Improving Cancer Health Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People through Advocacy

Monday Lunch Livestream

With Professor Gail Garvey, John Willis and Darlene Dreise

19 July 2021

Every day around five Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are diagnosed with cancer. Indigenous Australians have a slightly higher rate of cancer diagnosis and are approximately 40 per cent more likely to die from cancer than non-Indigenous Australians.

In this collaborative Monday Lunch Livestream, Professor Gail Garvey, Menzies School of Health, will be joined by John Willis, Group Manager Inclusive Health St Vincent’s Health, and Torres Strait Islander woman, Darlene Dreise. The trio will discuss the importance of improving cancer care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with opportunity for live discussion.

Presenters: 

Professor Gail Garvey

Professor Gail Garvey is Senior Principal Research Fellow at Menzies School of Health Research and St Vincent’s Health Australia. She has worked for over 30 years in Aboriginal Health and has an impressive record in building Indigenous research capacity. She has a strong track record of research translation, and her research has informed the development of national cancer control plans and optimal care pathways for Indigenous Australians. Her research has attracted over $40 million in funding. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers.

John Willis

John Willis is the Group Manager Inclusive Health at St Vincent’s Health Australia. He has worked in mental health in both Australia and the UK. John has lived and worked on a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory, led a national research project into Aboriginal health in hospitals and also had roles with the Victorian state government in the area of drug treatment. In his current role he leads the Inclusive Health Program that grows the organisations response to the most vulnerable in our society with complex health and social needs.

Darlene Dreise

Darlene Dreise is a Torres Strait Islander woman with matrilineal connections to both Hammond Island and Thursday Island.  She is Chair of the Reconciliation Action Plan Steering Committee for St Vincent’s Health Australia (SVHA) and oversights the strategic and formational aspects of this work nationally.  She has taught at both primary and tertiary levels and has been a senior Mission leader for SVHA for the last 14 years. She works closely with both First Nations Peoples and non-Indigenous staff and community members to ensure the concepts of health and wellness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples are embedded in organisational strategy.