Guest: Jack Heath
Presenter: Wayne Bucklar
Guest Bio: Jack Heath, the chief executive of SANE Australia, has been working to build better lives and give voice to the challenges and achievements of Australians affected by mental illness for close to two decades. In 1997, following the suicide of his 20-year-old cousin, Jack founded the Inspire Foundation, with the idea of using the internet to prevent youth suicide. Inspired by people with mental illness, and driven by his personal experience and previous work in the youth mental health sector, Jack seized the opportunity to become the CEO of SANE Australia in 2012. Jacks says he derives much of his inspiration from people with mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar, who are holding down a job.
Segment overview: In today’s Health Supplier Segment, we welcome SANE CEO Jack Heath as he shares inspiring insights about their organization with us. They work to help all Australians living with a mental illness lead a better life through support, training and education. About two years ago SANE Australia conducted a workplace survey about depression which found that one in four people in the workforce reported that they had experienced depression. It also found that Australians are far less likely to admit to their employer that they have depression. When compared to a similar survey done across Europe, 25 per cent of people who had depression said that they wouldn’t tell their employer while in Australia that figure was almost doubled at 41 per cent. Jack explains this difference to be attributed to the stigma that Australia has a team-based culture and we don’t want to let down our fellow workers.