Grant Edwards, former Australian Federal Police Commander, joins CLEPH Advisory Board.
Grant Edwards is a former high-ranking AFP Commander with over 34 years of service protecting vulnerable people around the world. Former elite athlete and strongman competitor and entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition, Grant is now a sought-after public speaker, author, and passionate mental health advocate helping to reshape the police force's approach to mental health. He's recently joined Aspect Group as the head of Aspect Frontline, a program specifically created to support the mental health of Police and First Responders. He's on a mission to remove the stigma of mental health, not just in policing but society-wide.
In 2017, Grant's lived experience was featured on Australian Story. His 2019 memoir titled 'The Strong Man' was released in 2019.
After joining the AFP in 1985, Grant had a diverse career working across family law, international drug trafficking, major organised crime and people smuggling.
He quickly rose through the ranks to Commander and personally established cybercrime units to fight child exploitation and human trafficking. He gained a reputation as a disciplined security advisor for governments around the world such as East Timor, Afghanistan and the Americas.
Most recently, he completed a 3 year posting to Washington DC as the AFP’s most senior officer in the Americas responsible for all law enforcement engagement with Canada, USA, Mexico, Central and South America.
During that time, he hosted two global mental health symposiums for police bringing together experts from law enforcement, academia, policy and the medical profession across the world to identify and enhance a unified universal best practice for managing the mental health of police, family and retired members.
Grant holds a Masters degree in leadership, policy and governance studies (Charles Sturt University), a Bachelor of Arts (Australian National University) and have graduated from the FBI Law Enforcement Senior Executive Program.
He's an accomplished sportsperson having represented Australia in Athletics, Bobsleigh and Scottish Highland Games. He's competed across the world in Strongman events, including the 1999 World’s Strongest Man competition in Malta.