About one-third of all Australians live with depression, anxiety or stress, according to a new report.
Australia's Biggest Mental Health Check-In surveyed about 3,500 employees across a range of industries.
Run by technology company Medibio, it found one-third of program participants live with some form of mental illness, with 36 per cent living with depression, 33 per cent with anxiety, and 31 per cent with stress.
Those numbers represent a slight improvement on last year, when 39 percent, 37 per cent and 33 per cent registered as having depression, anxiety and stress respectively.
Check-In creator Peta Slocombe said the report also found only 17 per cent of participants living with a mental illness were engaged in treatment, and many of them did not realise they had one.
"One of the things we noticed is that a lot of people don't know they're not OK until they're really not OK," she told SBS News.
"By then, the costs to the workplace, to productivity, to employment, they're usually quite significant."
Real-time understanding
The Check-In synthesised responses by analysing heart-rate data with wearable technologies such as smartwatches to monitor and store sleep patterns and stress levels.
Ms Slocombe said using technology provides a customised, real-time understanding of employee mental health.
"The ability to keep tracking, rather than waiting until something is really problematic, allows us to keep closer to the preventative variables," she said.
"Previously when people have done an online survey, there's a big time gap between doing the survey and getting the right support."
The Check-In also found anxiety is rising in women compared to men, with the findings reversed when it comes to depression.
It did not disclose statistics relating to transgender or non-binary-identifying employees.
An understanding environment
Engineering firm Jacobs is the first engineering company to take part in the survey.
Vice President of the Australia/New Zealand branch, Ross Jones, said the results from his own employees raised eyebrows.
"About 25 per cent of our employees were experiencing some sort of mental illness," he told SBS News.
"Of the 25 percent, 77 per cent were unaware that they were suffering from a mental illness. They knew something was wrong, but they didn't know what."
The Check-In found, overall, less than half of all participants were comfortable disclosing a mental health condition to a supervisor.
While Mr Jones is proud Jacobs is the first engineering firm to take part in the Check-In, he said the lack of comfort indicates his company, and Australia as a whole, needs to foster better-understanding workplace environments.
"We knew that our employees, like in other organisations, were suffering from mental illness. But people didn't feel safe to raise those issues," he said.
"We realised we needed to change the working environment so people could feel safe to put ther hand up and ask for help - and that it wouldn't be seen as it was in the past, as a career killer."
Dr Grant Blashki, a clinical adviser to mental health organisation Beyond Blue, said a focus on mental health in the workplace has proven benefits.
Dr Grant Blashki says a focus on mental health in the workplace has proven benefits. Source: Pixabay
"You have less absenteeism, less compensation claims, and generally, morale is higher, and people are happier about being at their work," he told SBS News.
Dr Blashki said workplaces have largely become more sympathetic toward those struggling with their mental health, after some high-profile cases in recent years.
CEO of the Australian Institute of Company Directors John Brogden and Crown Resorts Limited Director James Packer have both stepped away from their roles in the last 12 months to deal with mental health issues.
"When high-profile people are prepared to talk publically about mental health, it really raises the profile, and also helps people to feel more comfortable to talk about their own experiences," Dr Blashki said.
"It's been a really good way to get the conversation about mental health going in the community, with high-profile people talking about [it]."
"No one is immune from mental health issues".
If you or someone you know needs help, please visit BeyondBlue at or call 1300 22 4636.
Additional reporting: Evan Young.
