iscover ATO partners with Beyond Blue to address mental health in the profession
BusinessThe Tax Office and Beyond Blue have explored some of the stressors currently being experienced by the profession and their impact on mental health in a recent wellbeing support session.
In an ATO open forum session on mental health on 4 August, Beyond Blue presented its “Mental health and wellbeing support” session, outlining how its government-supported program helps business owners facing mental health challenges get back on their feet.
Matt Hill, chief executive of the Affiliation for Business Resilience & Turnaround (ABRT), spoke during the forum about the importance of mental health support for tax practitioners and small business owners.
Earlier this year, Treasury announced $8 million in additional funding to extend the NewAccess for Small Business Owners (NASBO) program, which has supported 8,000 small businesses nationwide since its launch in 2021.
A joint initiative between Beyond Blue and the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), NASBO provides free confidential mental health coaching for small business owners.
Tim Hoopman, speaker for Beyond Blue and former small business owner, said during the forum that he experienced mental health challenges during his time running a bookkeeping business.
“Taking care of our mental health is a personal responsibility. There’s no one we can really outsource it to, other than ourselves.”
“As a small business owner, we have unbelievable stressors. We’re balancing work, life, families, personal commitments, all sorts of things,” Hoopman said.
“Those pressures can build, and if they are unaddressed, they can have a profound impact on our well-being, our mental health, our relationships, and in a lot of cases, our ability to show up and be really present at work.”
Hoopman emphasised that help is always available.
“There are so many areas of support now that it’s really important that you ask for support early. It’s not a weakness; it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It’s a very powerful thing again to ask for support.”
“Something as simple as checking in with your GP is often a good start if you’re finding the pressure in your life mounting too much.”
Dealing with email anxiety
Hoopman stressed the importance of slowing down as a reset prior to any high-pressure situations.
“I find that it has a positive impact on my state of being, my feeling of anxiety, and just my overall well-being. It is really important to have that reset.”
“When I received an email that made me incredibly anxious. The first response was to reply to the email, get on with it, bang out a response, and send it on.”
Instead of doing that, Hoopman said that in that moment, he paused and breathed.
“And you know what? It had a profound effect. It allowed me to calm down. It reset my judgment … I drafted an email, I saved it, and I came back to it later.”
“Nobody is expecting me to respond to them immediately.”
Hill said that with ABRT, he witnesses firsthand the distress business owners face.
“[With] the state of the economy worldwide at the moment, we’re all starting to deal with an influx of people that are really struggling.”
As a participant of the NASBO program, he was able to identify business owners in high-risk situations, provide links and refer appropriately.
Hill said that the program gives business owners “the ability to identify issues immediately, and how to assign care immediately as required.”
Help is available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 and Beyond Blue at 1300 22 4636.
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