Mark Dobson

Mark Dobson is a workplace mental health pioneer, CEO & founder of Ordinary Courage, Mark is widely recognised as a leading expert in the field of workplace mental health, and has devoted the past 30 years to researching, developing and implementing mental health programs in the workplace. Mark founded Ordinary Courage to help businesses establish leading mental health initiatives that address the disconnect between how workplace mental health is perceived and how it is addressed at work. 

Mark’s career as veteran, disaster response volunteer and firefighter started with the:

Royal Australian Navy

Mark’s commitment to workplace mental health started almost 30 years ago in the high stress environment of a war zone. As a Physical Training Instructor with the Royal Australian Navy, Mark was responsible for the morale, physical and mental health of the ships company of HMAS Darwin during two deployments to the Persian Gulf in the first Gulf War of the early 1990s. He later held the same role aboard HMAS Jervis Bay in Somalia as part of United Nations operation UNOSOM I.

Disaster Response

As a firefighter, Mark was deployed to Christchurch to assist after the 2011 earthquake as part of a United Nations sanctioned Urban Search & Rescue Team.

Volunteer

Mark volunteers as a Disaster Response Team Manager for Disaster Relief Australia, which unites the skills and experiences of Australian Defence Force veterans with responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams around the globe

Fire Service

During his 18 years service as a firefighter Mark also worked in a wellbeing role to develop the first mental health strategy for a leading Australian fire service.

During his seven years in this role Mark’s efforts reduced the number of psychological injuries by 40%, a workers compensation cost saving of more than $2 million per year during his time in the role. His initiatives continue to have positive impact and the workers compensation costs saving has risen to over $3 million per year.

His program is a key component of the services Safety Strategy and the foundation of operational capability.

Mark’s service was recognised with a Queens birthday honour in 2020 when he was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal for distinguished service.

Further Mark’s work informed the creation of the Beyond Blue Framework for First Responder Mental Health and the NSW Mental Health Commission Strategy for First Responder Mental Health and Wellbeing.

In his wellbeing role, Mark was singularly responsible for managing mental health programs for more than 7,000 on call and permanent firefighters. Mark also recruited, managed and mentored a team of volunteer peer support officers. He engaged all levels of management to ensure every employee is supported. 

Mark believes a key element of improving mental health is cultural change and he transformed how firefighters think about – and manage – their mental health. This change was achieved by a comprehensive evidence-based strategy, an engaging communication process and the enlistment and promotion of champions, managers and staff who were willing to share their experiences and successes.