Chief Executive Officer,

Danila Dilba Health Service

Rob McPhee has been the Chief Executive Officer for Danila Dilba Health Service in Darwin since August 2021. Prior to this, he was Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services for six years.

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Rob’s people are from Derby in the West Kimberley and from the Pilbara region of Western Australia. He has an undergraduate degree in Aboriginal Community Management and Development and a Graduate Certificate in Human Rights.

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Rob is passionate about social justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  He has held a number of roles including teaching positions at Curtin University and the University of Western Australia and has worked as a senior adviser in community relations and Indigenous affairs to the oil and gas industry.

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Chief Executive Officer,

Public Health Association of New Zealand

Cadence Kaumoana (Waikato, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Maniapoto) has an extensive background in the education, health and community sectors. Cadence comes with extensive governance and executive leadership experience and is the CEO for the Public Health Association of New Zealand, focussing on equitable health outcomes for all.

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Cadence completed her Doctorate through the University of Auckland with a focus on developing mindset, entrepreneurship and resilience, utilising indigenous methodologies and frameworks.

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Mum to four boys, grandmother to two grandchildren, Cadence is an environmental advocate, and her under-cover super-power is working in the garden.
 

Director of Indigenous Leadership,

Flinders University

Associate Professor Karla Canuto is a Torres Strait Islander, descendent of the Naghir Tribe of the Kulkalgal Clan. She is mid-career researcher with over 20 years’ experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health/ health research. Karla's qualifications include a Bachelor of Sports & Exercise Science, a Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion and a PhD. Karla has experience across a wide range of research initiatives all focused on improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples including cardiovascular rehabilitation, early detection of rheumatic heart disease, cancer screening, chronic disease prevention and the promotion of physical activity and improved nutrition. She is also passionate about building the capacity and capabilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health researchers.

Associate Professor Public Health Nutrition,

Monash University

Julie is Associate Professor Public Health Nutrition with the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Monash University and an Honorary Fellow with Menzies School of Health Research and University of Queensland. Her experience as a public health nutritionist in North East Arnhem Land in the late 1980s and as nutrition adviser throughout the 1990s with the Ministry of Health in the Solomon Islands drives her passion. Her research is highly collaborative and translational and at the heart is striving to achieve equity within the remote food system of Australia with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, for improved population diet. She has led studies with partners, (researchers, communities, practitioners, retailers and government officers), to collectively build an understanding of the local food system and evidence sharing and feedback approaches for quality improvement. She draws on systems thinking, quality improvement and participatory action research methods with knowledge transfer always at centre. She moves between Melbourne and Darwin and her research is largely in Northern Australia. She will co-present on how this body of work is informing policy.

Director, and retired senior Aboriginal Health Practitioner,

The Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation (ALPA)

Djamalaka Dhamarrandji has been working with the ALPA Board for 2-3 years. "I like working with ALPA because it is a community-driven organisation.  ALPA gives a lot back to the community. It helps young people and families with their youth services too. ALPA also helps Yolŋu students study in other places, including interstate and overseas. ALPA helps support with medical escorts and when patients travel can’t cover all the costs they can help. Bukmak Constructions which is part of ALPA also builds jobs and opportunities for Yolngu.". 

Djamalaka works full-time at Miwatj as a Team Leader and Manager for the Social-emotional and Wellbeing Team. Her role includes helping with mental health issues, volatile substance abuse, AOD, and family relationships. "We do everything to help with someone’s wellbeing. I like working for Miwatj in health.  I have worked as a Registered Health Practitioner since 1981 and I like looking after people and making sure that we are seeing them get well and continuing their recovery. My intention is to continue my commitment to support the ALPA board and also to continue my health work to look after young people, families, and the wellbeing of the community.".

Chief Executive Officer,

Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation

Dr Leisa McCarthy is a Warumungu woman from the Barkly region of the Northern Territory and the Chief Executive Officer of Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation.  Anyinginyi Health is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service located in Tennant Creek, providing primary health care services to Aboriginal people in the township and five remote communities within the Barkly region. 
 

Leisa’s professional background is Public Health Nutrition and holds Bachelor, Master and PhD qualifications in nutrition, public health and food security.  Leisa has worked in Aboriginal health for close to 30 years and held positions in policy, management, training, and service delivery.  Prior to her current role, Leisa worked in health research and focused on nutrition, food security and diabetes translational research for improving health and social outcomes for Aboriginal people.
 

Leisa remains dedicated to improving the health and social outcomes for Aboriginal people through collaborative partnerships with government, non-government agencies and research institutions.

Director, IPAN,

Institute for Physical Activity & Nutrition (IPAN), Deakin Uni

Alfred Deakin Professor Jo Salmon is Director of the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University and holds a NHMRC Level 2 Investigator Grant. She has >20 years research experience developing effective programs to promote children’s physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour. She has been a Chief Investigator on >30 national and 14 international funded projects worth more than $28.8 million and has supervised 26 PhD students to completion and 14 postdoctoral fellows. She has published her research extensively with over 400 publications. Jo is founding and current President of the Asia Pacific Society for Physical Activity (ASPA).

Senior Research Fellow,

The University of Sydney

Dr Veronica Matthews (Quandamooka) is a Senior Research Fellow at the University Centre for Rural Health, The University of Sydney. She co-leads the Centre for Research Excellence in Strengthening Systems for Indigenous Health Care Equity and the Indigenous Knowledges theme of the Healthy Environments and Lives (HEAL) Network, both national collaborations of service providers, policymakers and researchers. Her work focuses on supporting community-led research to strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander holistic healthcare systems. She has a background in ecology and environmental toxicology and is extremely privileged to be able to blend her passions of healthy Country and healthy mob, working alongside many diverse First Nations communities to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and processes into multisectoral research that addresses social and emotional wellbeing and the determinants of health.

Adjunct Professor,

Monash University

Fiona Armstrong is recognised internationally as a leader in climate and health policy, advocacy, and communications. She has qualifications in health, journalism, politics and public policy. Fiona has a reputation for visionary leadership in collaborative advocacy for evidence-based policy through deliberative engagement and activation of strategic alliances.

Director,

Monash University, Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI)

Tony Capon directs the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and holds a chair in Planetary Health in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. A public health physician, his research focuses on urbanisation, sustainable development, and human health. Tony currently chairs the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Climate Change, Environment and Health, co-chairs the Future Earth Health Knowledge-Action Network, and is a member of NHMRC Research Committee. Previously, he was Director of the International Institute for Global Health at United Nations University (UNU-IIGH) and a Commissioner with the Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission on Planetary Health.

Executive Manager, Public Health Section,
Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation

Karen Kairupan is the Executive Manager, Public Health Section Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation, and descendant of the Jawoyn and the Managarrayi people (Northern Territory) and the Ngaragi clan of Mabuiag Island in the Torres Straits. Growing up between Darwin and remote communities in Arnhem Land has afforded Karen’s lived experiences with deep insights and understandings of the social and cultural disadvantages that continue to impact Aboriginal families and communities. 

Witnessing these disparities ignited a passion within Karen to be a part of strengthening and educating her people to live a healthier way of life.  In understanding each community has unique needs and challenges, Karen has the ability to adapt to each work environment with the aims to address the economic, environmental and social inequalities vital to achieve health equality.
 

Karen has built a career in Aboriginal Population Health by developing and delivering regional Tackling Indigenous Smoking initiatives in urban, regional and very remote settings nationally. Karen’s initial opportunity to work in Indigenous smoking cessation was with Menzies School of Health Research, in the Healthy Starts research project. This project aimed to reduce respiratory illness in Indigenous infants within an urban setting by educating families about the harms of second-hand smoke exposure. 

The knowledge and skills gained with Menzies complimented Karen’s next venture into Tackling Indigenous Smoking service delivery programs where she was the Regional Coordinator of TIS Teams in Darwin, Albury Wodonga, the Ngaanyatjarra Lands and the Sunshine Coast. Karen’s achievements in TIS have been showcased on NITV, in the Closing the Gap Report and the Koori Mail.

Tackling Indigenous Smoking Support Officer,

Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation

I was born in Alice Springs and grew up within the town and the communities out towards the west. During my childhood I've been moving between Tennant Creek and Alice Springs right up until I finished High School in Alice Springs in 2008. Two years later I moved to Tennant Creek and have been living here for the past 14 years.

Acting Director, Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer,

Cancer Council Victoria

Sarah Durkin is Head of the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer at Cancer Council Victoria and an Honorary Professor in the School of Psychological Sciences at The University of Melbourne. 
 

Sarah’s research focusses on examining the potential and impact of cancer prevention and early detection communication campaigns and policies on health-related attitudes and behaviour change.  Her research aims to expand our understanding of effective ways of optimising exposure to media campaigns, and the types of messages and campaigns that are most effective for adults, adolescents, and lower socio-economic people. 

She has produced over 100 peer-reviewed empirical published papers, over 100 reports for programs or governments, and has delivered over 30 invited plenary addresses or invited symposia at national and international conferences.

Tobacco Endgame Research Program Lead,

Menzies School of Health Research

Associate Professor Marita Hefler leads the tobacco endgame research program at Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University. She is also Editor-in-Chief of the BMJ specialist journal Tobacco Control, and co-founder and co-chair of Project Sunset, an international coalition focused on research and advocacy for phasing out sales of cigarettes.

Discipline Lead - Injury Studies,

Flinders University

A/Prof Courtney Ryder is the Discipline Lead for Injury Studies at Flinders University. As an Aboriginal injury epidemiologist, her work spans trauma and injury across the life span where she works with a range of clinical teams, researchers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community organisations on prevention and support initiatives. This work has focus on leading new ways of working with Indigenous Data through knowledge interface methodology and Indigenous Data sovereignty to change the way in which data is recorded, analysed and reported. Ryder is a member for the South Australian Public Health Council, Board Director for the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australasia and Executive Members for the Indigenous Engineering Group through Engineers Australia.

Associate Professor,

University of Technology Sydney

Dr Jane Frawley is an Associate Professor in Public Health at the School of Public Health, University of Technology Sydney. Jane’s primary research focus aims to decrease vaccine preventable disease and support the uptake of vaccines in Australia and the Pacific Region. This work includes cross-sectional cohort surveys to determine barriers and facilitators of vaccine uptake, analysis of national linked data sets to understand the burden of disease from vaccine preventable disease, and qualitative interviews and focus groups with service providers, clinicians, and community members to explore the behavioural and social drivers of vaccine uptake to improve vaccine program trust and resilience. 

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Jane is currently conducting many projects in the Pacific Region, working closely with local governments and Non-Government Organisations to strengthen vaccine programs and improve and support health care worker training. She is the co-lead of the Service Delivery and Program Support Thematic Working Group for the Australian Regional Immunisation Alliance (ARIA) and a founding member of the Communication on the Social Science of Immunisation (COSSI) group.

Director,

Healthabitat

David is both an Architect and Director of Healthabitat, an organisation that has spent the past 30 years working with local communities to improve the health of people living in poverty, by using data to fix and advocate for better housing.  Through Healthabitat he manages Housing for Health projects across NSW and NT remote Aboriginal Communities.
 

David is currently the Program Manager for Healthabitat’s international projects and has managed water and sanitation projects in Nepal, South Africa and Indonesia.  David’s latest project involves training and mentoring a Brooklyn based NGO who are running a Housing for Health project (under a Healthabitat Licence) in Brownsville NYC.

Formerly a resident of both Garramilla (Darwin) and Mparntwe (Alice Springs), David managed the Housing Division of Tangentyere Council across the 18 Town Camp Communities of Mparntwe during the years preceding and following the NT Intervention and oversaw its transition into Community Housing Central Australia (CHCA) where he remains an independent Director.  Passionate about health and housing, he is a strong advocate for the critical role of preventative maintenance systems across community and social housing as a means to reduce the impacts of crowding, homelessness and improve health.

Chief Executive Officer,

Central Australian Aboriginal Congress

Dr Donna Ah Chee is Douglas Gordon Oration Orator for 2024. Please click here for full details and bio.