Estimates suggest that almost half of all Australians will experience mental health difficulties at least one during their lives which affects their wellbeing and careers significantly. Additionally, a significant amount of 1 in 5 people has an active mental illness while the others are also vulnerable to its effects towards others -a statistic, quite frankly, quite hard to ignore.

The underlying causes of mental illness are often complex which makes it difficult to understand. Therefore, careful attention should be provided by companies to workplace dynamics that plays a significant role in an employee’s mental health. In Australia, correlations between workplaces and psychological illness have been established which causes financial losses towards the company due to underperforming employees. The risk of increasingly occurring workplace violence and intense job expectations ultimately develop to anxiety and depression of employees.

Additionally, the recent global pandemic also affected the Australian’s mental health immensely from reduced work hours and even job loss. Drastic alterations to workplace environments have taken effect due to implementation of strict safety protocols both positively and negatively as it made reality in the workplace more challenging. Fortunately, people have adapted to the work from home setup in order to continue producing output and meeting goals while ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the workers.

The growing problem of mental health issues in workplaces is yet to be addressed by Australian employers and Work Health and Safety Administrators despite their attempts to reduce dangerous work conditions. Although employers are mandated to reduce physical risks from their operations, the same cannot be said to reduce psychological factors that also lead to injuries in the workplace environment. Thousands of cases have been unchecked due to the negligence of employers which maintained the risk to the staff resulting to millions of dollars lost due to decreased productivity. The lack of support from employers can be attributed to the unclear obligations required by the law to the employers.

Reducing the prevalence of illness has to take advantage of Australia’s philosophic and economic motivation to support mental health solutions in the workplace. Addressing these issues will result to not only the improvement of the employee’s well being, but also provides an advantage in terms of higher productivity and performance. The government will also save costs incurred as well as improve macroeconomic performance. Tackling these issues should be given priority in order to realise maximum results.

Not only does financially, mental health issues have taken its toll in Australia, but also socially and emotionally. Billions of dollars have been compromised due to decreased productivity and participation resulting to higher turnover ration and time spent working. Disruptions to morale between co-workers and an increase to insurance coverage claims and employment benefits have also been identified with the rise of cases.

The workplace have been a major source of mental illness and trauma in Australia. Studies revealed that with better prevention measures, as well as protection processes and workplace communication, costly psychological illnesses may be avoided. The economic damage caused by preventable stress can be countered through safeguarding the employees’ wellbeing and increasing productivity wherein the individuals and businesses can benefit in the long run. Workplace hazards such as excessive workloads from working long hours, high job strain that results to a feeling of losing control, physical and psychological abuse while on duty are some examples of instances that may develop to mental health issues. Added by the inequitable payouts among employees from being in temporary positions can only complicate the matter further.

However, in retrospect, businesses can also take advantage of the mental well being of their employees. If given priority, remarkable results for their individual wee being as well as savings across industries and businesses regardless of size. Savings in terms of reducing costs associated to low morale and absenteeism while maximising revenue due to higher productivity. Studies also suggest that investing in this matter can reap additional invaluable rewards to businesses as well specifically in terms of fewer worker compensation claims, decreased recruiting costs, reduced emergency leave dependence, lower employee turnover, and lower absences due to sicknesses.

Proactively providing resources, recognising, and identifying mental health risks to provide opportunities to improve the employees’ overall well-being are what employers should give importance to to provide positive impact and increase staff retention, productivity, and attendance as well as improve workplace atmosphere. Employers can also invest in mental health initiative tactics to provide economic benefits. With the availability of regulations and guidelines now available for workplace well being, businesses need not wait for advises about their responsibilities in maintaining their employees’ state of mind and preventing mental health complications.

With tailored training, you can ensure everyone’s needs are met as well as establish the creation of a supportive workplace. Equipping your team with the tools to understand mental health is now relevant more than ever.