Equipping organisations with the awareness and skills to manage common mental health problems at work effectively

Did you know...

• More than three million people in Australia experience depression, anxiety or related alcohol and drug problems each year.⁹
• Depression is currently the leading cause of non-fatal disability in Australia1, but only 3 per cent of the population identifies it as a major health problem². 
• Each year, undiagnosed depression in the workplace costs $4.3 billion in lost productivity and this excludes Workcover/insurance claims, part-time or casual employees, retrenchment, recruitment and training³. 
• On average, every full-time employee with untreated depression costs an organisation $9,665 per year⁴. 
• Each employee with depression will, on average, take three to four days off work per month which is equivalent to over six million days lost each year in Australia⁵. 
• In addition to absenteeism, depression accounts for more than 12 million days of reduced productivity each year. 
• Around half (50%) of people with depression don't get help for it⁹. 
• Research shows that implementation of early diagnosis and intervention programs can result in a five-fold return on investment as a result of increased employee productivity⁷. 
• Workplace stress is a significant risk factor for developing depression⁸.

The beyondblue National Workplace Program:

In 2004 beyondblue developed and implemented the beyondblue National Workplace Program (NWP). NWP is designed as an awareness, early intervention and prevention program specifically for workplace settings and aims to increase the knowledge and skills of staff and managers to address mental health issues in the workplace. It works closely with the beyondblue Employment and Workplace Program that focuses on research, policy and best practice.

NWP offers a range of consultancy, health promotion and education services.

The beyondblue National Workplace Program has been:

• Presented to over 400 organisations and 40,000 participants in Australia.
• Independently evaluated in Australia with proven outcomes for organisations and employees . It has been shown consistently to significantly:
  • increase awareness 
  • decrease stigma
  • improve attitudes
  • increase confidence to assist someone to seek help. 
• Piloted successfully in the UK through the Sainsbury Centre of Mental Health after a global search for an early intervention program for workplaces. The program is now licensed in the UK under Impact on Depression. As part of this process it was independently evaluated by the University of Nottingham in the UK.
• Awarded the Australian Institute of Training and Development "Excellence in a Learning Resource" in 2008.
• Adapted for specific targeted workplace audiences including Victoria Police, Legal, Accountants, Rural and Professional Sports.

NWP is delivered through a network of over 40 beyondblue accredited facilitators who are located in every state and territory capital city, and in a range of regional and rural centres. These facilitators have a tertiary qualification in mental heath and at least two years clinical experience treating adults for depression, anxiety and related substance use plus experience in adult education.

Key clients include: 

• Abigroup 
• ANZ Bank 
• Australian Federal Police 
• Australian Football League 
• Australian Football League Players Association 
• Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 
• Australian Government Solicitor 
• Australian Taxation Office 
• Centrelink 
• The Commonwealth Bank of Australia 
• Department of Defence 
• Department of Human Services, Victoria 
• Energy Australia 
• Incitec Pivot 
• ING Australia 
• Institute of Chartered Accountants In Australia 
• Minter Ellison 
• National Australia Bank 
• Netball Australia 
• Nufarm 
• Optus 
• PGA 
• PricewaterhouseCoopers 
• TNT
• Victorian TAFE Association
• VicRoads