As a national mental health not for profit organisation, SANE relies heavily on the commitment of our staff and supporters, so we are thrilled to welcome three passionate new Directors to the SANE Board.
Bringing a wealth of valuable professional expertise, Dr Owen Harris, Dr Anita Moss and Mr Richard Wilson will support our ambitious mission to address mental health inequality and challenge the status quo.
Importantly, all three also have personal understanding of what it means to live with mental ill-health, in themselves and in loved ones, reinforcing our continuing commitment to placing lived experience at the heart of everything we do.
Our recent Strategic Plan outlines the big plans we have in place for the next five years of SANE activity. We’re excited to have Anita, Owen and Richard join us on this critical journey.
Dr Mark Cross and Dr Rod Farmer are retiring from the Board as Directors from December 2022 and we’d like to recognise their significant contributions to SANE.
Dr Farmer has played an integral role in the transformation of SANE’s digital support services, in particular the design and development of our world-first guided service. His expert guidance enabled SANE to build a supportive and inclusive consumer-focussed space.
As a psychiatrist and person with lived experience, Dr Cross has played a critical role in destigmatising complex mental health conditions and helping us advocate for better access to care and support services.
Both have been essential to the development and implementation of our ‘Bridging the Gaps’ strategy. We cannot thank them enough for the dedication and hard work they’ve brought to SANE operations.
Dr Anita Moss MBBS FRACGP GradDip (Women’s Health) Dip (Obstetrics)
"I’ve been privileged to be connected with SANE for a number of years, both as a Peer Ambassador and as a referring GP, and I’ve seen first hand the enormous impact of their work. As a Board Director, I’ll be using my own lived experience as well as my clinical expertise to support SANE in their goal of eliminating mental health inequity and discrimination. I’m looking forward to being part of creating a better world for those with complex mental health needs."
Dr Anita Moss is a medical practitioner who has been a Peer Ambassador for SANE since 2016. She has worked as a GP obstetrician for over 20 years, and her primary motivation in her clinic is to provide high quality education and information to her clients, particularly young people, empowering them to make informed decisions related to their own healthcare. For the last five years, Anita has been regularly visiting a rural town in Northeast Victoria, where she works in an Indigenous Health Service, which she feels is one of the most meaningful and rewarding roles she has. In 2022, Anita completed the Royal Australian College of General Practitioner’s Future Leaders Program, allowing her to refine her leadership skills around values, effective communication, strategic thinking, organisation dynamics and advocacy.
Anita’s greatest joy is raising her two teenage sons who keep her busy on the Mornington Peninsula. Anita’s lived experience of her own mental health struggles and caring for a family member with complex mental illness, have inspired her to contribute to and support the vital work that SANE conducts in the community to reduce stigma, contribute to positive change and to ease the burden of suffering related to mental health.
Mr Richard Wilson BA (Hons) MPubPol EMBA
“SANE’s strategy for expansion is exciting. Our plans to help those with complex mental health issues access the services they need in an increasingly bureaucratic and gap-riddled system has the potential to help thousands of people. I’m really proud to join the SANE Board and help them to deliver on its vision.”
Richard is a senior executive in the Australian resources sector. His lived experience of complex mental health issues is through friends who have struggled to navigate the labyrinthine and disconnected systems required to diagnose and treat their illnesses. He was a Principal at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) from 2017-2022, where he advised ASX100 companies on transformation, change management and strategy. In this role he helped senior managers develop strategies to realise organisational objectives, designed activities to deliver goals and plans, and advised on the most efficient and productive ways
to resource organisations to achieve their aims. Prior to BCG, Richard was a senior public policy practitioner in government, industry associations and listed companies, where he analysed the effects of proposed policy proposals and suggested alternatives to senior decision makers. He holds qualifications in political science, public policy and management from Australian and overseas universities, and has previous non-executive experience on the governing bodies of the Energy Efficiency Council and Pipe Bands Australia.
Dr Owen Harris MBBS BMedSci FRACGP GradCertBusMan
"As a person with significant lived experience of complex mental health and a deep personal understanding of the impacts of stigma and discrimination, I was drawn to SANE's vision and track record for improving lives. Having joined SANE as a Peer Ambassador, then acting as Board observer (supported by VMIAC) for six months, I’m honoured and humbled to become a Board Director. I am particularly excited about future work ahead as Co-Chair of the inaugural SANE Lived Experience Advisory Committee."
Dr Owen Harris joined SANE as a Peer Ambassador in 2021 and was appointed a board member in 2022. He has lived experience of Eating Disorder, Major Depression, Social Anxiety, Substance Use Disorder and Psychosis. He has a deeply personal understanding of how stigma prevents people from accessing services, delays their recovery and prevents them from living to their fullest potential. In his professional life Owen works as a General Practitioner in Melbourne and is dedicated to empowering people to make the best possible decisions for themselves while navigating complex systems and managing their day to day lives. Owen is passionate about improving access to support and treatment for marginalised communities and fighting stigma. He joins SANE proud of all the work that the organisation has already achieved and excited about future possibilities.
