Sedgwick Releases Guide on Mental Health-related Absences in Australia

The guide provides key insights on workforce absence, emerging risk and organisational response.  

SYDNEY, Australia – Sedgwick has released their 2026 Mental Health Absence in Australia: Trends, Costs and Compliance Guide that explores the key trends, drivers, costs and regulatory developments shaping mental health-related absence in Australia. The guide outlines how organisations can use absence insights, manager capabilities and early intervention strategies to reduce long-term absence risk and improve workforce outcomes. 

Bringing together Sedgwick’s authoritative Australian data and information from sources such as Safe Work Australia and PwC Australia, the guide examines the significant drivers of workplace absence across the country. It also serves as further evidence of how what was once viewed primarily as a wellbeing or workers’ compensation issue is now a core absence management challenge, and elaborates on the factors affecting workforce productivity, operational continuity, employee engagement and organisational risk. 

“For organisations, absence data is becoming increasingly important in demonstrating proactive risk management and identifying psychological hazards before harm escalates,” said Christina Wunder, Head of Sedgwick Health Solutions in Australia. “By adopting an absence-focused approach that prioritises early support and consistent management, organisations can significantly reduce their legal and employee relations risk.”

Additional key findings from the guide include:

• 35% increase in mental health-related absences year-on-year, making them a leading cause of long-term leave in Australian organisations. 
• 4x longer recovery time for psychological injury claims compared to those with physical injuries, 
• 3x higher claims costs on average, with the median cost of a psychological injury estimated at $67,000. 
• $6 billion annually is the amount Australian employers are spending on mental health related presenteeism and absenteeism

The data makes clear that early intervention is no longer an option to businesses. Organisations with mature absence management practices in combination with data-led insights, trained managers and structured wellbeing conversations to intervene early, are seeing measurably better return to work outcomes, sustained recovery and stronger employee engagement. The result: early intervention is increasingly viewed as all parties as a proactive core business risk strategy meant to help businesses in all around function.

To download the 2026 Mental Health Absence in Australia: Trends, Costs and Compliance Guide click here.

About Sedgwick

Sedgwick is the world’s leading risk and claims administration partner, helping clients thrive by navigating the unexpected. The company’s expertise, combined with the most advanced AI-enabled technology available, sets the standard for solutions in claims administration, loss adjusting, benefits administration and product recall. With over 33,000 colleagues and 10,000 clients across 80 countries, Sedgwick provides unmatched perspective, caring that counts, and solutions for the rapidly changing and complex risk landscape. Sedgwick’s majority shareholder is The Carlyle Group; Stone Point Capital LLC, Altas Partners, CDPQ, Onex and other management investors are minority shareholders. For more, see Sedgwick.com.