What percentage of Australian first responders have PTSD?

Beyond Blue's Answering the call (2018) found that 10 per cent of police and emergency services employees had probable PTSD on screening, ranging from 6 per cent in State Emergency Services to 11 per cent in police. One in four former employees had probable PTSD. Probable PTSD is a screening result, not a clinical diagnosis.

Does length of service affect first responder mental health?

In Answering the call, employees who had worked more than 10 years were almost twice as likely to experience psychological distress and six times more likely to experience symptoms of PTSD. The survey is cross-sectional, so it shows an association rather than proving cause.

Is workplace culture as important as trauma exposure?

Answering the call found that poor workplace practices and culture were as damaging to mental health as occupational trauma, and that more supportive and inclusive workplaces had lower rates of probable PTSD and psychological distress.

How common are mental health workers compensation claims in Australia?

Safe Work Australia reports 17,900 serious workers compensation claims for mental health conditions across all industries in 2024-25 (preliminary), 12.2 per cent of all serious claims and up 169.4 per cent since 2014-15. The median claim in 2023-24 involved $68,600 in compensation and 34.8 working weeks away from work.

First responder mental health in Australia: what the evidence shows

CaseNote | Every exposure counts · Reviewed 15 October 2026

Statistics about first responder mental health are quoted everywhere, often without a source and sometimes wrongly. This page collects the main Australian figures, traces each one to its primary source, and explains what it can and cannot be used to say.

If this topic affects you: support is available any time from Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. In an emergency, call triple zero (000).

The national picture: Answering the call

The most comprehensive Australian dataset is Beyond Blue's Answering the call, the national mental health and wellbeing study of police and emergency services. It surveyed 21,014 current and former employees and volunteers from police, fire and rescue, ambulance and State Emergency Service agencies between October 2017 and March 2018. The research was led by the University of Western Australia with Roy Morgan Research.

Finding	What the report says
Probable PTSD, employees	10 per cent of employees had probable PTSD, ranging from 6 per cent in State Emergency Services to 8 per cent in ambulance, 9 per cent in fire and rescue and 11 per cent in police. The report compares this with an estimated 4 per cent of Australian adults and 8 per cent in the Australian Defence Force.
Psychological distress	One in three employees had high or very high psychological distress, compared with just over one in eight Australian adults.
Length of service	Employees who had worked more than 10 years were almost twice as likely to experience psychological distress and six times more likely to experience symptoms of PTSD.
Former employees	One in four surveyed former employees had probable PTSD, compared with one in 10 current employees, and one in five had very high psychological distress.
Traumatic events at work	More than half of all employees had experienced a traumatic event at work that deeply affected them.
Diagnosed conditions	39 per cent of employees and 33 per cent of volunteers reported having been diagnosed with a mental health condition by a doctor or mental health professional at some time in their life; 22 per cent and 17 per cent said they currently had the condition. The report's population comparison (19.6 per cent of Australian adults with a long-term mental health condition) is defined differently, so it is not a like-for-like figure.
Suicidal thoughts	In the previous 12 months, 5 per cent of employees reported suicidal thoughts, around twice the rate in the general adult population. Lifetime rates (12 per cent of employees) were similar to all Australian adults (13 per cent), a comparison the report cautions is not direct.
Workplace culture	Poor workplace practices and culture were found to be as damaging to mental health as occupational trauma.
Workers compensation	Of employees who had made a workers compensation claim for a mental health condition, 61 per cent reported a negative impact on their recovery and 69 per cent reported limited or no support during the claim. The report's executive summary states a higher figure (three in four); this page uses the detailed result.

International comparison

A 2012 systematic review and meta-regression pooled 28 studies reporting on 40 samples and 20,424 rescue workers worldwide. It estimated a pooled current PTSD prevalence of about 10 per cent, with higher estimated prevalence among ambulance personnel than among firefighters and police. The Australian figure for employees in Answering the call sits in the same range.

The cost of psychological injury at work

The 2026 edition of Safe Work Australia's Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia, released 12 October 2026, reports 17,900 serious workers compensation claims for mental health conditions across all industries in 2024-25 (preliminary data), 12.2 per cent of all serious claims. That is 3.2 per cent fewer than the year before, but 169.4 per cent more than in 2014-15, the largest ten-year change of any injury or disease group. On the most recent finalised figures (2023-24), the median mental health claim involved $68,600 in compensation and 34.8 working weeks away from work, against $16,100 and 7.0 weeks across all other serious claims. These are all-industry figures, not specific to emergency services.

How to read these numbers

"Probable PTSD" is a screening result, not a diagnosis. Answering the call assessed probable PTSD with an adaptation of the PCL-5 screening questionnaire. Screening tools indicate that someone may need clinical assessment; they do not diagnose.
The data is from 2017-18. It remains the most comprehensive national dataset, but it predates the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, the COVID-19 pandemic and the psychosocial risk regulations that followed.
It is a cross-sectional survey. It shows associations at one point in time. The link between length of service and PTSD symptoms is consistent with cumulative exposure, but a single survey cannot prove cause.
Comparisons use different sources. The general population comparisons in the report come from Australian Bureau of Statistics data collected with different methods and in different years. Quote them as the report's comparisons, with the source.
Many people did not recognise their own symptoms. The report found that many people with high distress or probable PTSD on screening did not report a mental health issue in the previous 12 months. Self-report alone undercounts need.

What the evidence means for organisations

Three practical conclusions follow from the figures above. First, distress and probable PTSD rise with length of service, so a support model that only responds to single critical incidents misses the accumulation; see the cumulative trauma guide. Second, workplace culture matters as much as the trauma itself, which puts the organisational psychosocial hazards in scope as well; see the psychosocial hazards guide. Third, people leaving the organisation carry a higher burden, so support should not stop at the exit interview.

A note on numbers you may see elsewhere. Some widely shared statistics about first responders do not trace back to a published Australian source. If a figure has no study, year and sample attached, treat it with caution and do not repeat it in a business case.

Related guides

Sources

Beyond Blue, Answering the call: National Mental Health and Wellbeing Study of Police and Emergency Services, Final report (2018). Survey of 21,014 current and former employees and volunteers, October 2017 to March 2018, led by the University of Western Australia with Roy Morgan Research.
Berger W, Coutinho ESF, Figueira I, et al. Rescuers at risk: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis of the worldwide current prevalence and correlates of PTSD in rescue workers. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2012; 47(6): 1001-1011.
Safe Work Australia, Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2026 (released 12 October 2026). 2024-25 claims figures are preliminary; medians are 2023-24 finalised figures.

This page is general information, not clinical advice. Figures are reported as published in the sources listed; check the original reports before quoting them. CaseNote is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any organisation named in this guide.