NATIONAL HEALTH PROMOTION SYMPOSIUM 2024
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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
AHPA is thrilled to announce that the following keynote speakers will be joining us in Canberra
at the National Health Promotion Symposium 2024!
More information and keynote speaker announcements coming soon.
Nathan Rigney
Nathan Rigney is a Ngarrindjeri man and Executive Director of Aboriginal Health Promotion at Preventive Health SA. Nathan has worked in Aboriginal health in some capacity for 13 years within SA Health, Cancer Council SA and Preventive Health SA (formerly Wellbeing SA), in roles ranging from counselling, training, health education, promotion, program design and strategy.
Nathan and the Aboriginal Health Promotion team launched the South Australian Aboriginal Health Promotion Strategy 2022-2030, which focuses on strengthening Aboriginal Cultural Determinants at the local community level and played a key role in supporting the development of the Anti Racism Strategy for the South Australian Public Sector.
Caterina Giorgi
Caterina Giorgi is the CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), an Australian not-for-profit organisation working towards an Australia free from alcohol harm.
Caterina is also a Founding Member of Women in Public Health, a network of women from across Australia working to advance gender equity in public health; and the Founder of For Purpose, an organisation that supports not-for-profits to drive change.
Caterina is an Ambassador of NOFASD. She has also previously served on the Boards of YMCA Canberra and Fair Agenda. Caterina has an honours degree in public health and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).
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Monica Kelly
Monica is Victoria’s first Mental Health and Wellbeing Promotion Adviser, commencing in the role in June 2022. She is also the Executive Director of the Prevention, Policy and First People’s Branch of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Division in the Victorian Department of Health.
She has worked as an Executive in Public Health, Primary Care and Human Services for many years in Victoria and previously in the Northern Territory.
Monica’s areas of expertise are health inequities, public health and health promotion, particularly with marginalised communities. Monica also brings lived and living experience of the mental health system and of intellectual disability and neurodiversity as a carer.
Sione Tu'itahi
Sione is the Executive Director of the Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand. At the global level, he is the President of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE), and the founder and Co-Chair of the IUHPE Global Working Group on Waiora Planetary Health and Human Wellbeing.
With 30 years of experience in leadership and management in the education and health sectors in Aotearoa New Zealand, and at the international level, Sione is an educator, a writer and public health leader. His areas of interest in health promotion include planetary health, determinants of health, human rights, and Indigenous knowledge. A former journalist and broadcaster, Sione is also a musician and poet.
In recognition of his significant contributions to health promotion and public health at the national and international levels, Sione was awarded the 2019 New Zealand Public Health Champion Award by the Public Health Association of New Zealand.
Jacob Madden
Jacob is the Assistant Secretary of the Australian Centre for Disease Control Establishment Strategy Branch at the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, leading the policy design for a new CDC in Australia, including developing legislation and engaging with state and territory governments. Prior to this role Jacob led the Department’s response to COVID-19 and other emergencies in aged care settings. Jacob holds a Masters in Public Health from the Australian National University.
In Conversation:
A Health Promotion Agencies Panel
Join us for an insightful discussion with health promotion agency leaders:
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Speaker Bios
Marina Bowshall
Marina Bowshall is the Chief Executive of Preventive Health SA. An experienced policy and health services professional, she has built a reputation for delivering and influencing public health outcomes through effective integrated responses.
Marina has led and collaborated on national and state health policy, strategy, and programs throughout her career. This has included leading legislative change; implementing statewide and community based programs, including social marketing programs; developing, implementing and evaluating whole of government strategies at the state and national levels; partnering with government, non-government, and Aboriginal community controlled agencies to implement evidence-based prevention and harm reduction approaches; developing specific programs for disadvantaged and marginalised populations; and implementing business systems to support effective governance and the achievement of measurable outcomes. She welcomes collaboration and partnerships to enhance prevention approaches that improve whole of population health and reduce health inequity.
Marina is the Co-Chair of the National Tobacco Officials Group, Presiding Member of South Australia’s Controlled Substances Advisory Council, a member of the Suicide Prevention Council, and works collaboratively across Australia with a range of research, policy, and service organisations.
Dr Sandro Demaio
Dr Sandro Demaio is the CEO of VicHealth, a medical doctor and a globally-renowned public health expert and advocate. Previously the CEO of the EAT Foundation, the science-based global platform for food systems transformation, Dr Demaio has also held the role of Medical Officer for non-communicable conditions and nutrition at the World Health Organization (WHO).
Dr Demaio originally trained and worked as a medical doctor at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. He holds a Masters degree in public health, a PhD in non-communicable diseases, and has held fellowships at Harvard Medical School, Copenhagen School of Global Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Melbourne. To date, he has published more than 40 scientific papers, including coordinating the 2019 Lancet series on nutrition.
Joanne Graham-Smith
Joanne Graham-Smith is an experienced health promotion professional having worked in various roles across the government, non-government and research sectors over the last twenty years. Her experience spans the areas of child health promotion research, contract and program management, funding and strategic policy.
Joanne commenced at Healthway in 2009 and has been the Manager Policy and Research since 2020, responsible for the health promotion and research programs and teams. She has a strong commitment to Healthway and improving the health and wellbeing of the population.
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Dr Robyn Littlewood
Dr Robyn Littlewood is Queensland’s prevention and public health expert dedicated to creating a healthier and fairer Queensland. An experienced leader, researcher, clinician, academic and educator, Dr Littlewood is an advocate for strong public health policy with more than 25 years of experience working with patients and families in clinical prevention and treatment of chronic disease, and research.
Dr Littlewood has contributed to the evidence base of paediatric healthcare with >100 publications, and trained hundreds of students throughout 20 years of frontline service.
Dr Littlewood believes every Queenslander has the right to better health. She works relentlessly to achieve this using a systems-based approach, research and data to leverage $46 million in funding through partnerships in her first term at HWQld. Dr Littlewood holds a raft of formal qualifications including a Bachelor of Science, Graduate Certificate in Executive Leadership, a Master of Medical Science and PhD from The University of Queensland (UQ), a Post Graduate Diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and a Master of Business Administration from James Cook University.