Helping Australians take action on mental health and wellbeing

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People with mental health challenges experience more discrimination in finding and keeping a job than in any other area of life, according to the National Mental Health Commission and SANE Australia's 2026 National Stigma and Discrimination Report Card. Reports of workplace discrimination increased between 2014 and 2024, even as attitudes towards some mental health conditions improved.1 For employers, that makes Mental Health Month more than a date on the calendar: employees navigating workplace stigma are also navigating impacts on their income and long-term financial security. 

Each year, TAL shares employee-facing mental health resources with our brokers so they have time to review, tailor and schedule campaign communications with their clients ahead of Mental Health Month in October.

This year, that preparation comes with a reminder from SANE Australia’s 2026 National Stigma and Discrimination Report Card that while awareness of mental health has improved, stigma and discrimination remain common experiences for people living with mental health challenges. 

The Report Card found that 70% of people with mental health challenges had experienced discrimination in at least one area of life. What’s more, 68% of people experiencing mental health challenges reported that living with stigma and discrimination was worse than living with the symptoms of the mental illness itself. The Report Card also found that stigma can affect relationships, work, housing, health care and participation in community life.2  

For communication campaigns, this reinforces an important point: while raising awareness is useful, the way we talk about mental health also needs to help reduce judgement, encourage early support and make people feel safe to seek help.

Making communications practical and inclusive

For employers, Mental Health Month is an opportunity to keep messages simple, practical and action oriented. That might include encouraging people to check in on themselves and others, noticing when they may need support, and understanding where to go for help. It also means using clear, person-centred language that avoids stigma or assumptions about what mental health challenges look like. 

The Report Card also notes that experiences of stigma don’t occur in isolation. They can be shaped by other forms of disadvantage and exclusion, including racism, systemic discrimination and access to culturally safe care. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, this reinforces the importance of culturally safe approaches that are shaped by First Nations leadership and recognise the broader context that can affect mental health and help-seeking.3  

As employers prepare mental health and wellbeing activities for October, this is a useful reminder to consider whether your communications are inclusive of different experiences of wellbeing. For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, wellbeing is holistic – encompassing physical, social, emotional, cultural and spiritual wellbeing – and is closely connected to family, community, culture and Country. 

New resources to support campaign activity

To support your campaign activity, we’ve added three new resources to Corporate HQ: 

  • a Deadly Tips poster for First Nations employees, with simple prompts to support social and emotional wellbeing 
  • a summarised version of TAL’s Mental Health Language Guidelines, designed to help employers use clear, respectful, person-centred and non-stigmatising language in campaign communications
  • 2026 National Stigma and Discrimination Report Card, helping employers make Mental Health Month communications practical, inclusive and stigma-reducing. 

Together with TAL’s white-label Mental Health resources, these materials are designed to help employers start practical and respectful conversations with their employees.  

Mental health messages don’t need to be complex to be useful. The strongest communications are often the ones that are clear, timely and supportive: encouraging everyone to check in, seek help early and know that support is available. 

To access the Mental Health Toolkit, visit Corporate HQ or contact your Corporate Partnership Manager. 

1 National Mental Health Commission in partnership with SANE. 2026 National Stigma and Discrimination Report Card. 2026.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.