Simon Rinne

My name is Simon Rinne, and I'm a husband, dad, mental health social worker, podcaster and average Aussie bloke. I'm also the man behind Mindful Men, a dedicated men's therapy service based on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. At Mindful Men, we blend lived and learned experiences, to support men to thrive... not just survive. My team and I provide therapy services in-person between Gympie and Gold Coast, with Telehealth available Australia wide. We support men through Medicare (Mental Health Treatment Plan), DVA (Gold and some White Cards), NDIS, Private Health, WorkCover QLD and Private Fee-For-Service. For more information, send me a message, or check out www.mindfulmen.com.au You can also check out the Mindful Men Podcast on your favourite podcast platform and YouTube. Until then, stay mindful! Simon

The Mindful Men Podcast aims to support men to become mindful of who they are and how they can grow. It promotes conversations about anything related to men - from mental health, to physical health, work, family, spirituality, hobbies... you name it, we speak about it! Through conversation, I hope to inspire men to speak up themselves; because we all know that a lot of men struggle to do this! Tune in every Tuesday (Australian time) for a new episode.

As Senior Planner at the NDIA, I worked with NDIS participants, their families and support networks to identify disability support needs, and approve funding for these support needs within NDIS plans. During my time, I was a Child Safety Lead Planner, servicing NDIS participants subject to Child Protection Orders between Gympie, Noosa, Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay regions. This involved NDIS planning, stakeholder management and training of staff in Child Safety planning. My experience also included time as a Team Leader, supporting 10 NDIS planners with Human Resources, technical expertise and workload management. I finished with the NDIA in August 2022 to realise my dream of running my own business dedicated to men's mental health. Check out www.mindful-men.com.au for more information.

As an Inspector of the ABF's Sponsor Monitoring Unit, I conducted investigations into allegations of visa non-compliance, and exploitation of foreign workers within Queensland, Australia. This involved desk and site-based audits, including use of delegated Inspector Powers to require businesses and individuals to produce documents for my investigations. During this period, I also coordinated Sponsor Monitoring activities at a national level. This involved strategic operational planning, coordinating information sharing with other Government Agencies (e.g. The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO)), and managing staff within a virtual environment.

As a Logistics Officer, I provided operational support for the movement of Immigration Detainees between Immigration Detention Facilities. This included two 3 month postings to the Pontville (Tasmania) Detention Centre, and the Christmas Island (Western Australia) Detention Centre. My Christmas Island experience included: o Coordination of immigration detainee transfers between detention facilities in Australia, Nauru and Manus Island. o Stakeholder management involving Immigration, service delivery, Australian Federal Police and healthcare workers. My Pontville experience included: o Monitoring incident reports, identifying trends and reporting to management. o Stakeholder management involving Immigration and service delivery staff.

As a Manager of the Operational Reporting TAS unit, I led a small team of fraud analysts analysing Immigration data for trends in the misuse of visa programmes within Australia. This included provision of Human Resources support, workload management and technical expertise. I also conducted analysis myself, including developing intelligence reports for local and international outposts. These reports included identified risks to Australia's visa programmes, and risk treatment strategies to address these risks.

In Multicultural Tasmania, I provided policy advice to the Premier, Ministers and senior management in relation to multicultural issues in Tasmania. My role also involved conducting compliance audits of community grants, a review of an employment program for humanitarian entrants, and research/development of a whole of government translating and interpreting policy

As a Sports Operations Officer, I developed, implemented and monitored anti-doping testing programmes on professional athletes within a portfolio of 10-15 professional sports. I monitored compliance with anti-doping legislation, and shared intelligence with investigations teams. I educated clients regarding compliance with anti-doping regulations, and negotiated best-practice anti-doping testing contracts with stakeholders

As the Results Management Coordinator, I managed data entry relating to professional athlete’s blood and urine tests collected within professional sporting programmes. I undertook quality assurance of staff’s data entry, and prepared case files for referral to the agency’s prosecution team. This included developing standard operating procedures and checklists to be used to prepare case files for prosecution

I commenced my public service career as a Graduate. I completed three workplace rotations in telecommunication complaints management, internet safety policy and programme delivery at Old Parliament House. During this time I learned about records management, program management, ministerial briefings and the Australian political and public service sectors.

Study areas included Health and Mental Health, Community Development, Social Policy and Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Majoring in Anthropology, I studied culture and how the world around us shapes our interests, experiences and ideas of life. Additional study areas included classical studies and psychology.