One in five Australian workers sustained a mental health injury in the last year, according to new data released by unions today.
Australian workers experience unacceptably high levels of burnout, stress and overwork, according to the latest data from unions’ 2025 Work Shouldn’t Hurt Survey. Violence and aggression at work were most common in education, health and social services, with younger workers also reporting more exposure to violence and threats of violence.
Australian Unions will urge the state and federal work health and safety Ministers to introduce new regulations to tackle specific psychosocial hazards. The report confirmed that women suffer more injuries to their mental health than men and younger workers are the most exposed to psychosocial hazards at work.
Stress and the risk of burnout remain significant concerns, with 35% of all workers reporting they were regularly or always exposed to stress in their workplaces.
“Until we see specific, national regulations to protect workers from violence and aggression in the workplace, workload and discrimination, these problems will persist,” said ACTU Assistant Secretary Liam O’Brien.
“Unions fought for the right to disconnect and to tackle insecure work, but we urgently need specific regulations that require employers to protect workers from these harms.”
