Helping Australians take action on mental health and wellbeing

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 super funds, that makes Mental Health Month more than a date on the calendar: members navigating workplace stigma are also navigating impacts on their income and long-term financial security.

Each year, TAL shares member-facing mental health resources with our super fund partners in August so they have time to review, tailor and schedule campaign communications ahead of Mental Health Month in October. This timing also gives partners space to consider related wellbeing moments in September, including R U OK? Day.

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 super funds, 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 partners prepare mental health and wellbeing activity for September and 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 the Member Content section of Group HQ, under Mental Health:

• a Deadly Tips poster for First Nations members, with simple prompts to support social and emotional wellbeing
• a summarised version of TAL’s Mental Health Language Guidelines, designed to help super funds use clear, respectful, person-centred and non-stigmatising language in campaign communications
• 2026 National Stigma and Discrimination Report Card, helping super funds 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 partners start practical and respectful conversations with their members. 

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 Group HQ Member Content or contact your Partnership Manager.

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

²  Ibid.

³  Ibid.