Partnership Council - Migrant & Refugee Health Partnership

Council

The Council drives the direction of the Partnership and brings together representatives from peak professional and standard setting bodies for clinicians, the community sector, and relevant government agencies.

Dedicated working groups may be established to progress specific projects of the Partnership.

Carla Wilshire OAM, Deputy Chair

Carla Wilshire OAM is the founding CEO of The Social Policy Group (SPG). She has a background in public policy development and impact strategy, corporate governance, and tertiary research. Before establishing SPG, Carla worked in senior roles in the public service and as an advisor to the Government, principally in migration and settlement, including as Chief of Staff to the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. She also held academic and consulting positions in Australia and abroad. Carla is the Board Director of The Australian Centre for Social Innovation, the co-founder and Deputy Chair of the Migrant and Refugee Health Partnership and the Judicial Council on Diversity & Inclusion, as well as a member of the Council of Harmony Alliance, the national migrant and refugee women's alliance.

Paris Aristotle AO

Paris Aristotle AO is the founding CEO of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc., also known as Foundation House. Paris has 30 years’ experience in the field of supporting refugees and asylum seekers, in particular the provision of services to survivors of torture and trauma.

In 2002 Paris was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and in 2003 he was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal. In 2012 he was appointed to the Prime Minister’s Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers.In 2017 Paris was named the Victorian Australian of the Year and made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), he also holds and Honorary Doctorate by RMIT University in the field of Social Science.

Paris has chaired several federal government councils and is currently Chair of the Refugee and Migrant Services Advisory Council (RaMSAC). He is also an executive member of the Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma FASSTT). In 2021, Paris was tasked by the Prime Minister to Co-Chair the Advisory Panel on Australia’s Resettlement of Afghan Nationals.

Associate Professor Jacqueline Boyle

Associate Professor Jacqueline Boyle represents The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Associate Professor Boyle is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, and heads the Indigenous and Refugee Women’s Health Program at Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation. Associate Professor Boyle works clinically in refugee women’s health in Victoria and in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s health in outreach services in the Northern Territory, as well as in research, translation and education nationally. She also holds an honorary appointment at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin. Her research interests are in women’s health across the life-course with a focus on a healthy start to life—pre-pregnancy through to early childhood.

Jenny Johnson

Jenny Johnson represents the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.

Maria Johns

Maria Johns is the Chief Executive Officer of Multicultural Aged Care.

Margaret Kay

Dr Margaret Kay represents the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).

Dr Kay is a part-time general practitioner, Fellow of RACGP and has a Diploma of Obstetrics. She holds an academic title as Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, UQ. Dr Kay was awarded her PhD on Physician Health in 2013. In 2015, she completed her Certificate with the Oxford International Primary Care Research Leadership Programme. She was inaugural Chair of the Refugee Health Network of Australia, is a member of the RACGP Refugee Health Special Interest Group and Clinical Lead in Multicultural Health with Brisbane South PHN, working with the Refugee Health Partnership Advisory Group Qld. Dr Kay has extensive research experience working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities and continues to work as a clinician and educator in the field of refugee health.

Dr Chris Lemoh

Chris Lemoh represents the Victorian African Health Action Network. Chris Lemoh is an infectious diseases and general physician, currently Head of General Internal Medicine at Western Health. He has a strong interest in the relationship between social inequities and health.
Chris is current President of the Victorian African Health Action Network, a group which works to strengthen the African Australian community responses HIV, chronic viral hepatitis and challenges related to sexual and reproductive health. His other main interest is martial arts, particularly capoeira, jujitsu and kali.

Erwin Loh

Professor Erwin Loh represents the Royal Australiasian College of Medical Administrators.

Professor Loh is national Chief Medical Officer and Group General Manager Clinical Governance for St Vincent’s Health Australia, the nation’s largest not-for-profit health and aged care provider, with 36 facilities, including six public hospitals, nine private hospitals and 17 aged care facilities in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, along with three co- located research institutes – the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, and St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research.

He is qualified in both medicine and law, with general and specialist registration as a medical practitioner (medical administration specialty), and a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria and High Court of Australia. He also has an MBA, Master of Health Service Management, and PhD in management.

He is Chair of the Victorian State Committee and Board Member of the Royal Australasian College of Administrators. He is adjunct Clinical Professor at Monash University, where he leads the Clinical Leadership and Management Unit at the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation.

Chiedza Malunga

Chiedza Malunga is a public health professional with experience in refugee health and sexual and reproductive health promotion and research in multicultural communities. Chiedza has worked in state-wide programs across Victoria, ranging from individual and community-based programs through to policy and advocacy initiatives. She is passionate about building the capacity of individuals, communities and systems to respond effectively to the needs of the most vulnerable groups. In her current work in Australian healthcare, she is strongly guided by principles of equity and social justice to influence and inclusive healthcare. Chiedza is an avid reader and enjoys travelling and gardening.

Bronwyn Morris-Donovan

Bronwyn Morris-Donovan is the Chief Executive Officer of Allied Health Professions Australia. Bronwyn is a primary health sector advocate with expertise in policy and advocacy, health sector strategy and service innovation.

Bernice Murphy

Bernice Murphy represents the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health.

Bernice Murphy is the Manager at CEH, a program of North Richmond Community Health, which works towards improving the health and wellbeing of people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, and their engagement with agencies and government.

With a background in youth work, sexual assault, and women’s health Bernice joined the Victorian Department of Human Services in 1998. Here, she worked in family violence and homelessness, and managed the Primary Health Programs team comprising of women’s health, counselling in community health, family planning, language services and school nursing.

Equitable access to services has been a theme throughout her career and this interest continues through her work at CEH and its programs, including its Multicultural Health & Support Service.

Areas of expertise and interest include cultural competence, health literacy, language services, plain language, and consumer participation.

Since being appointed Manager, Bernice has overseen a restructure of CEH and refreshed relationships with government and non-government agencies.

Christine Phillips

Christine Phillips represents the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Christine is Professor of Social Foundations of Medicine at the ANU Medical School, Medical Director of Companion House Medical Service (the ACT’s refugee health service), a member of the Institute for Communication in Healthcare, and immediate-past Chair of the Refugee Health Network of Australia. She is a general practitioner with qualifications in anthropology, public health and teaching. For over a decade, Christine has advocated through policy, research and education for better use of interpreters in medical settings, and improved cross-cultural communication in health.

Donata Sackey

Ms Donata Sackey, Director Mater Refugee Health Service and Chair of the Refugee Health Partnership Advisory Group Qld.

Over the past 15 years Donata has been based at Mater Hospital in Brisbane, prior to the Mater, Donata held positions in various human service organisations including over a decade with QPASTT (QLD Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma). Donata is a social worker with an interest in embedding community development approaches in health policy, planning and delivery. As Director of Mater Refugee Health Donata has facilitated integrated models of care including the delivery of refugee health services in partnership with general practices. She supports the Refugee Health Network Qld which, with communities and stakeholders , has played a critical role in promoting a more equitable response to COVID-19 in Queensland.

Carolyn Stapleton

Carolyn Stapleton represents the Australian College of Nursing.

Helen White

Helen White represents the Australian College of Midwives as its Chief Executive Officer.