Shane Rattenbury, who led the ACT Greens until his retirement from politics earlier this year, has been named chief executive of Lifeline Canberra. He starts on 12 October, and the job also covers Lifeline Narrm, the organisation’s Melbourne-based arm. The appointment moves one of the territory’s longest-serving politicians into the community sector only months after he left the assembly.
The move follows Rattenbury’s announcement in April 2026 that he was leaving the ACT Legislative Assembly after more than 17 years. During that time he served as attorney-general and, from 2016 to 2020, as the territory’s first dedicated mental health minister. He says that portfolio gave him a clear view of what Lifeline is for, and that his knowledge of the local community, its people and its systems will help him steer the organisation.
He arrives as demand climbs sharply. Lifeline Canberra recorded a 61 per cent increase in calls for help during the 2025-26 financial year, a figure Rattenbury described as concerning. He also pointed out that the service is answering those calls, which shows the need in the community is real. Chair Warren Apps said he was not surprised by the rise. About 20 per cent of calls relate to domestic violence and about 15 per cent involve problem gambling, and Apps said the past 12 months had unsettled many Australians, with the effects now showing up in the service’s phone lines.
Rattenbury’s early priorities centre on people and prevention. He wants to recruit trained volunteers who stay with the organisation, and he says Lifeline should look at services that could reach people before they hit crisis point. He believes stigma around mental health has eased in recent years but that more work is needed. “We still don’t treat mental health the way we would treat a physical injury,” he said, adding that people often wait too long before asking for help.
Apps is optimistic about what the appointment could mean for the charity’s place in the territory. He believes Lifeline can become a more central part of the ACT’s mental health system, which Rattenbury says has developed over the past decade but still has gaps. The new chief executive has said he will take time to think carefully about the organisation’s next steps once he is in the role. He described Canberra as a terrific city, but one where real hardship sits beneath the surface for some residents, and said the service needs to be ready for them.
