Supporting the appointment of multiple regional Chairs to guide planning, commissioning and community engagement for a transformed mental health and wellbeing system.
The Brief
Future Leadership™ was engaged to appoint multiple Chairs to newly created interim regional mental health and wellbeing governance bodies. These interim entities were a key recommendation of a royal commission into the state’s mental health system and were established to advise the department on planning, commissioning, coordination and oversight of mental health and wellbeing services.
The client required experienced Chairs with:
- Demonstrated public sector governance capability and board experience
- Deep understanding of mental health and wellbeing, including clinical, system and policy perspectives
- Strong regional knowledge spanning metropolitan growth corridors and rural and remote communities
- Capacity to centre lived experience, carers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and diverse populations in decision making
- Skills to collaborate across health, human services, local government, NGO, community controlled and for-purpose sectors during a period of significant reform.
9.19.1
Candidate net Promote Score
Future Leadership combines truly personalised relationships with innovative technology solutions to ensure an approachable and efficient process for all our Net Promoter Score across clients, successful candidates and unsuccessful candidates is well above industry standard.
10,000+10,000+
Candidates supported every year
We maintain genuine relationships with past candidates and continue to support them with leadership solutions long term, after they land their role.
50.5%50.5%
Senior Women Appointed since 2002
Over half of the executive search assignments undertaken by our team have resulted in the appointment of outstanding female or LGBTQI+ leaders to high profile roles.
98%98%
Candidate Retention Rate for 12 months since 2002
Our thorough briefing process and ability to engage passive candidates mean that we go to great lengths to find the right person for the role – long term!
The Process
Future Leadership™ undertook a comprehensive search process tailored to the establishment of new interim regional governance structures during a period of major state-wide mental health reform.
Key steps included:
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Briefing and Strategy Development
Engaged closely with the state health department’s mental health division to understand the requirements of the new interim regional bodies, their advisory role, and the governance principles expected of appointed Chairs. This included aligning the search strategy with the broader reform goals arising from the royal commission recommendations. -
Solution Building
Developed a customised project plan that addressed departmental requirements, timelines, and regional representation needs. This included designing a comprehensive advertising and search strategy aimed at building an expansive candidate pool across metropolitan and regional areas. -
Targeted Candidate Search
Identified and engaged a broad and diverse pool of prospective candidates with the capability to support an integrated mental health and wellbeing system. The search emphasised regional balance and the identification of individuals who understood public sector governance and mental health system principles. -
Candidate Longlisting
Conducted a full market scan that resulted in an extensive longlist of qualified candidates, 21 of whom progressed to a first panel interview with the client. This ensured strong representation from across all eight regions. -
Client Collaboration and Selection Support
Partnered closely with the department’s internal project team throughout evaluation stages, supporting interview coordination, candidate review, and final selection aligned to governance needs and reform objectives.
The Outcome
The process resulted in the appointment of eight highly capable Chairs to interim regional mental health and wellbeing governance bodies, each bringing a distinctive combination of governance acumen, mental health expertise and deep regional insight.
Collectively, the appointed Chairs:
- Provided seasoned governance leadership, with experience chairing or serving on boards and committees across hospitals, regional health services, mental health NGOs, disability organisations, local government and statutory bodies.
- Brought deep system knowledge spanning acute and community mental health, primary care, suicide prevention, Aboriginal health, social services, housing, and regional development, enabling more integrated region‑based planning and commissioning advice.
- Strengthened the voice of lived experience and diverse communities at governance level, including consumer, carer, Aboriginal, culturally and linguistically diverse, LGBTIQ+ and disability perspectives.
- Increased the department’s capacity to implement royal commission recommendations through Chairs who are familiar with complex reform programs, commissioning and evaluation, and who are able to navigate system interfaces between state, Commonwealth and local partners.
- Established a foundation for the future permanent regional bodies, with Chairs who can mentor emerging leaders, model collaborative regional governance, and contribute to sustainable mental health system change.
The strong partnership between the client and Future Leadership™ also led to further engagement to support the recruitment of additional members to these interim regional bodies, consolidating governance capability and regional representation at scale.
