Most Australians believe their workplace has a strong mental wellbeing culture, but outcomes are poorest for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers and those in the health and community service secto, inaugural Our State of Mind survey.

Key Study Findings

Optimism prevails; most Australians perceive positive workplace mental wellbeing culture

Two thirds of Australian employees perceive the organisation they work for has a positive mental wellbeing culture (64%), while 14% said it was poor or very poor.

Diverse backgrounds are linked to poorer workplace mental wellbeing culture

Poor mental wellbeing culture is significantly more likely to be experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees (24%), employees with a physical or mental disability (23%), LGBTIQA+ employees (21%) and women (17%), compared to 10% poor for male employees.

Individual employees bear the brunt of poor workplace mental wellbeing culture

Poor mental wellbeing culture is significantly more likely to be experienced by individual contributor employees (15%), compared to 7% for CEOs, directors, founders and board members who feel this way; employees in larger organisations (17%), public sector employees (19%), compared to 12% who work for private businesses, and health and community service employees (20%), compared to 12% in other industries.

Team culture is a catalyst for positive mental wellbeing within organisations

The team environment has a strong impact on an organisation’s mental wellbeing culture: 38% of employees felt their team’s mental wellbeing culture was more positive than their overall organisation’s culture, compared to 13% who felt it was more negative.