MEDIA RELEASE: 10 May 2023
Australia, Thursday 4 May 2023: SuperFriend, leading workplace mental health not-for-profit, is pleased to announce its Board of Directors with the appointment of Deanne Wilden as the new Board Director and the promotion of Rose Kerlin to Deputy Chairperson.
Ms Wilden is a highly regarded executive with extensive legal and strategic experience in the superannuation and insurance industries. She serves as General Counsel and Executive at Australian Retirement Trust and has held Associate General positions at Q Super, Project Nexus Stream Lead, and Lawyers on Demand.
Ms Kerlin, current SuperFriend Board Member and the Chief Member Officer of AustralianSuper, brings a wealth of experience to her new role as Deputy Chair. Her appointment follows the resignation of former Deputy Chair, Teifi Whatley, effective from 18th April 2023.
"I would like to thank Teifi Whatley for her outstanding contributions during her 16-year tenure with SuperFriend,” said Nicholas Vamvakas, Chairperson of SuperFriend.
“The addition of Deanne Wilden to the SuperFriend Board of Directors, along with Rose Kerlin's promotion to Deputy Chair, is a significant step in the evolution of our organisation. Their collective expertise will play a crucial role in our continued efforts to dive deeper into workplace mental health and provide Australian workplaces and industries with more practical and contemporary insights, " said Nicholas.
In addition to the new appointments, SuperFriend CEO Darren Black has announced a new strategic direction for the organisation. Shifting focus from awareness raising, SuperFriend will work with organisations to implement tangible mental health and wellbeing interventions that drive positive outcomes for employees and businesses.
“SuperFriend's new strategic direction marks a significant shift from raising awareness to driving meaningful action on workplace mental health. It’s time for action and workplaces to realise they need to do more and move beyond compliance.” said Darren.
As SuperFriend prepares to launch its signature annual report, 2022 Indicators of a Thriving Workplace survey - the country’s largest survey of Australian workers - the organisation’s new direction is set to support industry further in achieving better mental health outcomes for national workers.
“SuperFriend is reinvesting in our research to understand better what makes a thriving workplace across different industries. Our Five Domains framework and industry-specific insights will be customised to support workplace leaders and teams responsible for People & Culture, Health & Safety, and Wellbeing. As part of this new direction, SuperFriend is committed to working directly with high-risk industries and businesses ready to take a proactive approach. Our goal is to equip them with actionable information that they can use to shift the dial on workplace mental health and wellbeing, as well as boosting business outcomes,” adds Darren.
For more information about SuperFriend and the upcoming release of 2022 Indicators of a Thriving Workplace survey , please visit: https://superfriend.com.au/
