Social justice lawyer and entrepreneur Andrea Christie-David has been appointed Director of Mental Health at Bupa, where she’ll lead the launch and expansion of the health insurer’s entry into mental health service delivery across Australia.
“In life, there are rare moments that affirm you’re exactly where you’re meant to be. Over the past eight weeks, I’ve been fortunate to experience one of those moments – an opportunity to combine my entrepreneurial spirit with my passion for social impact,” said Christie-David about her appointment.
As she steps into the role of Director of Mental Health, it marks the beginning of a major global initiative by Bupa, which plans to establish 200 mental health clinics worldwide, including 60 clinics in Australia, over the next three years.
On Monday, Bupa opened its first ‘Mindplace’ mental health clinic in Sydney, on George Street. Christie-David says she’s been on the ground, helping with the launch for the past eight weeks and sees this as “just the beginning”.
“I’m not focused on rolling out this model at scale across the country,” she says.
With a background in social justice and community engagement, Christie-David says she’s always been driven to create positive change. She’s worked as a lawyer, is a Board Member of several entities and founded Leor, a platform combining early childhood education and disability support, which successfully had a multi-million dollar acquisition by G8 Education.
“My passion for mental health is deeply personal. I know firsthand how quality support can be life changing, as it’s been key to navigating my own challenges and achieving my goals,” said Christie-David.
“As a lawyer, I saw how vital timely mental health services were for vulnerable clients experiencing traumatic life events. And through my establishment of innovative early childhood education and disability support models, I witnessed how holistic, accessible care transforms lives.”
Having previously worked as a Strategic Advisor in Health Services for Bupa, Christie-David said she’s excited to bring all of her experience into this next chapter at the company.
She looks forward to building “innovative models of care that place both patient needs and workforce wellbeing at the centre, and to develop sustainable, long-term solutions to the mental health challenges facing our society”.