A study by one of Australia’s most prominent charities has shown there is still a strong stigma about mental health in the workplace, which keeps many from seeking the help they need.

The study by SANE Australia found four out of ten workers who take sick leave for depression tell their boss it is for a different matter – nearly half expect their position would be compromised if they revealed their real illness.

The study of 1,000 workers found Australians are almost twice as likely not to tell their boss they are suffering depression, compared with European workers.

It also found that Australians take an average 14.6 days’ sick leave for depressive episodes, as opposed to an average 35.9 days for Europeans.

About half of those who chose not to fully disclose said they felt that depression was too private an issue.

SANE Australia chief executive Jack Heath says peoples’ worries over their workplace standing is a major factor.

“In Australia was there was a significantly higher level of concern that Australian employers wouldn't understand the issue and wouldn't know how to support them,” he said.

“This seems to be a particular problem in the workplace... when people were asked whether they would disclose their illness to a partner or family friend, we got exactly the same [results] in Australia as we did in Europe.

“We've been good in increasing awareness - what people would call 'mental-health literacy' around depression; we've done phenomenal work around that, but we haven't had the shift in the terms of stigma that we need,” Mr Heath said.

There are workplace laws in place to prevent an employer from sacking someone over mental health issues, Beyond Blue chief executive Kate Carnell says, but she is concerned that employers are missing their full legal responsibility to provide a “psychologically safe workplace”.

“Stigma is still a real issue - we are getting better as a community but we are not there yet,” Carnell said.

“It's important for workplaces to have mental-health policy in place and also to have leadership - to make it clear to employees that they will treat mental health the same way they treat physical health issues.

“What's important is that workplaces make it clear that we encourage employees to put their hands up early, and if they start to struggle to let their supervisors know and for business to have in place a method to support those people.”

Beyond Blue estimates 3 million Australians are living with depression or anxiety right now, and it has a real effect on productivity as well.

“The cost to Australian workplaces now exceeds $12 billion. Last year, stress-related work compensation issues topped $10 billion, so mental-health issues are costing Australian businesses significant dollars,” Ms Carnell said.

“Having a mental-health safe workplace is not only the law, but it will also help increase productivity, achieve their bottom line, reduce staff turnover and absenteeism, so everybody is a winner.”

A new campaign to try to change the workplace stigma over depression and other conditions will be launched by The Mentally Healthy Safe Workplace Alliance in January.

CareerSpot recently spoke to the 2013 Mental Health Nurse of the Year about the very broad state of the growing array of mental health conditions and services in Australia.