Government urged to 'start being proactive' following 'shocking' findings
On World Mental Health Day, a new report has found that one in two Australian employees have experienced bullying, harassment, and inappropriate behaviour at work.
A survey by the Australian Workers Union (AWU) among over 1,200 respondents revealed that 49.87% have experienced these "poor workplace relationships."
"To see in black and white one in two Australian workers have experienced being bullied, harassed, or exposed to conflict or inappropriate behaviour in their workplace is disturbing," said AWU national secretary Paul Farrow in a statement.
The same report also found that just as many are suffering from unrealistic workloads, poor training, as well as traumatic events.
"We know Australians spend on average 90,000 hours at work in their lifetime, that's about 5,000 days, or 13 years in total, it's a really big part of your life, so to see the level of unhappiness reflected in this survey is shocking," Farrow said.
Psychosocial risks on the rise
The findings come as the level of psychosocial harm in Australian workplaces is "high and increasing," according to a previous survey from New South Wales this year.
In fact, AWU's survey said psychological injury is the fastest-growing workers compensation claim and is projected to form one in three claims by the end of the decade.
According to the survey, which was reported on NCA NewsWire, the most common psychosocial workplace hazards include rotating shift work (61.74%) and night shift work (15.24%).
Other factors contributing to poor mental health include:
- Low recognition and reward (58.11%)
- Poor organisation justice (56.79%)
- Poor support (55.48%)
Government efforts
Australian states and territories have been taking steps to ensure that psychological and psychosocial hazards at work are curbed.
"Last year all states in Australia brought in new laws to hold employers responsible for psychological and psychosocial hazards in the workplace, this survey is a wake-up call to them to start being proactive otherwise they will feel the consequences," Farrow said.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) on Tuesday introduced a new Code of Practice to protect workers from workplace psychosocial hazards.
"Psychosocial hazards must be treated with the same seriousness as physical hazards in all Canberra workplaces," said ACT Industrial Relations and Workplace Safety Minister Mick Gentleman in a statement.
"We consider a psychosocial hazard to be anything at work that may cause psychological harm, or otherwise have an impact on someone's mental health."
The ACT's announcement was made on World Mental Health Day, which the World Health Organisation said aims to raise awareness on mental health issues around the world.
In line with the event, the NSW government is urging employers to explore SafeWork NSW's Workplace Wellbeing Assessment digital tool, which can help business improve their management of workplace mental health.
"I encourage businesses today to use SafeWork NSW’s resources to find out more about their own workplace, and what they can do to improve its effects on mental health," said NSW Work Health and Safety Minister Sophie Cotsis in a statement.
