National mental health organisation beyondblue and the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) have announced a new partnership to tackle depression and anxiety in the workplace.

The partnership was launched by AWU National Secretary Paul Howes and beyondblue CEO Kate Carnell at the AWU National Conference last week.

Mr Howes said the partnership was formed to deal with an issue that imposes a massive cost on both families and businesses.

“Too often people ignore the warning signs of mental illness and hope that it will just go away,” Mr Howes said.

“There has been a long-standing culture of workers in blue-collar industries hiding difficulties and trying to just "tough it out".

“As a result, problems are left untreated and allowed to spiral out of control.

“Mental illness is the second-most prevalent form of compensable illness in the workplace, and represents 4.8 per cent of all serious compensation claims.

"It's also been estimated that Australian workers without access to paid sick leave collectively lose around $85 million a year in income due to absence from depression.”

beyondblue and the AWU have developed posters and wallet cards that provide information on depression and anxiety and how to take action about mental health, with both to be distributed to the union’s 140,000 members in workplaces around Australia.

Ms Carnell said her organisation was proud to join forces with one of the nation’s largest unions to create mental-health friendly workplaces.

“If you or someone you know needs support, learn how to tackle the problem by calling the beyondblue support line on 1300 224 636 or visiting beyondblue.org.au,” Ms Carnell said.