3-minute read

This World Mental Health Day, we share how nbn is helping support its employees by fostering a safe and inclusive workplace for all.

At nbn, our people are central to delivering the company’s purpose of helping lift Australia’s digital capability.

We know our people need the right environment and support to do their best work – that’s why their physical and mental wellbeing is our priority.

A safe and inclusive workplace

“We know that one in three individuals will experience a mental health crisis at some point in their life,” says Grace Singh, General Manager Safety, Environment and Wellbeing at nbn.

“And, if you think about it, we've got five, nearly six generations in the workforce – that's a very wide range of issues, concerns or levels of crisis that may be experienced.”

It’s why Grace and her team are so focused on encouraging health and wellbeing through the range of services and benefits that nbn employees can tap into.

“At nbn, our philosophy is that we genuinely care about our people. We want our people to feel safe, respected and included in all that we do, and that they're thriving and engaged in the work they do every day.”

It’s personal

More than twenty years ago, Grace’s Mum was injured in a workplace accident. While driving between the two sites she supervised, a fatigued driver in a B-double semitrailer hit her car.

“I got to the hospital first after the call to my Dad,” says Grace.

“I had to tell him that she was airlifted from the scene with seven major fractures in her spine, a fractured skull and brain damage.”

Grace’s Mum spent eight months in hospital, and years in physical rehabilitation and injury care. She has no memory of her life before the accident and an acquired mental condition since.

“She is an amazing woman and an inspiration,” says Grace.

“If you see her and hear her today, you’d never know this was life for her over the last 22 years and our family’s ongoing need to support her to lead a full and active life. This drives my purpose professionally and personally, to be authentic and people focused.”

Life at nbn

So, how is nbn helping to create and maintain a healthy, happy and safe environment for its people?

One of the ways is looking at processes, says Grace.

“We are continuously looking at the work we do and finding better ways of doing that work so that we can remove waste in processes, provide operational simplicity to reduce stress and manual work, and to really think about how best that work can be done.

“And that promotes physical and psychological safety in the work we do.”

nbn also invests in initiatives and programs to address opportunities from a physical and psychosocial wellbeing perspective, says Grace.

These include support through nbn’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and people leader check-ins, annual health checks including skin checks and flu vaccinations, plus a range of wellbeing webinars and activities.

One such event took place this World Mental Health Day on Monday 10 October 2022, when nbn invited founder of Heart On My Sleeve, Mitch Wallis, to share his story with employees.

Heart on your sleeve

Mitch is well on his way to achieving his goal of transforming the lives of one billion people to be more mentally healthy.

Holding a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology, Mitch draws on seven successful years in the corporate world at Microsoft, and more than 20 years of lived experienced with mental ill health, including anxiety, depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, to pursue his lifelong mission: ‘change the way the world feels’.

Mitch’s story and message is important for nbn’s people to hear, says Grace.

“People often feel that their career can be limited by sharing their vulnerabilities – we want our people to feel safe to speak up. We want them to feel cared for. We want them to be able to openly share.

“We want our people to feel that they can wear their heart on their sleeve, and they can talk through something, whether it's with somebody they know, whether it's with a colleague, whether it's through our EAP.”

And it’s not only on World Mental Health Day, but every day.

"One of the reasons why great people join and stay at nbn, is that they are genuinely cared for. We foster wellbeing so our people can be their whole self, both mentally and physically, and feel safe and included.”

World Mental Health Day

A global initiative locally led by Mental Health Australia, this World Mental Health Day reminds everyone to ‘Look after your mental health, Australia’.

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Header image: (left to right) Mitch Wallis from Heart On My Sleeve; Grace Singh, General Manager Safety, Environment and Wellbeing at nbn; Felicity Ross, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at nbn and Executive Sponsor for nbn's World Mental Health Day event; Wade Richardson, Manager Health and Wellbeing Programs at nbn.