What's your job about?
I work for the National Disability Insurance Agency in the People & Culture area, as a Mental Health & Wellbeing Officer. I am a part of the Safety & Wellbeing team and my responsibilities include internal & external stakeholder relationships, managing the flu vaccinations, physical fitness programs, creating and updating wellbeing resources & content for the intranet, organizing staff webinars, and any staff enquiries related to mental health & wellbeing. I guess you could say my main role is being the “go-to person” for anything mental health & wellbeing related!
What's your background?
I am from Adelaide and have lived here for most of my life, however I moved to Italy for the last 6 months of my first Bachelor’s degree (in Psychology) to finish my degree at the University of Bergamo. Along the way, my travel experiences took me to the Netherlands for a year (2020/21 - the COVID year!) after meeting my Dutch partner whilst studying in Italy together. From these experiences, I have become very passionate about languages and have learned Italian through school & university, and Dutch from living & working in the Netherlands. Cultural integration is such an important & wonderful thing; I recommend everybody try it at least once in their lives!
I have been with the agency since January last year and started in the 2023 Graduate Program, where I did three rotations within the agency, including in the role I am currently working in now. I have been a Mental Health & Wellbeing Officer (permanently) since the start of 2024 and I love it! It aligns well with my studies and mental health & wellbeing is something that resonates with me. I could talk about it all day, everyday!
Could someone with a different background do your job?
It depends! My job does not necessarily require a mental health study background, but it definitely helps with a lot of the work I do. I think to be in this role, it is essential that you are empathetic, compassionate, caring and understanding. If you’re anything short of that, this may not be the role for you. It is also important to know the “why” of what we do in our team and the way it supports and can positively impact our staff.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I love the team I work with. We are all there to support and lean on each other, whether it's with work tasks or personal challenges. Each person is valued for what they bring to the team, with opportunities to exceed in our strengths, and support from each other for the areas we can improve on. The most rewarding part of my job is seeing the positive impact it can have on staff members. Sharing the amazing resources we have for mental health & wellbeing is such a good feeling, especially when you see the shock and excitement from other staff who do not know we have so much to offer! Also, having staff come back to us with such appreciation for the support we have available with our EAP provider (e.g. counselling, financial counselling, nutrition appointments) makes it worth doing what we do!
What are the limitations of your job?
Naturally, working in the mental health & wellbeing field has its challenges. Some of the information we work with can be heavy, particularly with some topics about mental health. Sometimes we may need to step away, have a breather, and practice some self-care to ensure we don’t take the heavy load with us when we have finished working for the day. Thankfully, we have many supports for this, so we have the chance to debrief, unwind, and look after ourselves. After all, our mental health & wellbeing are just as important!
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...
Take every opportunity that you can! If there are exchange programs at university, enquire about them and go for it! You will never regret an opportunity like this, but you will regret not going
Hold onto your connections, whether they’re study friends, acquaintances in your degree, or anyone else. You never realize how useful it is to know someone else who has done the same degree as you until you’re out of university and wondering what sort of career you want. Work together, support each other and you’ll go further!
“P’s get degrees"—yes, , they do! But unfortunately, they do not get honors or other higher levels of study. So be mindful of this. Always leave room for future study progression. You may not want to at the time of finishing your degree, but you may thank yourself for leaving the door open in the future!