Mental Health in the Workplace

Your mental health and well-being impacts how you behave, feel, think and relate to others. Nearly half of all Australian adults will experience mental ill-health. If you suffer a psychological injury at work, it can significantly impact your life. Learn more about your mental health at work and what you can do if you think you’ve suffered a psychological injury because of your work. You may be eligible to claim workers’ compensation.  

What is a psychological injury at work? 

According to SafeWork Australia, a psychological injury at work refers to a range of cognitive, emotional and behavioural symptoms that: 

• Interfere with a worker’s life 

• Can significantly impact how a worker thinks, feels, behaves and interacts with others. 

A psychological injury could include depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  

Can I claim workers’ compensation for a psychological injury? 

You can claim workers’ compensation for your psychological injury if: 

• You are a worker under your state or territory’s workers’ compensation laws 

• You have a psychological injury under your state or territory's workers’ compensation laws (you will most likely have to be receiving treatment by a psychiatrist or psychologist for your psychological injury) 

• Your work was a significant or major contributing factor to your psychological injury.  

Your job and mental health 

What does it mean for your work to be a significant or major contributing factor to your psychological injury? There may be an organisational or environmental factor or incident that impacts on your mental health and wellbeing to such an extent that you suffer a psychological injury. 

A psychological injury is more likely to occur if an organisational or environmental factor or incident: 

• Occurs at a high frequency (such as several times a day, every day) 

• Occurs repeatedly over a long period of time (such as every day for months or years) 

• Is a significant one-off event (such as an accident, assault or other incident) 

Organisational factors affecting your mental health at work 

These could include: 

• Poor levels of support or communication from your superiors 

• Conflict with your manager or another colleague 

• Inadequate processes or training programs, so you feel unable to do your job 

• Unattainable performance expectations 

• Being sexually harassed, bullied or assaulted at work 

Environmental factors affecting your mental health and wellbeing 

These could include: 

• Working conditions – extreme temperatures or dangerous location 

• Equipment – insufficient availability, inadequate type or in poor working condition 

• Accidents – either suffered personally or witnessed. 

What’s not a psychological injury at work 

It’s important to understand that on occasion, your mental health in the workplace might be impacted by reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way in relation to your work. This isn’t considered a psychological injury at work. 

Things that affect mental health at work

Your mental health in the workplace could be impacted if you work in a ‘high-risk’ industry, leading to a psychological injury such as PTSD. ‘High-risk’ industries could include frontline workers and first responders (such as police officers, paramedics, nurses, emergency workers and teachers). 

Regardless of whether you work in a high-risk industry, if your job causes you severe anxiety, you believe your depression is from work or you’re having panic attacks at work, you may have a work-related psychological injury.  

What should I do if I’ve sustained a psychological injury at work?

If you believe you have a psychological injury caused by your work, it’s important you see your doctor as soon as possible for a professional diagnosis or referral to a specialist. A suitably qualified doctor can determine what psychological injury you have and provide further options for treatment.

If you have sustained a psychological injury at work, you may be able to make a workers’ compensation claim.  

The steps to follow for a psychological injury workers’ compensation claim 

The clock is ticking as soon as you suffer any kind of injury at work. Each Australian state and territory has its own strict time limit within which a workers’ compensation claim must be made. It’s important to: 

1. Document and report your psychological injury to your employer 

2. Seek medical treatment from a suitably qualified doctor 

3. Ask your doctor for a work capacity certificate (it may have a different name in your state or territory) 

4. Complete a workers’ compensation claim form 

5. Submit your completed claim form and work capacity certificate to your employer 

6. Contact Shine Lawyers for an obligation-free appointment to discuss your workers’ compensation situation 

Do I have to tell my employer about my psychological injury?  

You’re not legally required to tell your employer about any aspect of your mental health and wellbeing unless it’s relevant to your role or there’s a risk to you or others (such as your ability to make decisions or operate machinery). However, if you discuss your work-related psychological injury, with your employer, they could make changes to your role to: 

• Help you to keep working while maintaining your privacy 

• Protect you from any workplace discrimination.  

It’s a good idea to document any discussions you have with your employer about a workplace injury, so you have a record of anything relevant to your psychological injury workers’ compensation claim. 

Support for your mental health and wellbeing

No matter how proactive you are about your mental health at work, you may still experience a psychological injury. If you need help in dealing with your mental health in the workplace, there are many resources and support services available to you, including: 

• Lifeline - 13 11 14 

• Kids Helpline - 1800 551 800 

• Beyond Blue - 1300 224 636 

• Black Dog Institute mental health toolkit 

• MensLine Australia – 1300 78 99 78

Shine Lawyers – we’re here to help 

If you or a loved one sustains a work-related psychological injury, Shine Lawyers may be able to help. 

Our expert team of workers' compensation lawyers can help you understand your rights and entitlements and make a claim. 

You can check whether you’ve got a claim, either online or over the phone, by using our free online claim checker tool. 

We work on a No Win No Fee* basis. You won’t pay our legal fees unless we win your case and secure workers’ compensation for you. Protect what matters and contact Shine Lawyers today.