The bosses of Australian companies generally ignore the mental health of their staff, with 70 per cent of workers saying their employers do not offer programs to support mental wellbeing, a survey by Superfriend finds.

The survey polled 1,000 Australians to gauge attitudes to workers’ physical and mental wellbeing. Its findings were released at the launch of Superfriend, an initiative of the Industry Funds Forum, during mental health awareness week in October. According to the survey, approximately 50 per cent of Australians admit to often feeling stressed, and 25 per cent regularly feel depressed.

But despite this, more than two-thirds of Australians have never sought help or guidance on mental health matters. John Mendoza, chair of Superfriend’s Mental Health Reference Group and chief executive of the Mental Health Council of Australia, says there is increasing evidence of a link between stress in the workplace and mental illness, and that employers needed to better recognise the importance of the mental health and wellbeing among staff. “The cost of workplace stress to Australian business is potentially crippling.