Phillipa Thomas joined MHV to drive collective action towards creating a better mental health and wellbeing system for Victoria. With extensive experience as both a clinician and a leader within the Victorian Government, Phillipa brings a unique, holistic perspective that bridges client-focused care and system-level reform.
As CEO, Phillipa leads collaborative efforts to advocate for a modern, accessible mental health system, support a thriving and resilient workforce, and champion meaningful sector reforms. Her work is grounded in connecting people, influencing policy, and maintaining momentum for positive change across Victoria’s mental health landscape.
Phillipa is an experienced strategist, clinician, and health system leader with a proven track record in public health, government, and not-for-profit governance. She is highly skilled in mental health and suicide prevention, system and infrastructure design, planning and implementation, troubleshooting, social marketing, and research and evaluation.
Driven by a passion for impact, Phillipa excels in navigating complex challenges to deliver measurable social, health, and harm reduction outcomes at scale. She brings to this conversation experience as the senior executive responsible for implementation of Local Mental Health and Wellbeing Services in Victoria, as well as a research and design background that has focussed on improved models of care for people experiencing crisis.Â