Presenters

Julie Dixon is a senior executive with more than 25 years’ experience leading complex policy, population health, mental health and suicide prevention reform across NSW Health and the Mental Health Commission of NSW. She has led large teams and delivered statewide strategies, outcomes frameworks and whole-of-government initiatives spanning mental health, suicide prevention, HIV, sexual health, alcohol and other drug services, planning, redesign and performance. Julie recently led the development of landmark suicide prevention legislation for NSW and contributed to the senior peer-led development of the inaugural NSW Peer Workforce Framework. Her career began as a registered nurse in the United Kingdom before she moved to Australia, where she developed clinical, research and executive leadership expertise. Julie is an Adjunct Lecturer at the UNSW School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, and holds a Master of Philosophy in Public Health and a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in Psychology from UNSW.

MD PHD FRCP

Dr Jean-Frédéric Levesque is the Chief Executive of the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation, and the Deputy Secretary, Clinical Innovation and Research at the NSW Ministry of Health.

He is an Adjunct Professor at the International Centre for Future Health Systems at the University of New South Wales. He has published more than 160 peer reviewed publications and his seminal research on healthcare access and inequity has been cited more than 5,000 times. 

Jean-Frédéric Levesque has a Medical Degree, a Masters in Community Health and a Doctorate in Public Health from the Université de Montréal, Canada. He brings extensive leadership in healthcare systems analysis and improvement, combining experience in clinical practice in refugee health and tropical medicine, in clinical governance and in academic research. 

Dr Cassandra Goldie AO, CEO of ACOSS and Adjunct Professor with UNSW Sydney, has held senior roles in the NFP and public sectors, including with the Australian Human Rights Commission, where she worked on the inquiry into pay equity and paid parental leave, Darwin Community Legal Service and Legal Aid in WA.  Cassandra has a PhD from UNSW Sydney and a Master of Laws from University College London. She is Co-Chair of the ACOSS and UNSW Sydney Poverty and Inequality Partnership, a member of the Federal Government’s independent Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, a member of the Federal Government’s National Mental Health Commission Advisory Council, and a member of Chief Executive Women. In 2021, Cassandra received the UNSW Alumni Award for Social Impact and Service, and she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished services to social justice through leadership and advocacy, promoting the rights of marginalised and disadvantaged people, in 2023.

Liz is foundation director of CHETRE (Centre for Health Equity Training Research and Evaluation in Liverpool LHD) and HERDU (Health Equity Research and Development Unit in Sydney LHD).  Her main research interest is in health equity, health impact assessment and unemployment and health.  She is retired but continues to be involved in research in Community Health Navigators.

Dr. Anthony Brown is the Research Manager at Health Consumers NSW (HCNSW). HCNSW is the peak consumer group in the state, it is an independent, membership-based charity that works to ensure that health consumers (patients, carers, and families) are involved in the decisions that impact on them.  Anthony is an experienced health researcher as well as consumer advocate. He was a Partner Investigator with ICFH’s Community Health workers Extending Care in the Community (CHECC) study. In 2022 Anthony received the UNSW Consumer Award for his contribution to consumer and community engagement for this project.

Aimee Chambers is an Assistant Secretary in the Australian Government Department of Disability, Health and Ageing, leading the Navigation and Access Branch within the Access and Home Support Division. She is responsible for My Aged Care operations and the delivery of key services that help older Australians navigate and access aged care, including digital channels, contact centre services, complaints pathways, and face to face information and support services.  Aimee has played a leadership role in implementing major aged care reforms, including the introduction of the new Aged Care Act, strengthening supported decision-making arrangements, and driving improvements to consumer access, service experience, and digital delivery. She works closely with older people, advocacy groups, service providers, and government partners to ensure aged care reforms are practical, accessible, and centred on the needs and rights of older Australians. With extensive experience leading large-scale operational, policy and digital transformation programs, Aimee brings a unique perspective on government service delivery, customer experience, organisational change, and the implementation of complex reforms in human services.

Rebecca Jessup is a health services researcher and implementation scientist whose work focuses on improving equitable access to care. Her research spans peer health navigation, health literacy and virtual models of care, examining how people understand health information, reach appropriate services, and move through complex care systems. She leads a research program on peer navigation that developed Australia's first co-designed vocational education and training program for peer health and social care navigators, built from qualitative work with patients, navigators, employers and managers, policy advisors and academics. Her work has also included research into attributes of a bicultural peer navigator workforce, evaluating navigator programs for patients at high risk of frequent hospitalisation and an implementation evaluation of a volunteer peer navigator program for people with cancer. Her wider research includes co-designing interventions to address low health literacy, and evaluating virtual models of care such as the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, where her team's findings have informed statewide health policy and funding. Rebecca uses co-design and mixed methods to ensure that roles, training and services are shaped by the people who use and deliver them.

Nathalie has worked in health and community care for more than thirty years, specialising in service planning, needs assessment, stakeholder engagement and commissioning. She has been with Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network (CESPHN) since its establishment in 2015 and has served as CEO since 2022. Prior to joining the PHN, Nathalie held a variety of roles within the Commonwealth Department of Health, Disability and Ageing across Canberra, Western Australia and New South Wales.  Her work spanned primary health care, rural health, drug and alcohol treatment and mental health, where she progressed from planning roles to managing national and regional programs. Nathalie is passionate about influencing how the health system operates at a regional level and strengthening connections across the diverse communities and stakeholders of central and eastern Sydney. At a NSW system level, she has also been leading implementation of the NSW Health- NSW PHN Joint Statement.