Relative gestures beside a facilitator. A first person VR training scenario for healthcare, seen through the headset.

Workplace violence and psychological claims: what a decade of data shows

Serious claims for being assaulted at work in Australia more than doubled in the 10 years to June 2024.

By Kim Loza, Head of Product at People Tech Revolution

Published 27 September 2026 Last updated 28 September 2026 Version 1.0

Connect with Kim on LinkedIn Cite this research

National Safe Work Month, week 1

October’s theme is Safe work is for life

For Week 1 of National Safe Work Month, For life, 1 to 11 October: who is hurt at work, and for how long.

A frontline staff member wearing a headset stands with hands open at waist height, facing a simulated agitated adult. — A worker faces an agitated man.

A simulated ward bay with a low light over the bed. A woman lies awake as a nurse wearing the headset crouches to her level. — A nurse beside a patient at night.

A care worker in a headset stands in a simulated aged care room, a resident seated in an armchair and a family member by the window. — A care worker with a resident.

Australia

Assault claims more than doubled in 10 years

Serious assault claims rose from 2,211 in the year to June 2015 to 4,667 in the year to June 2024 (preliminary).

Australian serious claims by mechanism, 2015 to 2024

Being assaultedExposure to violence and harassmentMental stress, all types

See the data (serious claims)

	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024p
Being assaulted	2,211	1,962	2,245	2,240	2,592	2,991	3,687	3,635	4,274	4,667
Exposure to violence and harassment	721	720	887	1,033	1,429	1,540	1,520	1,523	2,537	2,636
Mental stress, all types	6,261	6,391	7,144	8,078	10,143	10,781	11,816	11,785	14,617	16,839

Years to June; p is preliminary; claims with a working week or more off, not incidents. Source: Safe Work Australia NDS, claims by mechanism.

A sheriff's officer directs an older man inside. A VR training scenario for justice and community services. — An officer and a man at a door.

Violence and harassment claims more than tripled

They rose from 721 to 2,636, 3.66 times; assault claims rose 2.11 times.

Time lost

Psychological claims record the longest time lost

The median time lost on a violence and harassment claim rose from 10.2 working weeks (year to June 2015) to 32.1 (year to June 2023), more than triple.

Median weeks lost per claim, 2015 to 2023

Exposure to violence and harassmentBeing assaultedAll serious claims

See the data (median working weeks)

	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Exposure to violence and harassment	10.2	11.6	12.0	15.7	17.6	18.4	20.4	28.6	32.1
Being assaulted	5.0	6.5	7.0	7.0	6.4	6.2	6.6	7.0	7.4
All serious claims	5.8	6.3	6.6	7.2	7.2	7.5	8.0	7.0	7.4

Years to June; no 2024 median yet. Source: Safe Work Australia NDS, median time lost.

A community nurse sits alone in a carpark. A VR training scenario for healthcare. — A community nurse alone by a car.

Mental health claims take the longest

A median 35.7 working weeks in the year to June 2023, against 7.4 for all serious claims; they are 12% of serious claims (Key WHS Statistics 2025).

An adult wearing a headset stands in the middle of an open-plan office, looking around, rehearsing a return-to-work moment while simulated colleagues work nearby. — A worker walks back into the office.

Assault claims lost a median 5.0 to 7.4 weeks

Across the years to June 2015 to 2023, against 10.2 to 32.1 for violence and harassment.

Who carries it

Nurses, support workers, carers and police lodge the most claims

These occupations lodged the most violence and assault claims in the years to June 2018 to 2022; clients and customers were the most common source.

Violence claims by occupation, 2018 to 2022

Registered nurses1,848

Welfare support workers1,701

Aged and disabled carers1,501

Police1,476

Nursing support and personal care workers1,386

See the data (serious claims)

Measure	Serious claims
Registered nurses	1,848
Welfare support workers	1,701
Aged and disabled carers	1,501
Police	1,476
Nursing support and personal care workers	1,386

Serious claims. Source: Safe Work Australia, Table 1.

In a front room at dusk, a woman with a bag over her arm talks to a worker wearing a headset and holding a notebook, an older man watching from his armchair. — A woman briefs a care worker.

Women lodge more of these claims

Women lodged 12,260 over those years, men 8,485. Women are 74% to 88% of workers in the nursing, welfare and care roles listed.

A woman in her thirties stands wary but not hostile behind a security door; a family services worker in the headset stands back on the step, rehearsing a doorstep conversation. — A family services worker at a doorstep.

For life

Preliminary data counts at least 6 workers killed by assault in 2023, as many as in the 5 years before combined (Safe Work Australia).

United States

Health care holds 72.8% of private industry violence cases

In 2021 and 2022, private health care and social assistance recorded 41,960 violence cases with days away, restricted work or a transfer (BLS).

US health care violence rate, 2011 to 2018

Health care and social assistance

See the data (per 10,000 full-time workers)

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Health care and social assistance	6.4	7.0	7.8	8.2	8.0	8.4	9.1	10.4

Cases with days away from work. Source: BLS, Workplace Violence in Healthcare, 2018.

A simulated community mental health room. A man in his mid-twenties sits forward, elbows on his knees; a clinician in the headset sits back, giving him room, holding the silence. — A clinician sits with a young man.

Psychiatric aides: 543.6 cases per 10,000 full-time workers

In 2021 and 2022 the health care rate was 14.2 per 10,000 full-time workers, against 2.9 across private industry. The psychiatric aide rate of 543.6 counts cases with days away, restricted work or a transfer.

New Zealand

34% of healthcare workers report threats of violence

WorkSafe New Zealand’s 2022 survey of 1,067 healthcare workers found 34% reported threats; its 2021 survey of 3,612 workers found 14%.

New Zealand: threats of violence reported

Healthcare workers, 2022 survey34%

All workers, 2021 survey14%

See the data (percent reporting)

Measure	Percent reporting
Healthcare workers, 2022 survey	34%
All workers, 2021 survey	14%

Separate surveys of different groups. Source: WorkSafe New Zealand; all-worker survey.

Assaults on Health NZ hospital staff

Reported assaults

See the data (reported assaults)

	2023	2024	2025
Reported assaults	6,001	6,635	7,777

Years to June. Source: RNZ reporting Health NZ.

A clinician in a headset talks with an older man in a bright community health room. — A clinician talks with an older man.

Reported assaults rose each year, 6,001 to 7,777

From 6,001 in the year to June 2023 to 7,777 in the year to June 2025.

Training

Trained is not the same as handled

In AHRQ 2024 hospital workplace safety data from 61,767 providers and staff, training to de-escalate averaged 71% positive across hospitals; the composite for addressing aggression from patients or visitors averaged 49%.

US hospitals: trained against handled, 2024

Item: staff are trained to de-escalate aggression71%

Composite: aggression is appropriately addressed49%

Emergency and short stay units, average of all composites57%

See the data (average percent positive)

Measure	Average percent positive
Item: staff are trained to de-escalate aggression	71%
Composite: aggression is appropriately addressed	49%
Emergency and short stay units, average of all composites	57%

Average percent positive across hospitals; voluntary data, not a representative sample of US hospitals. Source: AHRQ report; AHRQ summary.

A service agent wearing a headset stands at a counter facing a simulated customer with a hand raised, practising how to de-escalate a difficult conversation. — A worker faces a customer.

What the Cochrane review found

A Cochrane review of 9 studies with 1,688 participants found training may increase knowledge and positive attitudes, but may not have an effect on workplace aggression toward healthcare workers. See what the VR de-escalation studies measured.

Safe Work Month

What should you bring to the October safety meeting?

Your claims by mechanism, the roles on your roster that match the national pattern, time lost on psychological claims, and a before and after measure.

Colleagues sit at a round table in a simulated meeting room, a man in the middle wearing the headset. — Colleagues meet at a round table.

Your claims beside the national lines

Set your claims against the national series; mark the listed occupations on your roster.

A woman in her thirties runs a pre-start toolbox talk wearing the headset in cold dawn light, crew in hi-vis standing by. — A crew leader runs a briefing.

The duty behind the numbers

Employers must eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks, including violence and aggression. See psychosocial hazards at work and occupational violence rules in Australia.

A supervisor wearing a headset sits beside a simulated driver in a depot crib room, the driver quiet and holding a mug, practising a return-to-work conversation. — A supervisor beside a quiet driver.

A before and after measure

Ask staff, before and after training, whether they are trained to de-escalate and whether aggression is appropriately addressed. See the speaking up authority gap.

Cite this research

Free to quote and cite with a link to this page. Name the version you read, so readers can see what has changed since.

APA 7

Loza, K. (2026, September 27). Workplace violence and psychological claims: what a decade of data shows (Version 1.0). People Tech Revolution. https://peopletechrevolution.com/insights/workplace-violence-claims-data

Data: Safe Work Australia National Dataset detailed data file (1 October 2025), Key WHS Statistics 2025 and violence and aggression report (August 2024); BLS; AHRQ; WorkSafe New Zealand; Health NZ figures reported by RNZ. Read 26 September 2026. Limits: Australian figures count serious claims, a working week or more off, not incidents; AHRQ data is voluntary and not representative of US hospitals; countries measure differently and are not compared.