New role ... Julia Gillard is going to work with beyondblue. Picture: Mike Batterham Source: News Corp Australia

Ms Gillard has joined the board of beyondblue as a director.

Chairman Jeff Kennett said he was honoured to see Ms Gillard join the mental health organisation.

“Julia Gillard will not only bring a great deal of experience to our board, but importantly the passion for the sector that drove her in government to establish the National Disability (Insurance) Scheme,” Mr Kennett said today.

“For many of those who suffer disability, and their carers, depression can be an ever present condition.”

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Making a difference ... Jeff Kennett from Beyond Blue. Source: Supplied

Ms Gillard said she was delighted to make a contribution in an area she felt passionate about.

“As the daughter of a psychiatric nurse, I have always understood the need to talk openly about mental health and respond to those in need,” she said.

Mr Kennett, a former Victorian Liberal premier, said much of beyondblue’s success had been driven by the bipartisan support it received from politicians.

“Ms Gillard’s appointment only reinforces that bipartisanship,” he said.

She will attend her first beyondblue board meeting in February.

Ms Gillard recently released her memoirs titled My Story, which details what life was really like for Australia’s first female prime minister.

Her account of that turbulent time covers the government infighting, the time she knifed Kevin Rudd and managed a hung parliament.

Former prime minister Julia Gillard signs copies of her autobiography at Dymocks. Picture: Stewart Allen Source: Supplied

Earlier this year she was named as chair of the Global Partnership for Education, which she added to her role as an honorary Professor of Politics at the University of Adelaide and her education work for the Brookings Institution.