Workplace Psychological Injuries

Psychological injuries caused by work include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Adjustment Disorders, Anxiety and Depression. There are many factors that may impact your mental health at work, not all of which may be the fault of your workplace. This doesn’t matter, as you do not need to show that work did something wrong.

ACT, NSW and Commonwealth laws have different workers compensation schemes.  Common to each though is a recognition that workers who get psychological injuries (also called mental injuries) caused by work are eligible for compensation.

If you already had a diagnosed mental illness before starting your work, you may still receive compensation if work has made your symptoms worse. Aggravation of a pre-existing mental illness may entitle you to compensation, providing work has caused the aggravation. There are special rules relating to pre-existing illnesses, which are aimed at ensuring that work actually caused a worsening of symptoms, rather than the symptoms naturally progressing or getting worse. So just because you already have Bipolar Disorder or PTSD, does not mean you may not be entitled to workers compensation.

Commonwealth, ACT and NSW laws all contain a special rule excluding some psychological injuries from being entitled to compensation. There are differences between each, but the general concept is that a psychological injury caused by a reasonable administrative action is not entitled to compensation.

So, if your employer reasonably performs an administrative action and this causes a psychological injury, then you may not be entitled to workers compensation such as lost wages and medical treatment.

Examples of administrative actions include:

• Performance improvement plans/performance management
• Misconduct investigations
• Disciplinary action
• Informal performance counselling

In ACT and NSW workers compensation laws, the reasonable administrative action must be “the whole or predominant cause” of the injury. Under the Comcare system, the action only need be “a” cause, regardless of how small, for the exclusion to apply. The other key point is that the employer’s action must be reasonable in the circumstances, and taken reasonably.  Workers need to be very careful about when and how they make claims.

Often people think they can only make a claim where they have been bullied, or work has done something wrong. This is wrong! While we have clients who have received a psychological injury following bullying and harassment at work, psychological injuries can also be caused by your normal work duties.

Think about a first responder such as a Paramedic or an Australian Border Force officer who develops a psychological injury as a result of their normal duties. There is no need for their workplace to have done something wrong to them. The same applies for workers such as office workers, public servants, health professionals and tradies: you do not necessarily need to show that your employer did something wrong.

Now, more than ever, workers are facing increased stress and pressures while on the job. WorkSafe Australia has released statistics showing that 19% of COVID-19 related workers compensation claims made in 2020 were mental health claims, this is not an insignificant number.

Many workers are dealing with constant change and uncertainty. Factors effecting workers mental health include:

• Ever changing Government safety guidelines
• Unprecedented workloads
• Increased health risks at work

It is unfortunate, though not surprising, that the increased levels of stress and anxiety we are seeing as a result of these pressures can cause burnout and psychological injury. If your work brings you into contact with a situation that is shocking or unsafe or your work is stressful and you are struggling to manage, you may also be able to bring a claim.