Are Australian workplaces ready to support someone who is struggling?

October is both Mental Health Month and National Safe Work Month in Australia, and to mark the start of it our CEO, Dr Joep van Agteren, recorded a short video with a fairly sobering message. After years of awareness campaigns, new regulation and training, most Australian workplaces still aren’t set up to support someone who is struggling with their mental health. And the people inside those workplaces, leaders and staff alike, are asking for more help.

This is a short preview of what he covers and why it matters for any organisation thinking about where to put its wellbeing effort this year.

What does the latest research say?

Joep points to three recent Australian reports that all land in a similar place. AHRI’s 2025 report found that only one in four employers invests in building leader and manager capability for psychosocial health. SuperFriend’s latest survey of more than 12,000 workers found that the skills and resources to support mental health are the lowest scoring part of Australian workplaces. Allianz Australia’s 2025 research found that better manager training was the top thing employees wanted their organisation to commit to in order to reduce burnout.

Put together, it suggests that many leaders don’t feel equipped to help when someone comes to them with a concern, and that both leaders and their teams want more support to get there.

“The sobering fact is that most organisations and workplaces, and most managers and leaders, are not adequately set up to support people with a mental health condition.”
Dr Joep van Agteren, CEO, Be Well Co

Why isn’t regulation and awareness enough on its own?

Having psychosocial legislation in place, policies on the intranet and a calendar full of awareness days all matter. What Joep is pointing out is that none of them guarantee a leader knows what to do in the moment someone says they’re not okay.

Even a whole of workforce training program run back in 2015 or 2020 may not count for much today. People move between roles and organisations, and new managers step into teams who weren’t in the room the first time around.

Why does building capability need to be ongoing?

This is the heart of his message, and it’s something we see in our own work with organisations. A one-off training session can make a real difference at the time, but its reach fades as teams change. To get the full benefit from a workplace wellbeing or mental health initiative, organisations need to keep investing in it and keep building the skills of the people leading others.

“Building capability isn’t a once off thing. It requires ongoing investment and ongoing capability building. Only then you reap the rewards.”

What does “Together We Thrive” mean in a workplace?

This year’s national Mental Health Month theme is Together We Thrive. For Joep, in a workplace that means people having each other’s backs, whether they’re living with a mental health condition or not. Getting there means equipping people in leadership roles to build a culture of support, and giving them the skills to help someone who is struggling.

That’s a big part of why we talk about workplace mental health across Protect, Promote and Respond. Supporting people who are already struggling matters a lot, and so does building the kind of culture where fewer people reach that point.

Joep’s invitation for October

Over the coming weeks you’ll see a lot of messages from mental health and psychosocial safety organisations. Joep’s ask is simple: don’t scroll past them. Many of these organisations share genuinely useful advice and point to resources that can make a big difference for someone who is struggling. Some are free and some are paid, and they range from training for new managers to help developing an organisation-wide strategy, through to support with harder problems like leading people through downsizing or technology change.

“Your business is likely hurting without paying attention. And a lot of research suggests that your leaders and your staff are actively asking for it.”

Watch the full video

Joep’s full video is around five minutes and worth a watch if you’re the person in your organisation trying to make the case for investing in leaders this year. If you’d like to continue this conversation, join us over on Substack.

If your organisation would like some help, whether that’s building a culture of wellbeing, equipping leaders to support people with symptoms of a mental health condition, or both, you can chat to our team or have a look at our workshops for leaders.