Dawn O’Neil, chief executive of beyondblue, a national non-profit initiative to combat depression, has quit after only eight months in the job.

 

The resignation comes weeks after beyondblue chairman Jeff Kennett’s newspaper opinion piece inflamed tensions between the two, however a spokeswoman refused to comment on whether the resignation was related.

 

Kennett cited For Kids’ Sake research commissioned by the Australian Christian Lobby saying the best environment in which to raise a child is in a stable, loving marriage between a man and woman, provoking anger in the gay and lesbian community.

 

After the article was published, O’Neil distanced beyondblue from Kennett’s comments and said evidenced showed it was the quality of parenting, not the sex of parents, which affects a child’s mental health.

 

She made it very clear that the opinion shared was that of Kennett’s and Kennett’s only.

 

"I just hope that the (gay and lesbian) community knows that the organisation is very, very supportive of them and doing all that we can to fight discrimination ... and further a greater understanding in the community," she said.

 

beyondblue  is launching a campaign early next year to address the impact of discrimination on the mental health of gay, lesbian and transgender people.  The organisation has allocated $1.3 million for this research.

 

O’Neil’s resignation will take effect at the end of September