Police and nurses are most stressed

POLICE, nurses and paramedics are the most stressed workers in Australia, new research shows.

Data on workers compensation, compiled by Safe Work Australia, shows about 7000 claims are made each year for mental stress.

People working in the health and community services sector reported the highest number of claims, closely followed by education workers.

Male train and bus drivers also had a comparatively high level of claims.

"It is concerning to find that there are many Australian workers suffering from mental stress, which can have a very significant impact on people's ability to function at work and at home," Safe Work Australia chair Tom Phillips said on Monday.

Mr Phillips said each mental stress claim cost up to three times more than other claims, due in part to the amount of time it takes to process them.

Mental stress claims cost an average of $15,500 per person, compared with an average of $5400 for other claims.

Making matter worse was that while most people took four weeks off works for other claims, the average time off work for mental stress claims was 11 weeks.

Lifeline's CEO, Dawn O'Neil, said workers and employers needed to learn how to better manage stress.

"At the end of the day, Australians are too stressed and we are not managing our stress well enough," she said in a statement.

Australia's annual Stress Down Day will be held on July 23.