Mental health guardian Christine Morgan

Christine Morgan was a little over a year into her new role as the Prime Minister’s suicide prevention adviser when the landscape changed in a way nobody could have predicted. Her task had always been immense, but now it affected every single Australian. Fortunately, Christine is an optimist.

“The bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic are very real opportunities to highlight the fact that our mental health is as integral to us as our physical health,” Christine says. Australians are resilient, she believes, and hard-wired to help each other out. She has faith that those qualities will get us through the pandemic. “We can come out the other side with that sense reinforced.”

Christine has always been drawn to working with those in need. When she finished school, though, she opted for law, but after rising through the corporate ranks she took a more junior role at Wesley Mission. Suddenly she was working with children in foster care, families in distress and people with severe disabilities. She had found her calling.

“I was totally blindsided by one beautiful, beautiful woman in her 40s,” Christine recalls. She had an intellectual disability and “she had three words in her vocabulary that had to describe her entire existence, and I was just blown away by the people who supported her and took the time to really try to understand what she needed.”

Christine has had many encounters that moved her deeply, and they all shared one quality: courage. During this time, her message is to stay connected and protect your own mental health so you can then help others. “We can come out of this ‘warfare’ with a real sense of that Aussie willingness to reach out and care for each other,” she says.

Genevieve Gannon

#InThisTogether is the National Mental Health Commission’s campaign to support the wellbeing of Australians. Visit mentalhealthcommission.gov.au