The fourth Mentally Healthy survey launches today, with the ambitious goal of gaining a deeper understanding of the mental health state of individuals working across the media, marketing, and creative sectors in 2024.

The survey is a joint initiative by Never Not Creative and The Mentally Healthy Change Group. This year’s survey aims to be the largest version of the biennial project yet, targeting more than 2,000 respondents from Australia and expanding its reach to the US, New Zealand, and the UK.

The 2024 survey will continue to track many of the mental health trends observed in earlier editions. However, this year will see a new focus on how workplace expectations, roles, and working models (such as hybrid and remote working) are impacting the industry’s mental health. The survey includes questions around the awareness and implementation of psychosocial hazard legislation and guidance, which came into effect in Australia in 2023.

The findings from this research will be widely shared with the industry in June. Previous surveys have highlighted significant gaps in mental well-being between different agency types and generational attitudes towards mental health. The survey will remain open until midnight, May 3. Participation is anonymous, and respondents have the option to leave their organisation’s name in the final question.

For businesses with more than 70 participants, Never Not Creative and The Mentally Healthy Change Group are prepared to offer a tailored presentation for its leaders and staff on their specific results.

“As AI becomes ever more prevalent across business, and cost / budget scrutiny continue to increase, our industry’s one true differentiator is going to be the skills of its people,” Co-Chair of The Mentally Healthy Change Group and Founder of Never Not Creative, Andy Wright, said. “But are we doing enough to ensure we’re doing what we can to enable them to really shine?

“The Mentally Healthy Survey has become a real benchmark for our performance as an industry in how we are treating people and has helped to spark big conversations and some tangible changes. But the job is by no means done, so it is important we keep the spotlight shining brightly here. The more responses we get, the better our understanding will be of where the opportunities and barriers to improvement are.”

Co-chair of The Mentally Healthy Change Group, Kate Holland, added, the post-Covid workplace is still in a state of flux.

“We’re really still just starting to see the long-term impact of practices like remote and hybrid working on people. No one professes to have the perfect answer, so it’s important we examine how and who these different models are working for,” she said. “Only with a big and robust data set with a wide group of respondents can we truly understand these areas, so I urge everyone to take 20 minutes out of their day to do this survey and share it with colleagues and your professional networks.”