If you don’t think you’re getting enough sleep, you’re not the only one!  The Australian Government launched a parliamentary inquiry into the Australian’s sleep following a referral on 13 September 2018 from the Minister for Health, Aged Care and Sport. On April 4, 2019, the committee tabled their findings and stated:

“The Committee Chair, Mr Trent Zimmerman MP, stated that ‘the importance of sleep is often overlooked but it is one of the pillars of a healthy lifestyle. Regularly getting inadequate sleep is linked to a range of serious physical and mental health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and dementia.”

An ABC report stated:

“Sleep problems are a growing and large problem in Australia, and in fact, the research that we’ve seen indicates that something like four out of 10 Australians are not getting adequate sleep on a regular basis,” Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman said”

In 2016 the Unversity of Adelaide conducted the Sleep Health Survey of Australian Adults and noted:

“It is apparent that inadequate sleep, of either duration or quality, and it’s daytime consequences are very common in Australian adults, affecting 33-45% of adults.”

The study also found the impact on work was significant.  They stated:

“In the past month, 17% have missed work because they were sleepy and 17% have also fallen asleep on the job. In the past 3 months, 29% of adults report making errors at work due to sleepiness or sleep problems.  People with sleep problems are significantly more likely to report decreased work productivity (as assessed on the Stanford Presenteeism Scale).”