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Mental injuries

Resources to help workers, employers, carers and health providers navigate a work-related mental injury claim, including seeking help and treatment, recovery and getting back to work.

Need urgent help?

If you, or someone you know, is experiencing a mental health crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. If life is in immediate danger call 000.

  • Lifeline 13 11 14
  • Beyond Blue 1300 224 636
  • Workers’ Psychological Support Service A free, confidential and independent callback support  service where Queenslanders who are struggling mentally due to an injury at work can access support from a social worker. Call 1800 370 732 (during business hours) or info@wpss.org.au. Please note, this is not a crisis service.
  • Suicide Call Back Service A national 24/7 telehealth provider that offers free professional phone and online counselling for people living in Australia.
  • 1300 MH CALL (1300 642 255) A confidential mental health telephone service for Queenslanders that will link you to public mental health services.
  • QLife (LGBTIQ+) 1800 184 527 (3pm - midnight, 7 days)
  • Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800. A free 24/7 online and phone counselling service for teens and young people aged up to 25.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Domestic and family violence support

  • 1800 RESPECT 1800 737 732. 24-hour national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service.

Emergency service workers

For workers with a mental injury, one of the most important things you can do to support your recovery is to start getting the help and treatment you need right away.

While your claim is being assessed, you can usually access psychological treatment funded by WorkCover to support your recovery right now.

This treatment might include:

  • GP appointments
  • counselling or psychology sessions
  • psychiatry appointments
  • medication, such as antidepressants

We can also help with mediation services between a worker and their employer, to support your recovery and the return to work process.

What we don’t cover:

  • in-patient hospital costs
  • costs related to a hospital stay, such as nursing, or medications received in hospital

Getting the treatment you need early on puts you on the path to recovery sooner and may prevent your symptoms from becoming worse.

If you’re not sure how to access the treatment options available to you, we can discuss this with you after you lodge a claim. If you have any questions, you can always contact us on 1300 362 128.

Please note:

To access these early support services, you'll need to have lodged a WorkCover claim and have a work capacity certificate, sometimes referred to as a WorkCover Queensland medical certificate, from your doctor confirming the diagnosis of a mental injury.

If you have had a previous WorkCover claim for a mental injury that was caused by the same or a similar circumstances, you should talk to us about whether we’ll pay for this treatment while your claim is assessed.

If we decide we are unable to accept your claim we’ll let you know, and if this happens, funding for your treatment will stop.

Access to these early psychological support services only applies to injuries that occurred on or after 30 October 2019.

For injuries that occurred prior to 30 October 2019, these support services will only be covered by WorkCover once your claim has been accepted.

For mental injuries that occurred prior to 30 October 2019, we still encourage you to seek treatment early, and the costs may be reimbursed if your claim is accepted.

Financial hardship

Victims of crime

If you’re a victim of a violent crime, you can access support through Victim Assist Queensland

MATES in Construction

MATES in Construction supports workers in construction and mining through peer support, suicide awareness and connecting workers to mental health support services.

Workers' Compensation Information and Advisory Services (WCIAS)

For workers

Independent and free information and advice for workers navigating the Queensland workers’ compensation scheme.

For employers

This helpline offers independent and free advice and support to all Queensland employers, obligation-free.