{"id":946910,"date":"2026-10-26T12:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T12:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/946910\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T12:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T12:30:17","slug":"bullying-behind-38-per-cent-of-act-mental-stress-claims-healthcare-sector-worst-affected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/946910\/","title":{"rendered":"Bullying behind 38 per cent of ACT mental stress claims, healthcare sector worst affected"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Workplace\"<\/p>\n

Bullying takes a toll on ACT workers, with the healthcare sector recording the most mental stress claims. Photo: File<\/p>\n

Healthcare and social assistance workers account for nearly one-third of accepted workplace mental stress claims in the ACT, with bullying and harassment emerging as the leading causes of psychological injury.<\/p>\n

WorkSafe ACT figures show 271 mental stress claims were accepted in the private sector across 2023-24 and 2024-25, with work-related harassment and workplace bullying accounting for 38 per cent.<\/p>\n

Women accounted for 62 per cent of accepted claims, while workers aged 25 to 34 represented the largest proportion by age.<\/p>\n

Mental stress was the sixth most common injury mechanism recorded in the territory.<\/p>\n

The figures provide a troubling picture of psychological harm at work, particularly in sectors where employees are responsible for caring for, educating or supporting others.<\/p>\n

Healthcare and social assistance accounted for 31 per cent of accepted mental stress claims, followed by professional, scientific and technical services at 13 per cent and education and training at 10 per cent.<\/p>\n

The data do not establish whether those industries have higher individual risks, as they do not account for workforce size. It does, however, show where the greatest proportions of accepted claims are being recorded.<\/p>\n

Behind the statistics are workers whose experiences have ended in prolonged illness, legal battles and, in some cases, compensation.<\/p>\n

In one Canberra case, a young migrant worker secured a significant legal victory after a Federal Circuit and Family Court judge found she had been sexually harassed by her manager<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Judge Gavin Mansfield ordered the manager to pay $50,000 in damages and $40,000 in penalties, both payable to the woman.<\/p>\n

The ruling underscored the serious legal and financial consequences of workplace sexual harassment.<\/p>\n

Workplace disputes can also raise difficult questions about the boundaries between misconduct, private conversations and an employer\u2019s response.<\/p>\n

In another case involving a Snowy Hydro 2.0 engineer, the Fair Work Commission awarded $15,000 after finding his dismissal was harsh, unjust and unreasonable.<\/p>\n

Tyler Monaghan had sent a series of messages about his boss to a private WhatsApp group of nine fellow engineers in October 2025.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Stephen Crawford described the messages as \u201cextremely insulting\u201d; another employee photographed them on a colleague\u2019s computer and forwarded them to management.<\/p>\n

Mr Monaghan, who had worked for Endacom Pty Ltd for more than three years, was dismissed for serious misconduct on 3 November 2025, despite having already given eight weeks\u2019 notice of his resignation.<\/p>\n

The Commission found his dismissal unfair, illustrating the importance of proportionate and procedurally fair responses to workplace misconduct.<\/p>\n

While the Commission did not accept that mental stress compensation claim, it highlights the wider challenges employers face in handling workplace conflict.<\/p>\n

WorkSafe ACT says employers and other persons conducting a business or undertaking have a legal obligation to identify and manage psychosocial hazards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese risks can arise from excessive workloads, poor management practices, workplace interactions, bullying, harassment and the way work is organised,\u201d reads the report.<\/p>\n

Exposure can contribute to anxiety, depression and PTSD, as well as physical harm linked to fatigue and mistakes. Under work health and safety laws, businesses must eliminate psychosocial risks where reasonably practicable, or minimise them where elimination is not possible.<\/p>\n

This means identifying hazards, assessing the risks, introducing effective controls and regularly reviewing whether those measures are working.<\/p>\n

Make us preferred on Google<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bullying takes a toll on ACT workers, with the healthcare sector recording the most mental stress claims. Photo:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":946911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":["post-946910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/946911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}