Earlier this year, the National Mental Health Commission (NMHC) released the first National Stigma and Discrimination Report Card (the Report), providing a comprehensive national picture of the impact of stigma and discrimination on people living with mental health challenges. 

While the findings showed that progress has been made to improve awareness of mental health in recent years, stigma and discrimination continue to remain a significant burden for many Australians.  

The Report was developed to provide a robust, nationally consistent picture of the scale and impact of stigma in Australia. As the first report of its kind, it detailed the extent and experiences of stigma and discrimination across the Australian population and offered valuable insights to help develop future actionable plans to address the issues. 

Drawing on a nationally representative survey across 6032 Australians, including people with lived and living experiences of mental health challenges, the Report is based on world-class data collected through the 2024-2025 National Survey of Stigma and Discrimination. The findings give voice to those with lived and living experiences of stigma and discrimination and provide a solid benchmark for measuring progress moving forward. 

Key Findings of the Report 

The report found a mix of encouraging progress and confronting realities, including: 

• 70% of people with mental health challenges had experienced discrimination in at least one area of life 

• 68% of people experience mental health challenges reported that living with stigma and discrimination was worse than living with the symptoms of the mental illness itself 

• Between 2011 and 2024, there was a significant reduction in people holding stigmatising attitudes towards people experiencing depression and schizophrenia; 

• Overall, 81% of people reported positive experiences, including respectful, understanding, and supportive responses to their mental health challenges. 

Despite positive findings such as improvements in community attitudes, the findings revealed that many Australians continue to experience stigma in their everyday lives.  

The NMHC CEO, David McGrath, said that one of the most concerning findings was how prevalent discrimination was across the different areas of an individual’s life. 

“The really confronting finding is that around 70% of people experienced discrimination in at least one area of life. For some people, it’s not getting better – it’s getting worse. That tells us that it is still a very real, very widespread issue,” said the NMHC CEO, David McGrath. 

There’s more to be done than just raising awareness 

The Report highlighted that stigma and discrimination are not isolated issues. Rather, they are embedded in everyday interactions, relationships, and systems. While community attitude has improved over time, these changes have not been reflected in day-to-day experiences for those affected. 

What happens now? 

The challenge now is to reduce the gap between public awareness and action. 

Reducing mental health stigma will require coordinated action across governments, service providers, workplaces, and communities. The Report emphasises that future efforts should focus beyond just raising awareness, but also on changing people’s perceptions and behaviours, practices, and systems that enable discrimination. 

By addressing both community attitudes and structural barriers, Australia has an opportunity to create a move inclusive work environment where people experiencing mental illness challenges can wholly participate in work and life.  

“Stigma won’t disappear on its own, it requires sustained, coordinated effort. [R]educing stigma is not optional – its essential to improving people’s lives.”