Mental health data can help drive employee benefits ROI in Australia: How it helps your business anticipate challenges and drive impact

Key takeaways

• Australian employers face more than $13 billion in annual losses due to mental health-related productivity issues, making wellbeing data essential for measuring ROI and protecting business performance.
• Mental health tracking enables early identification of stressors like financial pressure and workload before they escalate to burnout and increased employee turnover.
• Workers with excellent employer mental wellbeing support lose 28.4 working days per year in productivity, compared to 58.4 days for those with poor support—a clear financial case for preventative benefits.
• Data-driven wellbeing strategies that address specific demographic needs (such as women and younger workers) can deliver measurable returns on employee retention and engagement.

In Australia today, the mental health challenges facing workers are both widespread and costly. According to the Q1 2026 TELUS Mental Health Index (MHI), 34 per cent of workers have a high mental health risk, and 43 per cent face moderate mental health risk. Anxiety and isolation remain persistent concerns, with 33 per cent of workers feeling isolated and nearly one in three saying their mental health is negatively impacting work productivity.

From manufacturing to professional services, from healthcare to finance, the story is the same across industries in Australia. Financial stress, workload pressure, poor sleep, caregiving responsibilities and economic instability are creating unprecedented strain on the workforce. And that strain is showing up in lost productivity, higher absenteeism, increased presenteeism and rising employee turnover.

How do we know all this? Since 2017, we've tracked these patterns through our TELUS Mental Health Index, a tool we pioneered to analyse workforce mental health globally. Our findings are designed to give you clarity on how workers are actually doing, what’s influencing their wellbeing and where stressors are rising, so you can act strategically. We know forward-thinking organisations don't just need narrow, retrospective data. You need the ability to see what’s happening with all workers, in a timely manner, and understand trends so you can take clear steps that work. And that starts with measuring what matters to both your business and your people.

Organisations that measure mental health trends can step in sooner by identifying where stress is building before it creates crisis-level problems that damage business performance and bottom lines.

Why workplace mental health and stress are business issues

Most leaders in Australia aren't questioning whether their workforce is stressed. With one in six working-age people in Australia living with mental illness, the evidence is clear: workplace mental health challenges have become one of the most significant risks to organisational performance, employee health and employee retention for businesses.

The financial impact is staggering. Gallup's 2025 State of the Global Workplace report reveals that declining engagement cost the global economy US$438 billion (AUD $621 billion) last year alone. This makes prevention central to long-term success.

The World Health Organization estimates that 12 billion working days are lost every year globally due to depression and anxiety, amounting to about US$1 trillion (AUD $1.4 trillion) per year in lost productivity. In Australia specifically, 61 per cent of workers are somewhat or extremely burnt out, and 34 per cent are finding it increasingly difficult to be motivated to do their job. In 2024, poor mental health cost the Australian economy up to AUD $936 million every day.

In addition, prolonged stress is linked to serious physical health problems such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic musculoskeletal disorders. 

When stress isn't identified and addressed early, it becomes cumulative—building until employees reach physical, emotional and mental exhaustion. That's burnout. And unlike the flu, it doesn't just go away after a few weeks. Burnout is prevented and resolved by making real changes, including strategic support systems, building trust and improving organisational culture to reduce costs.

Beyond the health impact, unmanaged stress directly affects your bottom line. Workers in Australia who rate their workplace’s mental health support as poor have mental health scores that are 19 points lower than those reporting excellent support (September 2025). When employees feel undervalued or lack recognition, turnover increases, and the cost of hiring and onboarding replacements multiplies. 

How you can leverage data to inform your business strategy

The challenge is identifying where stress is building before it shows up in your absenteeism rates, turnover metrics or performance reviews.

The trouble is, stress isn't one thing, and it doesn't affect everyone the same way. It can stem from workload, financial pressure, caregiving, sleep disruption, lack of recognition or psychological safety, to name a few triggers. Employees distracted by financial worries lose an average of 11 work hours each month. In Australia, financial concerns are the leading source of personal stress for 44 per cent of workers, according to the Q1 2025 MHI. It can also differ significantly across demographics and regions.

Without visibility into these patterns, leaders are left guessing how best to respond. And that leads to one-size-fits-all benefits programs that don't address what's actually causing strain. As a result, they fail to deliver measurable ROI on your wellbeing investment. Presenteeism accounts for 81 per cent of work not done well, so employees can be physically present while productivity still slips.

That's why understanding the difference between return on investment (ROI) and value-on-investment (VOI) matters. ROI tracks direct financial savings such as lower insurance premiums, reduced turnover costs and fewer workers' compensation claims. 

VOI captures broader values like improved productivity, reduced absenteeism, higher engagement and retention. Both metrics matter when building the business case for preventative mental health benefits, because they help leaders assess which interventions produce the strongest benefit.

How the TELUS Mental Health Index works

That's why we built the TELUS Mental Health Index (MHI). Every quarter, we survey employed adults across 12 countries—Canada, the U.S., the UK, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions—capturing insights that reflect the makeup of the workforce by age, gender, industry and location. This provides a representative benchmark that can help you understand what's actually happening in your market.

Unlike many tools, the MHI measures how people are actually doing and helps organisations understand holistic wellbeing—whether they can focus, sleep, manage pressure and perform—not just whether they're satisfied at work. The surveys capture personal and workplace stressors like financial pressure, isolation and workload. Using a validated response scoring system, we turn individual responses into point values that create a single 0-100 mental health score that measures risk levels to your organisation:

Because we track the same measures continuously, we see patterns early. This early visibility can enable you to measure the financial impact of specific stressors on your workforce and the ROI of targeted interventions. Since 68 per cent of employees do not use workplace wellbeing benefits, participation data is critical to enhance decision-making.

Consider these examples from Australian and regional data:

• When financial strain rises, performance risk increases: Workers who reduced spending on health and wellness due to financial stress had mental health scores nearly 11 points lower than the national average (June 2025).
• When sleep declines, burnout risk rises: Workers dissatisfied with their sleep report MHI scores nearly 18 points lower than those satisfied with their sleep; 29 per cent say poor sleep quality has resulted in decreased productivity, while 40 per cent report reduced concentration (June 2025).
• When optimism improves, so does focus and decision-making: Improvements in the optimism subscore have correlated with higher productivity, showing how mental health trends directly link to business performance metrics.
• When employer support improves, productivity gains multiply: Workers rating employer support for mental wellbeing as excellent lose 28.4 working days per year in productivity compared to 58.4 working days per year for workers rating employer support as poor— a difference of 30 days annually (September 2024).

How the research adapts

Each quarter, we examine timely forces, both outside and inside the workplace, including the cultural shift in employee expectations since recent external disruptions. External pressures include financial insecurity, caregiving responsibilities and economic instability; while internal factors include workload, manager relationships, psychological safety and recognition.

In April 2024, we examined artificial intelligence in the workplace and found that 27 per cent of workers in Australia are worried that their jobs will change because of their company’s use of AI, with younger workers more likely to be worried that their jobs will be eliminated. Other surveys have examined multi-generational workforce dynamics and financial wellbeing impacts. The research follows what's actually affecting people, so you understand where support is needed most, and where your wellbeing benefits investment can deliver the highest ROI, while informing planning for future mental health initiatives as workforce pressures evolve.

Importance of tailoring care in employee assistance programs

Different demographic groups experience strain differently, which is why one-size-fits-all benefits programs fail to deliver measurable returns. For example:

Women face specific challenges. According to the 2025 TELUS Mental Health Barometer, since 2020, women in Australia have consistently had lower mental health scores than men. Women are also 50 per cent more likely than men to report a negative experience with the healthcare system, which affects their ability to access support.

Younger workers also need targeted support. Workers under 40 are more than twice as likely as workers over 50 to report being diagnosed with anxiety and depression, according to the MHI (September 2024). They're also 50 per cent more likely to feel negatively about themselves if they had a mental health issue, and they report higher levels of workplace stigma concerns (June 2025). Younger demographics are also seeing spikes in permanent disability claims linked to mental health conditions.

Workers without emergency savings face compounded stress. With 29 per cent of workers in Australia not having emergency savings for basic needs, they’re three times more likely to report being diagnosed with anxiety and depression (September 2025). This demonstrates why financial wellbeing programs can help drive measurable ROI in reducing mental health risk.

Understanding these nuances can help business leaders use this data when investing in tailored supports that actually fit and improve job satisfaction. Flexible work arrangements, additional retirement savings contributions, financial wellness programs and targeted mental health support for specific demographics signal that wellbeing isn't generic. It's intentional. And intentional wellbeing programs can deliver measurable returns on your benefits investment.

Business leaders action checklist

1. Benchmark capability. Use the MHI as a baseline for your organisation's mental health status compared with broader Australian workforce trends. This benchmark helps organisations assess progress and estimate ROI over time.
2. Pair data sources. Combine MHI results with your internal metrics (productivity, retention, absenteeism, workers' compensation claims) to identify pressure points. This reveals the direct financial impact of specific stressors and helps quantify the ROI of targeted interventions.
3. Equip managers. Ensure supervisors receive mental health training so they have the language, tools and pathways to recognise and respond to mental health concerns earlier. Managers who can identify struggling team members earlier can help prevent escalation and costly turnover.
4. Spot patterns early. Monitor shifts in key indicators (sleep, financial stress, optimism, isolation) so you can intervene before issues escalate. Early intervention can help prevent burnout and reduce the cost of longer-term support.
5. Target interventions. Design support programs that match the specific stressors your teams face—rather than one-size-fits-all options. Practical options can include employee assistance programs alongside other mental health initiatives tailored to financial stress, workload, isolation and recognition. 
6. Measure improvement. Re-survey periodically and compare baseline and business outcomes to track whether changes are working. 
7. Connect to compliance. Remember that regulators expect employers to identify, assess and control psychosocial hazards in the workplace. Data-driven mental health programs can help you meet these legal obligations while simultaneously delivering business ROI through improved productivity and lower turnover.

When you understand what people are carrying—financial stress, workload, lack of recognition, isolation—you can step in sooner. With clarity. With compassion. With measurable business impact.

The future belongs to workplaces where employee wellbeing and performance work together, and where HR leaders can demonstrate the true financial return on wellbeing benefits investment to build a more supportive environment and a more productive workforce.

What's next?

Understanding the mental health challenges your workforce faces is the first step. Taking action is where ROI happens. Explore the TELUS Health Mental Health Index to benchmark your organisation against broader workforce trends and identify where stress is building in your teams.

Download the latest report

Frequently asked questions

How does mental health data help measure the ROI of employee benefits?

Mental health data provides a quantifiable baseline for understanding your workforce's wellbeing status. By comparing mental health scores before and after implementing support programs, you can measure improvements in productivity, absenteeism and retention directly attributable to your benefits investment, while weighing initial costs against longer-term gains in productivity and reduced absence. This allows you to calculate both direct financial ROI (lower turnover costs, reduced workers' compensation claims) and broader VOI metrics (engagement, productivity gains).

Why do different employee groups need tailored wellbeing support?

Mental health challenges affect people differently based on age, gender and financial circumstances. Women have consistently lower mental health scores than men in Australia, younger workers report higher anxiety and depression rates, and workers without emergency savings face triple the risk of diagnosed mental health conditions. Tailored benefits addressing these specific needs can deliver higher engagement and retention ROI than generic programs.

How can Australian employers meet psychosocial safety obligations while delivering wellbeing ROI?

Australian psychosocial safety laws require employers to proactively identify, assess and control psychosocial hazards in the workplace. Data-driven mental health assessments can help you identify hazards, document compliance efforts and implement targeted interventions. This simultaneously meets your legal obligations under Work Health and Safety laws and delivers measurable ROI through improved employee retention and productivity.