Ms Lydon said.

“Casual workers have very ­little job security, and fewer ­opportunities to access workplace mental health programs and resources compared with their securely employed peers. Accommodation, food services and arts and recreation workers have been particularly hard-hit because of this.”

Ms Lydon said there were some positives to come from the report, including a better work-life balance for nearly half the workforce in the past year.

“A key positive coming from this crisis is the surge in the sense of shared purpose,” Ms Lydon said. “Workplaces are increasingly feeling like communities where people support each other beyond­ getting the job done.”

Insurer Allianz has also released new data on mental health, suggesting workplaces are dealing with an increasing number of psychological injuries year-on-year and that mental health workers compensation claims are costing exponentially more year-on-year.

Its latest report has found benefits paid to primary psycholog­ical injury claims are on ­average up to four times higher per annum than for claims relating to physical injuries, and on ­average take far longer to recover from.

Allianz general manager of workers compensation Julie ­Mit­chell said COVID-19 had been a much-needed “catalyst for change” in mental health, par­ticular­ly in the federal budget.

“To see mental health feature so prominently on the agenda is a positive shift; and echoes our new research,” Ms Mitchell said.

She said the industry anticipates the pandemic’s impact will be “just the start of a much bigger challenge in workplace mental health, with Australian employers urged to dedicate focus to tackle these challenges”.