Mental ill-health costs the Australian economy $70 billion each year and a portion of this is through losing employees and productivity from workplaces, which is an area that financial services and superannuation businesses could benefit from improving.
Speaking at the Conference of Major Super Funds today, National Mental Health Commission chair, Lucy Brogden, said that by failing to adequately address poor mental health amongst employees, workplaces would lose good workers and have to manage poor performance.
In general, she said that most people suffering poor mental health, or caring for someone who was, often used to be good workers, meaning that employers were losing quality recruits should they not adequately provide for their mental health.
Indeed, live polling at the talk suggested that many superannuation funds and associated businesses were failing to offer such support. It revealed that 40 per cent of attendees’ workplaces didn’t have a formal mental health plan for employees, with 37 per cent not knowing if a plan existed and just 23 per cent finding that there was one.
According to SuperFriend chief executive, Margo Lydon, an effective mental health plan needed to go beyond just “a fruit bowl or a yoga mat or an employee assistance program (EAP)”, encouraging employers to dig deeper in their offerings.
Brogden identified seven areas where employers could improve their management and support of employees’ mental health. These were:
Australia’s second largest super fund has added thermal coal companies to its list of investment exclusions.
The fund has expanded its corporate superannuation solutions to partner with Australian businesses of all sizes.
The chief executive of Aware Super anticipates a significant shift in how ESG factors will influence portfolio values in the next six years, surpassing the changes witnessed in the past two decades.
In a recent statement, shadow assistant minister for home ownership and Liberal senator for NSW, Andrew Bragg, accused ‘big super’ of fabricating data attributed to the Reserve Bank of Australia to push their agenda.
Add new comment