Work is one of the most significant contexts for mental health — for better and for worse. Good work provides purpose, income, social connection, and structure. Bad work — characterised by overwork, bullying, lack of control, poor relationships, and insecurity — drives depression, anxiety, and burnout. The economic cost of poor workplace mental health in Australia exceeds $13 billion annually (through lost productivity, absenteeism, and presenteeism). Grant funding supports organisations building mentally healthy workplaces, reducing stigma, and ensuring workers have access to support when they need it.
Scale of the problem
High-risk industries
Some industries have significantly elevated mental health risks:
- Emergency services (police, fire, ambulance) — PTSD, moral injury, shift work
- Healthcare (doctors, nurses, allied health) — burnout, COVID impacts
- Agriculture and farming — isolation, financial stress, drought impacts
- Construction and mining — macho cultures, isolation (fly-in fly-out), injury
- Retail and hospitality — customer aggression, insecure work, low pay
- Teaching — workload, student behaviour, parental pressure
Key workplace mental health issues
Safe Work Australia
Workplace health and safety regulator — psychological safety in workplaces:
- Model Code of Practice: Managing the Risk of Psychosocial Hazards at Work
- Research and data
- Resources for employers
State workers' compensation authorities
WorkCover (state-based) funds return-to-work and rehabilitation for psychological injury.
Department of Social Services
Employment services including mental health support for job seekers.
Beyond Blue and Head to Health
Government-funded mental health services accessed by workers.
Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance
Nationally, the MHWA coordinates workplace mental health:
- Resources and tools for employers
- Best practice examples
- Research dissemination
RUOK? Foundation
Workplace mental health connection — "Are you ok?" conversations:
- RUOK Day (September)
- Workplace programmes
- Community resources
Beyond Blue
NewAccess for Small Business Owners — mental health coaching for small business owners.
Lifeline Australia
Crisis support for workers and employers.
EML and insurance sector
Return-to-work and rehabilitation funding.
Black Dog Institute
Workplace mental health research and programmes.
Everymind
Prevention focus including workplace mental health.
Mental health literacy and awareness
Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP)
Return to work and rehabilitation
Burnout prevention
High-risk sector programmes
Small business mental health
Leadership and management training
Physical environment and work design
A highly regarded programme specifically for the construction industry:
- Peer-to-peer mental health conversations ("mates" talking to mates)
- Suicide prevention in a high-risk industry
- Industry-embedded (not external, clinical approach)
- Expanding nationally and to other trades industries
This model — peer-based, industry-embedded, destigmatised — is highly effective in male-dominated workplaces.
Psychosocial hazards
Australia now has formal psychosocial hazard regulations (based on Safe Work Australia model code) — employers are legally required to manage psychological risks. Applications that help employers comply and genuinely improve workplace mental health are timely.
Male-dominated industries
Construction, agriculture, mining, and emergency services have high mental health burden and low help-seeking. Peer-based, industry-embedded approaches (Mates in Construction model) are the most effective. Applications using this approach are compelling.
Small businesses
Small business owners have less access to EAP and workplace mental health support than employees of large organisations — yet small businesses employ approximately half the workforce. Targeted small business mental health programmes address a genuine gap.
Return to work
Return-to-work failure after mental health leave is a significant cost driver. Applications with evidence-based return-to-work support have strong economic ROI arguments.
Tahua's grants management platform supports workplace mental health funders and occupational health organisations — with programme participant tracking, workplace wellbeing outcome measurement, return-to-work data, and the reporting tools that help workplace mental health funders demonstrate their investment in healthier, safer, and more productive Australian workplaces.