Key Takeaway
Psychosocial or mental health conditions account for 9% of all serious workers' compensation claims in Australia — a proportion that has remained consistent across the two most recent reporting periods (2020–21 and 2021–22), representing approximately 11,700 claims per year.¹
Current Proportion Data
Serious Claims
Mental health conditions accounted for 9% of all serious workers' compensation claims in both 2020–21 and 2021–22p, representing 11,700 and 11,697 claims respectively.¹
All Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses
When examining the broader category of all work-related injuries and illnesses (not limited to serious claims requiring time off work), mental health conditions comprised 7% of the total in 2020–21.¹
Condition Breakdown
Within the mental health category, anxiety and stress disorders dominate — comprising 45.8% of all mental health condition claims in 2021–22p.¹ This specificity helps organisations understand the particular types of psychological injuries most prevalent in workers' compensation systems.
Why This Proportion Matters for Enterprise Risk
The consistency of the 9% figure across two consecutive reporting periods suggests this proportion has stabilised as the current baseline. For organisations:
- Benchmarking: 9% provides a reliable national benchmark against which to compare your own claims profile.
- Resource planning: Nearly 1 in 10 serious claims relates to mental health, requiring different return-to-work strategies than physical injuries.
- Financial exposure: Mental health claims carry significantly longer durations and higher costs than physical injury claims.
Data Source and Methodology
This analysis is based on Safe Work Australia's comprehensive report "Psychological health and safety in the workplace," published in February 2024.¹
Dataset
The data draws from the National Dataset for Compensation-based Statistics (NDS) — the most comprehensive and reliable source of workers' compensation information in Australia, covering all jurisdictions.²
Definition of Serious Claims
"Serious claims" are defined as accepted workers' compensation claims resulting in one or more working weeks lost, excluding fatalities and journey claims.³ This definition ensures consistency across jurisdictions and provides a meaningful measure of workplace injuries resulting in substantial time away from work.
Coverage Note
The dataset provides national coverage, though it excludes Victoria for mental health condition trend analysis due to data collection variations. This exclusion is clearly noted in the source material and does not materially affect the national representativeness of the proportion calculations.
Multi-Source Approach
The research methodology combines three complementary data sources:
- National Dataset for Compensation-based Statistics — for claims data
- People at Work survey — for workplace hazard exposure information
- National Return to Work Survey — for recovery outcomes
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of workers' compensation claims in Australia are for mental health?
Mental health conditions account for 9% of all serious workers' compensation claims in Australia, based on the most recent Safe Work Australia data covering 2020–21 and 2021–22.
What types of mental health conditions are most common in workers' compensation?
Anxiety and stress disorders are the most prevalent, comprising 45.8% of all mental health condition claims in 2021–22.
What data source provides Australia's psychosocial claims proportion?
The figure comes from Safe Work Australia's National Dataset for Compensation-based Statistics (NDS), as published in their February 2024 report on psychological health and safety in the workplace.
References
- Safe Work Australia, "Psychological health and safety in the workplace," February 2024.
- Safe Work Australia, National Dataset for Compensation-based Statistics.
- Safe Work Australia defines serious claims as accepted workers' compensation claims which have resulted in one or more working weeks lost (excluding fatalities and journey claims).