Australian workers – especially young people – are reporting increased symptoms of mental health conditions, according to a new report from the Black Dog Institute that calls on employers to respond urgently by adopting key recommendations for change.
The report authors examined data on Australian work and mental health over the past 20 years and discovered “worrying trends” emerging.
“Australian workers report their jobs are now more complex and difficult than the previous decade, that they worry more, at all ages, about the long-term future of jobs, and that they have experienced a sustained reduction in their freedom to decide how to do their work,” wrote Professor Sam Harvey, the Institute’s Acting Director and Chief Psychiatrist.
The report found that the amount of mental health symptoms reported by Australian workers had gradually increased in the past decade, a trend most evident among younger workers aged under 25.
“Young people have also reported a steep increase in mental health symptoms over the last year, suggesting changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated the trend towards worsening mental health that was already emerging for younger workers,” it says.
Although the rate of workers’ compensation claims related to mental health had remained “relatively stable” in recent years, the Institute’s analysis found it was taking people longer to recover from these injuries and there was a “steady” increase in claims related to workplace bullying and harassment.
Titled Modern work: how changes to the way we work are impacting Australians’ mental health, the report reflects on the dramatic shifts in Australian work over the past two decades, such as wide-scale digitisation, automation and the rise of the gig economy. It also considers workforce changes like greater female participation, an increased retirement age and the much greater use of short-term or casual contracts.
The report authors found “three key pieces of evidence” they say support a link between these changes to work and the shifts in workers’ mental health symptoms. These are:
On a positive note, the authors discovered that more Australian employers were acting to create more mentally healthy workplaces. Nevertheless, given the emergence of the trends above, the Black Dog Institute is urging Australian businesses and governments to respond by supporting specific initiatives to further improve workplace mental health.
Five recommendations for employers to consider
Reference: Black Dog Institute
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