Page 5763 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 7 December 2011
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Lastly, I want to note that this bill addresses broader workplace psychosocial hazards as well as bullying. Both the specialist inspectors and the expert advisory committee will be tasked with working on psychosocial issues more generally. The bill uses the term “workplace psychosocial issues” to refer more generally to psychological and social stressors in the workplace that can affect workers’ health. These include workplace bullying but also wider issues such as occupational violence, aggression from customers, excessive work demands, exposure to trauma and workplace fatigue and burnout.
The impact that these broader issues have on the health of ACT workers should not be underestimated, as the workplace is a key place to tackle the causes of health problems. In Australia there are almost eight million workers spending a quarter to a third of their waking lives at work. Recent epidemiological studies have estimated that approximately 15 per cent of depression in workers is attributable to job stress and that statistics of mental health compensation claims underestimate this causal relationship by at least 30-fold. There is clearly an enormous opportunity to improve health outcomes by better managing broader psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
It is also important to note that workplace stress is an inequitably distributed public health problem. Research from the University of Melbourne and VicHealth show that women and those in lower skilled jobs are more likely to experience job stress and so bear a greater share of job stress related depression. This is similar to the demographic pattern of mental health that we see in the general population, suggesting that job stress is actually a substantial contributor to mental health inequalities.
By agreeing to the measures proposed in my bill, the Assembly would also be making an important contribution to mental health outcomes in the territory. Recent reports of an internal ACT government survey found that more than 1,600 government workers have been physically attacked, bullied or harassed by members of the public in the 20 months until September 2011. This represents a very high rate of 4.8 incidents per 100 workers over a 12-month period. The assaults referred to in this survey are examples of occupational violence. Like bullying, these incidences have negative health impacts as well as an economic burden. Safe Work Australia reports that the median payment for a worker’s mental stress claim due to occupational violence is $10,100 and the median time off work is 7.4 weeks. There is obviously a significant economic argument for reducing these incidents.
As with workplace bullying, these broader psychosocial hazards are not being given the same attention as physical hazards by laws or inspectors. This is a point made by both the Productivity Commission and unions.
If adopted, the measures in this bill may result in an increase in claims in the areas I have discussed. Some people may consider this a failure, especially from the point of view of compensation costs. I would characterise it as the beginning of a success in addressing a serious problem.
In conclusion I want to emphasise that I am happy to work with the government and the Liberal Party on the details of this bill and to consider any proposed amendments.
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