Among the findings were that just 19 per cent of Australian workers were consistently thriving, with only nine per cent of people in legal industries saying that they thrive as such.

Those in law were just bested by people in the accounting industry, with 11 per cent of that demographic reporting consistent thriving.

Thirty-seven per cent of Australian workers demonstrated resilience, the survey reported, with those workers describing themselves as “living well, despite struggles” and showed no statistically significant difference between job satisfaction or job performance.

Across the board, CEOs were almost twice as likely as their employees to be thriving, South Australians (27 per cent) ranked better than all other states and territories, with Western Australia (12 per cent) ranking last, and men (23.3 per cent) were more likely than women (14.1 per cent) to thrive.

The survey noted that while gender may play a role, it was higher levels of positive emotions, a sense of engagement, and job autonomy that differentiated Australian workers who were consistently thriving.

Improving wellbeing at work however, is not a solo endeavour the survey continued.

“Workers who were consistently thriving were more likely to be part of a team that provided a sense of psychological safety and support. They were also more likely to be working for organisations where wellbeing support options go beyond Employee Assistance Programs and the popular three Fs of wellbeing (fruit, fitness, and flu shots), to also include the three Ms of wellbeing (meaning, motivation, and mentoring),” it said.

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“What surprised us most in ‘The Wellbeing Lab Workplace Survey’ results were the high percentage of Australian workers (37 per cent) who reported that they were ‘living well, despite struggles’,” said lead researcher Dr Peggy Kern.

“Particularly as we found no statistically significant differences on a number of outcomes, like job satisfaction and performance, between these workers and those who were ‘consistently thriving’.”

“This suggests that there is a resilient portion of the Australian workforce who, due to mental or physical illness or other struggles, may never describe themselves as ‘thriving’ or be rated as having high levels of wellbeing,” she cautioned.

“Workplaces need to be careful that in their drive for improving wellbeing, they don’t stigmatise those who are struggling, but instead learn from and better support these resilient workers.”

“We also found that there were practical steps individuals, teams and workplaces can take to improve and sustain wellbeing. These don’t need to be expensive or complicated approaches but can be as simple as creating a common language that embraces the diverse nature of wellbeing and a shared evidence-based toolbox that supports the 3Ms of wellbeing – meaning, motivation and mentoring – in addition to the 3Fs – fruit, fitness and flu shots.”