Fonterra Oceania has been passionate about creating healthy environments for its people, farmers and communities.
One in five people in Australia experiences mental illness in a year, and 47 percent of Kiwis will experience mental distress or illness in their lifetime.
Since 2020, Fonterra has been running the Healthy Minds program at Fonterra’s Australian sites, offices and local communities, highlighting the importance of making genuine conversations around mental health a part of everyday life.
Starting in Australia and led by Wayne Schwass, founder of Puka Up and the first New Zealand-born Australian Football League (AFL) player known to be of Māori heritage, Healthy Minds wellbeing sessions focused on his journey through mental health challenges and how he worked to overcome them.
With Schwass’ guidance, Fonterra’s Healthy Minds program has encouraged conversations about their mental health as they would their physical health.
Gunn has been a popular Kiwi and television personality and he led the sessions in a humorous style and opened up about personal battles. He challenged the teams to consider how they look after themselves and the people around them.
Fonterra Oceania General Manager for Health, Safety and Wellbeing, Ekaterina Antoniadis, said Healthy Minds has grown and evolved over the last five years, becoming a critical part of the Oceania team culture.
“When we started Healthy Minds in 2020, we knew it was a special program. It’s been rewarding to see it grow to become an integral part of our culture,” said Antoniadis.
“Now, with the launch of Healthy Minds for our people in New Zealand, we’re continuing to build awareness and support for each other through normalising and destigmatising mental health conversations.”
She added that the most important was creating safe spaces for people to connect and communicate.
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