Professor Helen Milroy AM hosting a webinar following the referendum on a Voice to Parliament.
Embrace Co-Director Professor Helen Milroy AM has highlighted the need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership in driving health and wellbeing reform priorities.
This year’s Close the Gap Campaign report featured Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia, chaired by Professor Milroy, as a case study under the theme of reform and transformation. The report emphasised the crucial role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-focused organisations in transforming government sectors and advancing progress toward closing the gap.
Professor Milroy commented that those working in the mental health system recognise the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agencies and leadership in improving wellbeing outcomes.
“Those of us working in the mental health system knowhow important Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agency and leadership is to improving outcomes for our people,” she said.
We can’t keep repeating ourselves – we need government partners to fully embrace and implement the Priority Reforms within the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
A descendant of the Palyku people from the Pilbara region, Professor Milroy is Australia’s first Indigenous medical doctor and child psychiatrist.
In addition to her role at Embrace, Professor Milroy is also the Stan Perron Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Perth Children’s Hospital and an Honorary Research Fellow at The Kids Research Institute Australia.
Professor Milroy was awarded the Australian Mental Health Prize in 2020, named the WA Australian of the Year in 2021, and went on to receive the Order of Australia in 2023.
Embrace is supported by principal partner Rio Tinto.