Australian Public Health Conference 2025

Kira Fortune is responsible for Healthy Cities, Health Promotion and Well-being in the Regional WHO Office of Europe. Kira has spent the last 25 years specializing in public health, equity, community engagement and the social determinants of health in various international organizations across the globe. Prior to taking up the position in Copenhagen, she managed the Social Determinants of Health and Violence and Injury Prevention Unit at the Regional WHO Office of the Western Pacific, in Manila. She also spent ten years at the Pan American Health Organization/Regional Office of the World Health Organization in Washington D.C., coordinating the work on the social determinants of health, healthy cities, health-in-all policies and the sustainable development goals within the Americas. Kira has extensive experience working across the international stage from global NGOs, academia as well as with inter-governmental organizations. Before joining the World Health Organization, Kira managed The International Health Research Network in Denmark and spent four years working in the Department of Global Advocacy at The International Planned Parenthood Federation in London. Kira also worked for three years with UNICEF in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where she was responsible for the Programme on Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV. Kira holds a Doctorate in Sociology from City University London; a Master’s Degree in Anthropology, Gender and Development, and a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology from the University of London. She also has a Master’s Degree in International Health from University of Copenhagen.

Kelly holds a Bachelor of Social Science (Human Services) from the University of South Australia, a Graduate Diploma in Health Promotion from La Trobe University, and a Master of Science (Research) from the University of Wollongong. With over 25 years of experience in health promotion, she has worked across the not-for-profit and government sectors in chronic disease prevention, community development, social and health policy, and advocacy. Kelly also spent 15 years as a researcher in the university sector, specializing in social marketing and public health research on topics including alcohol and junk food advertising, asthma self-management, organ and blood donation, mental health, and dementia. Currently, she is the CEO of Healthy Cities Australia (formerly Healthy Cities illawarra), a regional not-for-profit charity established in 1987 as part of the World Health Organization’s Healthy Cities movement. She also serves as a Steering Committee Member of the Alliance for Healthy Cities, advocating for health equity through systemic change.

Dr Jinhee Kim is a Scientia Lecturer at the Cities Institute, University of New South Wales. Her research focuses on understanding the complexities of urban health paradigms and their impact on human health outcomes. She applies these research findings to develop real-world transdisciplinary solutions that engage stakeholders from academic and non-academic backgrounds across various disciplines and sectors. Prior to joining UNSW, Dr Kim worked at all levels of government, including the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the World Health Organisation, with a focus on healthy cities and health impact assessment as tools to prioritise health equity in urban policies. Dr Kim has been involved in the healthy cities movement since the formation of the Alliance for Healthy Cities, the Western Pacific Regional healthy cities network, in 2004 and has been an integral member of the healthy cities movement in Korea, bringing valuable cross-national perspectives to urban health challenges that resonate across diverse contexts including Australia. She currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Urban Health Review, a peer-reviewed journal for the Korean Academy of Urban Health, and as a member of the Academic Committee for the Alliance for Healthy Cities.

Professor Emily Lancsar commenced as the Chief Health Economist in the Department of Health and Aged Care in April 2024. Prior to this, Emily spent 25 years in academia, most recently as Head of the Department of Health Economics Wellbeing and Society at the ANU, and from 2020-2022 served as Associate Dean (Policy and Practice) in the College of Health and Medicine, where she remains a Professor. Emily has also held academic appointments at Monash University (where she remains an Adjunct Professor), the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK, the University of Sydney and University of Technology, Sydney. Emily’s appointment represents a return to the Australian Public Service and the Department of Health where she began her career as a cadet Health Economist. Emily holds a PhD, Masters and Bachelors degrees in Economics, a Postgrad Dip in Health Economics and Evaluation and a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies).

Dr Cressida Gaukroger is a writer, philosopher, and moderator at the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership. She works with governments at all levels in Australia and internationally to put sustainably improving quality of life for all at the heart of government decision-making. Cressida has a PhD in philosophy, and has taught at Oxford, University College London and New York University. She regularly appears on national radio and television, and writes op-eds for Australian media including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and the ABC. In her spare time, Cressida writes humorous children's books about naughty children who get their comeuppance.

Steve Robson is one of Australia's most highly qualified and experienced doctors. He has served as president of both the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. In addition to his clinical roles across both public and private hospitals, Steve is Professor at the Australian National University and Chief Medical Officer at Avant Mutual. He is a researcher and author, and longtime public commentator - Steve currently is senior health columnist with The Australian Newspaper. He has additional degrees in public health and health economics.

Professor Tom Calma AO is Aboriginal and a member of the Kungarakan, Iwaidja and Woolwonga tribal groups in the NT. He is the National Coordinator Tackling Indigenous Smoking (2010-present), Patron of the five national Poche Centres for Indigenous Health (2010 to present), a Fellow of The University of Sydney Senate and Patron of Indigenous Allied Health Australian and Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia. He is an inaugural member of Cancer Australia’s Indigenous Cancers Leadership Group (2016 to present) and a member of the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board (2021 to present). Professor Calma was a former senior diplomat to India and Vietnam (1995-2002), Chancellor of the University of Canberra (2014-2023), the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner (2004-2010) and Race Discrimination Commissioner (2004-2009) with the Australian Human Rights Commission, and a member of Australian Genomics Independent Advisory Board (2021 – 2025). Professor Calma has a special interest in Indigenous and non- Indigenous health, mental health, SEWB and suicide prevention, education, aged care, economic development and social justice. His 2005 Social Justice Report on First Australian’s health inequality led to the creation of the Close the Gap Campaign and governments’ Closing the Gap response that is still the predominant Indigenous Health policy today. Professor Tom Calma was awarded the Sidney Sax Public Health Medal in 2015 and was the 2023 Senior Australian of the Year.

Professor Bronwyn Fredericks is an Indigenous academic leader from South-East Queensland with over 30 years of experience across higher education, government, and community sectors. She currently serves as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Engagement) at The University of Queensland, where she leads the university’s Indigenous strategy and community engagement. Her research focuses on health and education, grounded in the lived realities of Indigenous peoples and driven by a commitment to social justice. Previously, she held senior roles at Central Queensland University and served as a Commissioner with the Queensland Productivity Commission. A Fellow of both the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and the Australian Academy of the Humanities, she has received numerous accolades, including the 2019 Public Health Award in Indigenous Health and the 2022 National NAIDOC Award for Education.

Dr Alana Gall is a proud Truwulway woman, a Pakana (Tasmanian Aboriginal) from the north-east coast of Lutruwita (Tasmania, Australia). Dr Gall is passionate about Indigenous Peoples' holistic health and wellbeing, globally. She believes that the wellbeing and identity of Indigenous Peoples are strongly centred around strong connections to Country/land, culture, spirituality and each other. Dr Gall is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, in the National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine, at Southern Cross University, and an Honorary Research Fellow at both the University of Queensland and Menzies School of Health Research. At Southern Cross University, Dr Gall leads a research program that centres around First Peoples' Cultural Medicines in Australia, with the aims of protecting and preserving these medicines for future generations, including through international laws, and improving accessibility for all First Peoples' communities across Australia. Dr Gall has over a decade of experience in research, research translation, community engagement, health education and a background in Nutritional Medicine. She has an extensive and broad knowledge in First Peoples'; health and wellbeing; Indigenous Traditional Medicines; qualitative, Indigenous and decolonising methodologies and methods (including co-design methods/methodology); PROMs/PREMs measure development, and; systematic, comprehensive and policy reviews. Dr Gall pioneered the use of individual yarns with a think-aloud component, called the ‘think-aloud yarn’, and co-developed the Key Principles to Co-Design with First Nations Peoples, which have informed the development of Cancer Australia's Australian Cancer Plan and underpin the implementation of the Our Mob our Cancer website (www.ourmobandcancer.gov.au/).

Former - Chief Executive Leader: Policy and Operations - Waminda. Current Deputy Chair AHMRC & Board member of NACCHO. Gummeah, WandiWandian, Wodi Wodi, Walbunja woman from the South Coast of NSW. Over the past 16 years worked at Waminda, South Coast Women’s Health & Wellbeing Aboriginal Corporation based in Nowra/ Shoalhaven across various health & wellbeing leadership roles. Advocating across all areas of health & wellbeing for true Culturally informed, holistic strength-based care & equality; specifically regarding self-determined futures, while ensuring community voices are heard across all levels of Government for meaningful sustainable change and improved health & wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal communities.

Dr Buttigieg is a Specialist in Public Health Medicine working in the Ministry for Health and Active Ageing in Malta. He is a Keynote Speaker with 50+ public speaking engagements track record and an avid content creator📱🎙️. He lectures at the University of Malta on the topics of Digital Health, Social Media in Healthcare and Digital Therapeutics. He is the Vice-President of the EUPHA Section on Digital Health. Dr Buttigieg is on a mission to ensure sustainable, equitable & AI-enabled Digital Health for All.

Consultant Cardiologist and founder of the Medical Intelligence, Innovation and Data Science (MINDS) Hub at Campbelltown Hospital. PhD student at the University of Sydney - The Heart Watch Study, researching the feasibility of using Smartwatch 12-lead ECG for population self screening with Advanced ECG analysis. Founding member of the international Medical Intelligence Society.

Rob Moodie is Professor of Public Health at the University of Melbourne. Early in his career he worked in the Sudan for Save the Children Fund and Medicins Sans Frontieres, and then for Congress in Central Australia from 1982-1988. For many years he led HIV prevention work with the Burnet Institute, WHO and UNAIDS. Following his role as CEO of VicHealth from 1998-2007, he chaired the National Preventative Health Taskforce. He led the 2023 Lancet series on the Commercial Determinants of Health. He has been teaching and refining leadership skills training programs for the last 15 years mainly in Australia, Malawi and south Asia. He was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2014.

Associate Professor Chris Degeling is Principal Fellow at the Australian Centre for Engagement, Evidence and Values at the University of Wollongong. A member of the Quadripartite’s One Health High Level Expert Panel, he is a social scientist and bioethicist specialising in empirical research in health. With a background in veterinary medicine and expertise in qualitative and deliberative methodologies, Chris’ research focuses on the intersection of public health ethics, public health policy, communicable disease control and One Health.

Dr Katie Woolaston believes that biodiversity conservation should be mainstreamed into all areas of governance from local, to international, as a means of mitigating the triple planetary crisis. Katie holds a Masters in Law (specialising in Human Rights & Social Justice) from the University of New South Wales, and a PhD in Environmental Law from Griffith University. Katie was an expert on the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) panel concerning Biodiversity and Pandemics, and is the Chair of the Technical Advisory Group of the 'Nature4Health' Initiative. Her first book, titled ‘Ecological Vulnerability: The Law and Governance of Human-Wildlife Relationships’ was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022, and her second, ‘The Cambridge Handbook on One Health and the Law’ will be published in 2025.

Crystal is a Gundungurra woman whose work explores human-nonhuman relationships. Crystal recently completed her PhD, titled 'What teachings are being shared by weeds? Lessons from the Shoalhaven River,' focused on learning from invasive plants how to address invasive species through relational thinking and more-than-human geographies. Crystal’s research weaves Aboriginal cultural and scientific knowledge and environmental science, with a particular emphasis on healing Country. She has published in high-impact journals and actively contributes to community engagement and Indigenous-led environmental education. In her role at the University of Wollongong, Crystal teaches criminology, justice, and social policy, centring Indigenous perspectives and Country to inspire sustainable and reciprocal practices in her students and research.

Professor Michael Kidd AO is Australia’s Chief Medical Officer, based in the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. He is a general practitioner and a primary care and public health researcher, and has served as president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and president of the World Organization of Family Doctors. He is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, and has held past research appointments at Monash University, the University of Sydney, Flinders University, the Australian National University, and the University of Toronto. He holds a current joint academic appointment as the Foundation Director of the International Centre for Future Health Systems at the University of New South Wales, and as Professor of Global Primary Care with the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, where is he also a Senior Research Fellow of Green Templeton College and a Fellow of Kellogg College.

Professor Anna Peeters AM, PhD, is a globally recognised public health expert and advocate for health equity. Appointed CEO of VicHealth in 2025, she brings decades of experience in collaboration, epidemiology, health system transformation, and policy-driven research. Previously, she was Director of the Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University and a Distinguished Professor of Public Health. A former VicHealth Board Member, she has led groundbreaking initiatives, including the RE-FRESH Centre for healthier food environments. Committed to evidence-based health promotion, she champions equity and collaboration to improve health outcomes for all Victorians.

Becky Freeman is a Professor of Public Health within the School of Public Heath, University of Sydney. She is a tobacco control policy expert and a global authority on how social media is used to circumvent tobacco-advertising bans. Becky leads a program of research focused on countering the commercial determinants of health and is the Chief Investigator of the Generation Vape Research project.