Dawn O'Neil AM

Wellbeing Ambassador

Dawn O'Neil was previously the CEO of Lifeline Australia, one of Australia's largest charities, and CEO of beyondblue and has over 20 years' leadership, policy and Board experience at all different levels.

Today, Dawn is a well-known thought leader in Mental Health and is passionate about supporting increased wellbeing of senior leaders and their teams by reducing the incidence of burnout in the workplace to enable better decision making, and a culture of wellness across all sectors.

Lifeline, one of Australia's premier life-saving organisations, was considered to be significantly better organised and resourced as a result of her decade at the helm. She led the organisation from a disparate federated grouping of over 40 boards to a more streamlined, nationally coordinated, well governed and highly regarded organisation with secure federal funding of over $14 million-a-year for its telephone and digital network.

Since 2011 Dawn has worked as a consultant in collaborative leadership, mental health, autism, disability and suicide prevention policy development and service reform. In 2017 Dawn joined the eWater Group, fulfilling another lifelong passion around environmental sustainability and reducing our chemical footprint.

Most recently Dawn has joined Fisher Leadership as an Ambassador of the Breathing Space Executive Mental Health and Wellbeing Program.

Dawn is well known as a collaborative, visionary and strategic thinker and is highly regarded for leading major reforms in social and mental health sectors. With a passion for ongoing learning and a genuine curiosity about life Dawn is always looking for new ways to think about complex problems and how to contribute to innovative thinking or public understanding.

In 2009 she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for services to the Community and to Mental Health and in 2010 she received the Outstanding Contribution Award from Suicide Prevention Australia.