Mental health injury support – IEU on what you need to know

Mental health injuries all too often affect modern educators in the course of their employment. The more you know about how to recover, the better.  

It's important to seek the help you need quickly – early treatment and support can reduce the impact of poor mental health.

In Victoria, since July 2021, workers with a mental injury can access early treatment and support from WorkSafe while they await the outcome of their claim. Payment for this support is called provisional payments. Where a worker is entitled to provisional payments, WorkSafe can cover the reasonable cost of treatment for 13 weeks.

If your claim is accepted, WorkSafe can continue to cover treatment costs over the longer term. If the claim is rejected, WorkSafe can cover these costs for up to 13 weeks.

What is a psychological injury?

Psychological injury encompasses various cognitive, emotional, and behavioural symptoms that disrupt an individual's life, significantly affecting their feelings, thoughts, actions, and interactions with others. This can manifest as conditions like depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Job stress refers to the physical and emotional symptoms that emerge in reaction to work-related situations. However, it's important to note that job stress itself is not classified as a disorder or a form of psychological injury.

Who can make a psychological injury or mental health claim?

You may be able to make a successful claim if events at work had an impact on your mental health or emotional wellbeing. You may also be able to make a claim if you have a pre-existing psychological condition that worsened at work.

WorkCover ‘reform’ a backwards step

As dealt with in more detail elsewhere in this edition, the Victorian government has recently stripped back eligibility for WorkCover for mental health injuries.

In Victoria from 31 March 2024, you can only claim WorkCover for a mental injury if it:

a) causes significant behavioural, cognitive or psychological dysfunction 

b) has been diagnosed by a medical practitioner (General Practitioner or Psychiatrist) in accordance with the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

c) is predominantly caused by your employment, and

d) is not caused by stress or burnout as a result of events that are considered usual and are reasonably expected to occur in the course of your duties. 

A mental injury must satisfy all of these definitions to be eligible for compensation. 

Exclusion: a worker may remain eligible for compensation in some situations, including if a worker's mental injury has been predominantly caused by traumatic events. This most often applies to frontline workers such as police officers and paramedics.

An employee can only be compensated for an injury if it arose out of or in the course of employment, and the job has to have been a significant, material, substantial or the major contributing factor to the injury. Claims for psychological injury are generally not accepted if they are related to reasonable action taken by the employer in relation to dismissal, retrenchment, transfer, performance appraisal, disciplinary action or deployment.

Workers’ compensation payments can include:

• medical expenses - doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists or counsellors

• income replacement payments to injured workers

• costs associated with rehabilitation

• costs associated with retraining for other employment or duties, or

• lump sum payment for any permanent injury or disability.

When should you make a psychological injury claim?

It’s important that you report your trauma to both your employer and WorkSafe Tasmania or WorkSafe Victoria as soon as possible. It’s best to do this within 30 days of the incident or as soon as you’ve become aware of your psychological injury or illness.

More on provisional payments (Victoria)

Provisional payments aim to:

• remove financial barriers that might prevent the worker or volunteer from getting the mental injury support they need

• reduce the time an injured worker with a mental injury cannot perform their work duties

• improve return to work outcomes.

Victorian workers who seek compensation for a mental health injury under WorkCover can cover expenses such as GP visits, psychiatrist or psychologist appointments and medication.

Mental health injury claims can be complex and take longer to determine than physical injury claims. Prior to this scheme workers could wait up to five weeks before receiving payments to access treatment or support.

Work-related mental injury claims are growing markedly, including in education. The Victorian government expects they’ll account for a third of all workers’ compensation claims by 2030. 

Provisional payments increase the chances of a full recovery and a successful return to work.

Work-related psychological injuries are a major concern for Australian workplaces. Generally, workers with psychological injuries spend more time off work. These injuries are often more complex than physical injuries.