Over the past 15 years, we have seen a deterioration in mental health at work and an increase in the number of compensation claims for mental injury, where the cost and duration of these claims is out of proportion with their number.
According to Allianz Workers Compensation data, primary psychological workers compensation claims increased by 80%, rising at an average rate of 22% year-on-year, between 2017-20201. More recently in 2022, a New Zealand Human Rights Commission survey reported that 40% of respondents had at some stage, experienced workplace bullying, with 20% of workers reporting that bullying behaviours have been directed at them ‘often’ or ‘always’ in the preceding 12-month period2.
Mental ill health takes a personal toll on impacted individuals and their loved ones, whilst also costing organisations through increased workers compensation premiums and lost time.
In response to this mounting problem, Safe Work Australia has amended the model WHS laws and released a Code of Practice aimed at psychosocial hazards specifically.
Following the guidance of the model laws, Australian states and territories have commenced or completed the process of enacting a response and more clearly outlining the responsibilities of employers. These have heralded significant changes in the identification, management, evaluation and reporting of workplace psychosocial hazards.
Recent case-law in the Australian context has demonstrated that our judicial system is holding employers to account for failures to effectively manage psychosocial risk.
New Zealand is moving in a similar direction, with a recent review providing WorkSafe with the evidence it needs to move forward in this area of priority.
Background risk of mental ill health for the average Australian is high. According to ABS data, 1 in 5 Australians aged between 16-85 live with a mental health condition in any given year, with 44% of the population having experienced a mental disorder at some time in their life3.
The past few years have been fraught with mental health strain for workers the world over. Isolation emerged as a hazard on a mass scale for the first time for office workers. Vestiges of the pandemic remain in our ways of work, with the creep of working hours for the hybrid and remote workforce now well documented, along with a reduced delineation between home and working life.
Pandemic factors have been compounded by increasing global geopolitical instability and a challenging macroeconomic context. A large proportion of the workforce across Australia and New Zealand are currently impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, including that of housing affordability4,5.