Australia Post Appoints First Chief Mental Health Officer

Australia Post today announced the appointment of Simon Brown-Greaves as its first Chief Mental Health Officer, the first of its type for a Government Business Enterprise, as the organization 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.

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Mr. Brown-Greaves is a leader in mental health advocacy and a qualified psychologist and senior executive with over 35 years of experience. Mr. Brown-Greaves 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 organizations to take a more evidence-based approach to the sustainable mental health of their workforce.

Australia Post Leading The Way With Workplace Mental Health Support in Australia

The role will work closely with the Leadership Team and the Board and will apply a risk-based approach to preventing mental health issues, and use the latest research and learnings in mental health and psychosocial risk to ensure Australia Post is delivering the best protection and support to its people.

Australia Post Executive General Manager People and Culture, Sue Davies, said the creation of the role and Mr. 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 recognize and minimize 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,”

“The size and scale of our organization 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.”

Sue Davies, Executive General Manager People and Culture, Australia Post.

Mr. 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 organization to create an even better workplace, while also positively influencing mental and physical health outcomes in the community.

Australia Post is widely recognized as having one of the leading approaches to mental health, and last year won awards at both Comcare Awards and the National Safety Council Awards for its Early Matched Care at Australia Post (EMCAP) program.

The work builds on Australia Post’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.

In addition, 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 last year.

Australia Post is also a member of the Healthy Heads in Trucks and Sheds Foundation (HHTSF), which exists to promote the prevention and understanding of mental health issues that exist across the road transport and logistics industries in Australia.

Australia Post Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Graham is Chair of the HHTSF Board, which is comprised of directors with a mix of industry and skills-based backgrounds, including major national road transport and warehouse operators and other key subject matter experts.