A public prosecutor's $435,000 damages award, for post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from exposure to "abhorrent" crimes, has been quashed in an appeals court ruling on causation.
With many employers still grappling with concepts around mental health, a safety regulator has identified 11 factors that affect the mental health of workers, and explained how to minimise the related risks.
A lawyer exhibited obvious signs of distress from performing three roles and working excessive hours for the Coroners Court of Victoria, yet her managers decided her declining health was unrelated to work, and provided her with little support in her role or while she was on sick leave, an inquiry into her death has found.
An employer has been granted a second opportunity to challenge claims that a worker's work injury was causally connected to her fatal heart attack, which was triggered by the stress of attending a hearing to defend her workers' comp claim.
Comcare will roll out a low-intensity cognitive behaviour therapy program to up to 120,000 Commonwealth employees over the next two years, while continuing to provide mental health first-aid training to its own workers, its 2019-20 annual report shows.
A study of frontline COVID-19 workers has found psychological training and guidance can turn distressing experiences into positive personal growth, reducing the adverse effects of traumatic work events.
The Black Dog Institute is seeking people who are not coping well after the tumultuous events of 2020, to participate in a trial of its new home digital counselling program.
Work issues can increase the risk of pregnant workers going on to experience postpartum depression, and employers are being urged to train up "family-supportive supervisors" to support work-life balance and returning to work after maternity leave.
Comcare has reported receiving a string of injury claims associated with the rapid transition to home-based work for COVID-19, while a wellness service has warned that many workplace leaders are at risk of burnout, including from home-work arrangements and other pandemic stressors.
Employers are being urged to proactively "minimise feelings of uncertainty" during the COVID-19 pandemic, with researchers finding the unprecedented job losses caused by COVID-19 are causing high levels of depression among employed workers.
