New research reveals a dramatic increase in mental health insurance claims by young Australian workers. Over the past decade, the number of employees aged in their thirties who've lodged a claim for a mental health injury at work has risen by more than 700 per cent.
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00:00We are seeing more Australians than ever leaving the workforce permanently because of their
00:06mental ill health. And it is happening at that younger age, 30 to 40. And this is having
00:12profound impacts, not just for them individually and for their loved ones, but for the national
00:17economy and our already stretched government safety nets. And of course, nobody wants this
00:23to be their story. Nobody wants to be so mentally unwell that they need to make the life changing
00:29decision to leave the workforce for good. Our research is focused on what is happening
00:34at the end of people's working lives. That is where life insurers step in. But what the
00:39research is showing is that we need an earlier and stronger safety net to get people the
00:44support that they need, stop them falling through the cracks and needing to leave the
00:49workforce permanently. And so what percentage of these claims were prompted by mental illness
00:55brought on by an experience or experiences at work? And what percentage was kind of underlying
01:02mental health challenges? Well, life insurers will pay a claim, meet a permanent disability
01:09claim regardless of how the person's mental health or mental ill health has arisen. So
01:15we haven't looked specifically at causes between work and outside of work. But what we have
01:21looked at is what the impact is not just to individuals, but to their families. And
01:25we are seeing this very alarming rise across the board of people in their 30s and 40s in
01:31the prime of their working lives needing to leave the workforce. Yeah. And so these are
01:36people then lost to the workforce after this. That's right. So these claims are for permanent
01:43disability. And ultimately, if these trends continue, it will have an impact on government
01:49safety nets. They will become stretched beyond capacity, and it will end up being the taxpayer
01:54that's footing the bill if these trends continue. So we need to work together to develop an
02:00earlier, stronger safety net to support people when they need it and stop them becoming so
02:07mentally unwell that they need to leave the workforce. Yeah, which goes to my next question.
02:11What are the lessons from this about how Australia approaches providing support for people dealing
02:16with mental illness? Well, the government, academics and medical researchers are thinking
02:23about every day how we can support people to maintain a mentally healthy life and ensure
02:31their participation in work. And this research, our research is demonstrating the urgent need
02:37for that, that we need to redouble those efforts so that we can think about earlier support
02:43to stop people falling through the cracks. There's been another article written recently
02:47in the conversation finding that mental health provision in lower socioeconomic areas needs
02:53particular attention. Have you come across that as well? Well, our research looks at
03:01claims that are made by people across the board, particularly focusing, though, on their
03:06age and gender. So we are very concerned about the impact that this is having on young people.
03:12The impact that this will ultimately have on their financial security and resilience
03:17over the long term. And can you give us any idea about the cost for the insurance industry
03:24with this, how that has grown over the decade as well? Well, there has been some impact
03:34to life insurers, but this is much bigger than us. The cost that we need to be worried
03:38about is the cost to the community as we're losing people younger and younger to the workforce
03:44for good and what that means for the national economy and our government safety nets as
03:50they are pushed beyond capacity.