Australia Post appoint its first Chief Mental Health Officer

Australia Post has appointed Simon Brown-Greaves as its first Chief Mental Health Officer, the first of its type for a government business enterprise.

Brown-Greaves is a leader in mental health advocacy and a qualified psychologist and senior executive with over 35 years’ experience.

He has worked with a number of not-for-profits throughout his career, as well as within the government and commercial sectors, including projects with Beyond Blue, Cbus, Australian Bureau of Statistics, and Rural Fire Service (NSW).

Currently, he is the CEO of FBG Group – a company that supports organisations to take a more evidence-based approach to the sustainable mental health of their workforce.

As Chief Mental Health Officer of Australia Post, he will work closely with the Leadership Team and the Board and will apply a risk-based approach to preventing mental health issues.

The role will also ensure the use of latest research and learnings in mental health and psychosocial risk to ensure Australia Post is delivering the best protection and support to its people.

Sue Davies, Executive General Manager People and Culture at Australia Post, said the creation of the role and Brown-Greave’s appointment to it was a natural progression of the work Australia Post has done in recent years, moving from an illness management perspective into a preventative one.

“We’re focused on educating and raising awareness of ways to recognise and minimise mental health issues with training for our people leaders and customer-facing teams to strengthen a culture of collegial care, and we’re excited to have Simon come on board and provide years of experience to help us progress this work even more,” Davies said.

“The size and scale of our organisation gives us a unique opportunity and a moral obligation to lead in this important area, and armed with Simon’s vast knowledge, we have an opportunity to apply learnings across a large and diverse workforce and understand what will be effective in supporting our people and driving a culture of change when it comes to mental health.,” she explained.

Brown-Greaves will also chair a Mental Health Council of external thought leaders in this space to bring the latest thinking, trends and research to challenge the organisation to create an even better workplace, while also positively influencing mental and physical health outcomes in the community.

AusPost said the appointment comes as the organisation continues to focus on not just the physical safety of its people, but also on the mental health and wellbeing of its more than 60,000 strong extended workforce.

The work builds on AusPost’s partnership with Beyond Blue, which connects Australian communities with important mental health initiatives. Beyond Blue’s mental health information has reached more than 6 million letterboxes across Australia, including 4 million prepaid postcards encouraging people to take action to support their mental health by writing to each other to connect.

AusPost also said that through the Post Office network, small business owners were connected with mental health coaching services and more than $75,000 was raised for mental health in 2021.

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Source: Australia Post