Australia Post has appointed Simon Brown-Greaves as its first chief mental health officer.
Brown-Greaves is a mental health advocate, a qualified psychologist and a senior executive with over 35 years of experience. He has worked with a number of not-for-profit companies throughout his career, as well as within the government and commercial sectors, including projects with Beyond Blue, Cbus, the 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.
At 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 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. 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 a better workplace, while also positively influencing mental and physical health outcomes in the community.
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 six million letterboxes across Australia including four 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 A$75,000 (US$51,900) was raised for mental health in 2021.
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 transportation and logistics industries in Australia. Paul Graham, managing director and CEO of Australia Post, is also chair of the HHTSF board, which comprises directors with a mix of industry and skills-based backgrounds, including national road transportation and warehouse operators.
Sue Davies, executive general manager, people and culture, Australia Post, said, “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 give 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.”