Mental health in the profession

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Mental health is sometimes described as a continuum, where good mental health is at one end, and mild to severe mental illnesses at the other end. Throughout our lives, we may move back and forth along this continuum.

In architecture, managing mental health requires understanding risks and protective factors, employer and employee responsibilities, and the availability of mental health resources

Page contents

• What is a mentally healthy workplace?
• Mental health issues for the profession overview
  • Students of architecture
  • Graduates of architecture and employees
  • Employers / Management
• Obligations of registered architects
• Resources and further reading

What is a mentally healthy workplace ?

Architecture can be a demanding yet rewarding career, with many professionals finding deep satisfaction in its challenges, problem-solving, and potential for positive impact. However, prolonged intensity, high responsibility without sufficient influence, and poor work conditions can lead to exhaustion, distress, and mental health struggles.

Long hours, tight deadlines, high stress, and inadequate remuneration can further contribute to burnout and disengagement. Addressing these systemic issues requires a shift beyond individual coping strategies to broader industry-wide change.

In response, the Wellbeing of Architects research project, funded by the Australian Research Council and supported by key industry partners, has examined the intersection of workplace culture, professional identity, and mental wellbeing in architecture.

Surveys conducted in 2021 and 2023 revealed declining scores in personal wellbeing, psychological distress, and burnout, with architects rating significantly lower than the Australian average.

Despite challenges, many architects remain engaged due to the profession’s creative problem-solving nature and its potential to enrich lives. Survey responses highlight a strong belief in architecture’s capacity to improve communities, with practitioners finding fulfillment in creating spaces that people enjoy. Aligning architectural work with broader wellbeing initiatives can empower architects to extend their problem-solving ethos to their own mental health.

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Mental health issues for the profession

Students of architecture

The Wellbeing of Architects Student Survey 2023, conducted by RMIT and Monash University, revealed a further decline in student mental health compared to 2021. Work habits such as long hours, unpaid work, and perfectionism, which are ingrained in university culture, carry over into professional practice, leading graduates to accept excessive workloads and undervaluation.

Challenges faced by students of Architecture:

• Financial insecurity: High tuition fees, student debt, and low-paid or unpaid internships.
• Long hours and overwork culture: Excessive hours, burnout, and lack of personal time.
• Lack of institutional support: Limited mental health resources, guidance, and policies.
• High expectations and perfectionism: Unrealistic deadlines, constant critique, and pressure to be perfect.
• Unclear career pathways: Uncertainty around registration, limited career options, and lack of mentorship.
• Transition to professional practice: Work habits from university carry into jobs, with graduates accepting undervaluation and excessive workloads.

To support student wellbeing, universities offer a range of mental health support services including counselling services and access to health professionals, student mentors and special consideration policies for those facing difficulties Help is also available from general practitioners, who can provide a referral to a psychologist or other mental health specialist, and through online services such as SANE Australia, Mindspot Clinic and Headspace.

Workplace Initiatives also play a crucial role in fostering student wellbeing. Architectural practices can support students by providing mentors who understand academic pressures, providing flexible work arrangements around study deadlines, and fostering a culture where seeking help is encouraged without stigma. For further details, refer to the Managers and employees section, where these initiatives are discussed in more depth.

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Graduates of architecture and employees

For both graduates and employees, the challenges and patterns that begin at university continue into professional practice, creating significant barriers to well-being and career progression

Challenges faced by graduates of architecture and employees are:

• Employment insecurity and financial strain: Many graduates face unstable contracts, low salaries, and mounting student debt. The combination of financial stress and expectations of long hours and unpaid overtime exacerbates poor mental health.
• Long hours and workplace culture: Overwork is normalized, with tight deadlines leading to excessive overtime and poor work-life balance. The culture of perfectionism and unpaid labor that begins in university continues into professional practice, impacting overall wellbeing.
• Career progression and support: Graduates often struggle with unclear career pathways, lack of structured mentorship, and limited training, leading to uncertainty about professional growth and registration. In high-pressure environments, inadequate recognition and support contribute to disengagement.
• Workplace wellbeing and industry culture: High-stress, competitive workplaces can foster toxic environments, where poor leadership and management fail to prioritize wellbeing. Diversity and inclusion challenges also disproportionately affect women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and professionals from culturally diverse backgrounds.

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Employers and managers

Creating a mentally healthy workplace is not only beneficial for employee well-being but also essential for fostering a productive, engaged, and sustainable workforce. Employers play a critical role in shaping workplace culture, mitigating stressors, and ensuring compliance with mental health obligations.

Given the prevalence of mental illness in Australia, managers are likely to supervise employees facing mental health challenges, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Employers must comply with legislative requirements in relation to the management of mental illness in the workplace (read more here). Information about your legal rights and responsibilities can be found in the Acumen note Workplace Health and Safety (WHS).
Under WHS legislation, (as applicable to each state and territory) employers and managers have a duty of care to:

• identify possible workplace practices, actions or incidents that may cause, or contribute to employees mental illness
• take proactive actions to eliminate or minimise these risks.

To meet NSCA ethical and professional competency standards, architectural firms must prioritize mental well-being, equity, and professional integrity. This requires:

• cultivating inclusive, respectful, and psychologically safe workplaces
• implementing workload management strategies that prevent burnout
• ensuring fair and transparent employment practices
• providing clear career progression pathways and mentorship opportunities
• offering mental health resources and leadership training to promote awareness and proactive support.

Workplace strategies for mental health and well-being
Informed by Parlour’s Guides to Wellbeing in Architectural Practice, evidence-based strategies emphasize systemic change over reliance on individual resilience. Key recommendations include:

1. Create a positive and inclusive workplace culture
   • Foster a culture of respect and collaboration, ensuring all employees feel valued and supported.
   • Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by addressing barriers for women, LGBTQ+ individuals, neurodiverse employees, and professionals from Indigenous and diverse cultural backgrounds.
   • Establish zero-tolerance policies for workplace bullying, discrimination, and harassment.
2. Improve work conditions and reduce burnout
   
   • Set realistic project deadlines to avoid excessive overtime and stress.
   • Encourage work-life balance by promoting flexible work arrangements, including hybrid/remote work and reasonable work hours.
   • Ensure workload distribution is fair, preventing overburdening of junior staff.
3.  Provide clear career progression and professional development
   
   • Offer structured mentorship programs to support graduates and emerging professionals.
   • Establish clear pathways to registration and career advancement within the firm.
   • Invest in ongoing training and upskilling to help employees adapt to new technologies and industry changes.
4. Support employee wellbeing and mental health
   • Provide access to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and mental health resources.
   • Encourage open discussions about mental health and remove stigma around seeking support.
   • Train leaders and managers in mental health awareness, ensuring they recognize signs of stress and burnout in their teams.
5. Ensure fair pay and job security
   
   • Offer competitive salaries and avoid exploitative employment conditions (eg unpaid overtime).
   • Provide job stability, minimizing reliance on short-term or casual contracts. Recognize and reward contributions, ensuring employees feel valued.

To create truly supportive workplaces, leadership must take a holistic approach to well-being. Employees should be seen as whole individuals, whose mental health, work-life balance, and professional growth directly impact business success. By embedding mental health into organizational culture, rather than treating it as an afterthought, architectural firms can build resilient, engaged, and high-performing teams while upholding NSCA professional standards.

In addition to supporting others, employers and managers must also acknowledge their own well-being needs, recognising the sustained pressures and responsibilities associated with leadership roles in architectural practice.

Senior managers, practice leaders, and sole practitioners often:

• balance profitability, project delivery, client expectations, and team welfare
• work long hours under high responsibility
• experience stress, burnout, and guilt when prioritising their own well-being.

Leadership self-care is a professional necessity. A leader’s mental and physical health directly influences decision-making, communication, and workplace culture — and healthy leaders foster healthier, more resilient teams.

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Obligations of registered architects

Under the NSCA ethical and professional competency requirements, obligations related to mental health extend beyond managers to include at all levels, ensuring a profession-wide commitment to well-being. These responsibilities are essential to fostering a sustainable, ethical, and mentally healthy architectural industry.

• Promoting a mentally healthy workplace – Architects must contribute to a culture that prioritizes mental well-being, inclusivity, and respect.
• Sustainable work practices – Professionals should advocate for balanced workloads, reasonable hours, and strategies to prevent burnout.
• Mentorship and support – Senior architects have a responsibility to guide emerging professionals, fostering an environment where seeking help is encouraged.
• Mental health awareness – All architects should engage in ongoing learning about workplace mental health, recognizing signs of distress and supporting colleagues.

By fulfilling these obligations, mental health awareness and support become shared responsibilities across the entire workforce, not limited to leaders.

When all employees take a holistic view of mental health—seeing individuals as whole people whose work-life balance and professional growth matter—the result is stronger, more sustainable practices. Embedding mental health into organisational culture, rather than treating it as an afterthought, creates environments where both employees and leaders can thrive.

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Resources and support services

The Institute's Online HR Hub includes further information about mental health in the workplace including wellbeing resources.

The Institute’s Senior Counsellor Service provides confidential assistance to architects who may need guidance or advice on projects, client matters or in relation to their professional responsibilities (contact your local chapter).

An Employee Assistance Program is a confidential counselling service provided by employers to their employees.

• Architects Benevolent Society is dedicated to helping architects, assistants, technologists, technicians, landscape architects
• Architects Mental Wellbeing Forum Toolkit
• Australian Human Rights Commission provides information on employees’ rights to a discrimination free workplace.
• Beyond Blue provides support and information about how businesses have created mentally healthy workplaces.
• Black Dog Institute provides educational programs and resources for health professionals, community groups, workplaces and schools.
• Conversations for life® App provides knowledge, tools and skills to plan conversations with individuals whose wellbeing and mental health is of concern. This might include a colleague, client or architect.
• Colourtation managing stress or anxiety can be helped by the act of colouring. Dr Stan Rodski, University of Melbourne, and Jake Dowling, an architecture student, have developed a range of colouring books designed to create a calming or meditative state.
• Fair Work Commission provides information on national anti-bullying laws.
• Heads Up provides business information that demonstrates how to identify mental health risks and implement control measures.
• Headspace provides mental health support for young people (12 to 25 years)
• Lifeline provides all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services.
• Mental Health First Aid is an evidence-based training course aimed at supporting a mentally healthy workplace.
• Mental health project considers workplace mental health obligations and best practice.
• Parlour notes include Guides to Wellbeing in Architecture Practice, a Toolkit for Mental Health and topics relating to the architecture profession.
• R U OK? provides guidance and resources to help managers and colleagues manage conversations with individuals struggling and prevent suicide.
• SANE Australia provides a helpline and suite of mental health resources for businesses and organisations.
• Student Organised Network for Architects (SONA) is the official student body of the Australian Institute of Architects. SONA represents architecture students from across Australia, organising national, state and local events that provide opportunities for students to collaborate with each other as well as professional designers.
• Suicide call back service a nationwide service that provides professional 24/7 telephone and online counselling to people who are affected by suicide.
• SuperFriend provides information for employees and managers about what to do/what not to do in conversations with anyone they are worried about.
• Workplace prevention of mental health problems guidelines funded by WorkSafe Victoria, through the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research.

References

• The Wellbeing of Architects (n.d.). Publications.
• The Wellbeing of Architects 2023 Student Survey, Primary Report
• The Wellbeing of Architects 2023 Practitioner Survey, Primary Report
• The Wellbeing of Architects, Report on Focus Groups with Practitioners
• The Wellbeing of Architects, Report on Focus Groups with Students
• The Wellbeing of Architects, 2021 Practitioner Survey, Primary Report
• The Wellbeing of Architects, 2021 Student Survey, Primary Report - retrieved from
• Indesignlive (6 April 2021), Wellbeing of architects at work.
• Australian Institute of Architects (02 August 2024), The state of well-being in the architectural profession.
• World Health Organization (17 June 2022), Mental health.
• Parlour (7 May 2024), Guides to Wellbeing in Architecture Practice.

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HR Advice Australia kindly contributed to the content of this note.