Psychological claims have dramatically increased over the last five years in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region, according to expert speakers from the Insurance and Care NSW (icare) mobile engagement team (MET).
The MET recently attended a half-day workshop at Rydges Newcastle to share tips to help local businesses lower the burden of workplace mental ill-health. They revealed that psychological claims accounted for 7.5% of all workers' compensation cases in the region, 40% higher than the average in NSW.
Early this month, CGU revealed that psychological injuries account for 20% of workers' compensation claims in Australia. Among the claims, primary psychological injuries accounted for 5% of claims and related to direct mental health impacts following incidents. Meanwhile, secondary psychological injuries made up 15% of claims and developed due to the impacts of a physical injury on other aspects of a person's life.
Melanie Bonifacio (pictured, right), a senior injury prevention specialist at icare, advised NSW employers to consider how rising rates of anxiety and depression expose more of their employees to mental health pressure.
“The cost of time away from work and treatment for the state's psychological claims reached a record 290 million dollars in 2022, and it shows the moment for all businesses to create a more mentally safe workplace is right now, not later on this decade,” Bonifacio said.
“The good news is that icare can help businesses to look at psychosocial risk through a risk management lens to protect their people to respond to issues earlier and promote protective factors at work. I encourage employers to always look at both simple things that can be changed today [and think] about their workplace mental health strategy into the future.”
Miriam Browne (pictured, middle), a partner with Turks and leading expert on workers' compensation legislation, provided an in-depth presentation to employers on how to navigate the legal landscape of psychological injuries.
“Given the high rates of mental ill-health in the community, Newcastle's employers can no longer assume they will never encounter a psychological claim from their staff,” she said. “It's important for all businesses – big or small - to stay up to date with their legal obligations in New South Wales to respond responsibly and effectively to any injury claims that arise.”
The MET will provide face-to-face and webinar events in 2023 to help businesses address mental health pressure. Employers in NSW can register for the events online or immediately access free, easy-to-use tools from icare's website – such as Respect and Resilience training – and the Mental Health Claims Hub.
