Community Advocacy panel with Dr Helen Haines, Judy Ryan OAM & Dr Rachel Richardson.

Gateway Health is running a series of community capacity building events to inspire and build capacity of people and communities to advocate for change. 

Come along and hear from inspiring people who have advocated for small and big changes in their community.

In our 2nd session, hear from Dr Helen Haines MP, Judy Ryan OAM and Dr Rachel Richardson. 

Wednesday 1st May, 5.30pm - 7.30pm at Gateway Health Wodonga. 

• Dr Helen Haines MP

Helen Haines was elected as the Independent Federal Member for Indi in 2019 and re-elected in 2022.

Dr Haines has lived and worked as a nurse, midwife, health administrator and rural health researcher in Victoria’s North East for more than 30 years.

Before contesting the federal election in 2019, Dr Haines worked as a Senior Research Fellow with the University of Melbourne Department of Rural Health and as the Director of Education and Research Unit at Northeast Health Wangaratta.

Dr Haines holds a master's degree in Public Health from the University of New South Wales and a PhD in Medical Science from Uppsala University, Sweden.

As an Independent MP, Dr Haines is working to bring integrity to politics, for action on climate change that benefits regional communities and better access to health care and mental health care in regional Australia.

• Judy Ryan OAM

After raising her family in Wodonga, Judy Ryan relocated to inner-city Melbourne in 2012. Judy became immersed in Melbourne’s deadly heroin crisis, and in 2016 launched what ultimately became a successful residents’ campaign for a supervised injecting facility in Richmond.

Judy was awarded an Order of Australia (OAM) in the general division in the 2022 Queen's Birthday honours list for "service to community health in a range of programs".

She received a 2023 Churchill Fellowship ‘to learn how drug-impacted communities engage governments to save lives using health-based solutions’.

In 2023 Judy wrote the book: You Talk We Die – The Battle for Victoria’s First Safe Injecting Facility.  

Judy has also stood as a candidate in the three levels of government in Australia.

• Dr Rachel Richardson

Dr Rachel Richardson holds a PhD in applied psychology and has a career in education spanning over 35 years across a range of settings from primary school teaching to university leadership and management.

Consistent with her focus on early intervention in her doctoral work, Rachel has been a strong advocate for the development of multidisciplinary service models for Transgender children and young people. She has also served in an advisory capacity on a range of bodies across Victoria aimed at supporting and protecting the broader interests of those in the LGBTIQ + community.

Rachel is the retired inaugural Chair of the Board of the national charity, Transcend Australia, which advocates for the human rights of Trans, Gender Diverse, and Non-Binary young people and their families across Australia.

Disclaimer: By attending this event, you agree that your photo or video may taken and acknowledge that images may be used by the organisation for educational or promotional material in print and/or digital format, including the website and social media channels. If you do not wish for your images to be used, please speak with one of the Gateway Health staff on the day to make necessary arrangements.