Victoria’s workers compensation scheme is set to lose billions of dollars again this year amid soaring rates of mental health claims, more than a third of them from the government’s own workforce. An article in The Age, dated 27 June 2021, cites a “bigger than predicted rise in mental injury claims”, which now account for 16 per cent of all the state’s workers compensation payouts as a factor in 3.5 billion loss in the last financial year. Such claims are expected to soar to more than 30 per cent of payouts within nine years.
Creating a Mentally Healthy Workplace: Return on Investment Analysis provides basic information in an infographics-style. It covers topics including mental health in the workplace; taking action; the costs of not addressing mental health; return on investment for mental health; and next steps for taking action in the workplace. The report was funded by Beyond Blue and the National Mental Health Commission and prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia (PwC).
The Productivity Commission has released a two-page infographic on the costs of mental health for Australian workplaces and businesses based on data from the Mental Health Inquiry: Draft Report.
Instinct and Reason’s employer of choice study surveyed 1025 employees from regional and metropolitan areas across all states and territories on behalf of Beyond Blue as part of the Heads Up-Initiative. This compact 4-page brochure summarises key findings, insights and recommendations of this research.
Psychosocial Safety Climate and Better Productivity in Australian Workplaces analyses data from the 2014─15 Australian Workplace Barometer (AWB) project. It looks at costs, productivity, presenteeism and absenteeism in relation to mental health and was created by Becher and Dollard from the University of South Australia with funding from the Commonwealth Government Agency Safe Work Australia, SafeWork SA, and two ARC grants.
In this Beyond Blue webinar, Better mental health at work – why it matters Pippa Rose (Workplace Implementation Manager for Be You) discusses the importance of mentally healthy workplaces, the business case for taking action and examples of free resources available through the Heads Up website.
