Georgie Harman AO says her recent recognition in The King’s Birthday 2025 Honours list makes her “want to work harder to advocate for people who don’t have the position, platform and privileges” that she does.  

“[It’s the] people with lived and living experience of mental health issues, suicidality, exclusion and discrimination, who have shared with me what matters to them and schooled me on what I needed to know,” she says.  

Georgie has been chief executive at Beyond Blue since 2014. She is also deputy chair of the Australian National Advisory Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, patron of Out for Australia, patron of Pride in Diversity and board member of Kilfinan Australia.  

She was formerly director of Mental Health Australia, deputy chief executive officer of the National Mental Health Commission, inaugural executive director of the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, and inaugural board member of the Victorian Pride Centre.  

Georgie was appointed an Officer of the Order for distinguished service to the mental health sector, to the LGBTQIA+ community, and to not-for-profit organisations in The King’s Birthday 2025 Honours list in June.

“[The recognition] was overwhelming and made me think about the incredible people who had been in my corner over so many years, and whose work it celebrates,” she says.  

“I arrived in Australia from the United Kingdom 25 years ago and it’s been a good home for me. It’s given me opportunities I wouldn’t have had anywhere else and so, while it’s a great honour to be shown gratitude by this country, I think I owe this country even deeper gratitude.”  

Georgie says while Australia has taken big steps in advancing the cause of mental health and suicide prevention and of LGBTIQA+ rights and equality, there is still a way to go. She says her recognition motivates her to keep going.  

“We have to keep pushing for genuine policy and system reform – for a long-term vision and investments that survive election cycles and follow evidence in its many forms – lived experience, professional, research and insights,” she says.

“Money and resourcing are focused around the more acute end, where they rightly need to be, but we know people are waiting until they’re in crisis before they take that first step towards support.

“Everyone’s personal experience is different, and I’ve learned and grown from mine. In many ways, my experience with depression has made me a more compassionate leader and an all-round better human being.”