Multicultural Health Advisory Group

Role

The Advisory Group is a key engagement mechanism to provide a coordinated approach to informing multicultural health and wellbeing policy in the department.

The Advisory Group is strategically positioned to provide expert advice to the Australian Government through the department to ensure policies and initiatives are effective, culturally safe and communicated well to multicultural communities. The Advisory Group includes experts and representatives from various backgrounds including:

Multicultural peak bodies representing the diverse and unique needs and experiences of multicultural communities
Public health and medical experts
Civil society organisations
Carer and consumer representatives
State and territory governments (as observers)

Background

The Government is committed to improving health equity for people from multicultural communities. The Advisory Group was established on 8 December 2020 to provide the department with advice on the experiences of multicultural communities during the COVID‑19 pandemic and to mitigate the health impact of COVID‑19. (It was known as the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities COVID-19 Health Advisory Group).

In November 2022, the Advisory Group was extended to continue the collaborative partnership forged throughout the pandemic with multicultural communities. The remit was expanded to provide advice and recommendations to the department across the Health and Aged Care portfolio. The group was renamed to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities Health Advisory Group (CALD Advisory Group).

In December 2024, the Advisory Group was extended and refreshed to continue the important collaboration and dialogue between the department and multicultural communities. In June 2025, the group has been renamed the Multicultural Health Advisory Group.

Terms of reference

Multicultural Health Advisory Group – Terms of reference

The Multicultural Health Advisory Group is responsible for engagement with multicultural stakeholder groups on issues including, but not limited to, mental health, primary care, disability and aged care.

Members

Role	Name	Organisation
Chair	Ms Trish Clancy	Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Member – Organisation representatives
Member	Ms Agnieszka Chudecka	Multicultural Aged Care, Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care Alliance
Member	Ms Maria Dimopoulos	Settlement Council of Australia
Member	Mrs Bronwyn Morris-Donovan	Allied Health Professions Australia
Member	Dr Renee Dixson	Forcibly Displaced People Network
Member	Ms Rana Ebrahimi	Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network
Member	Mary Ann Baquero Geronimo	Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia
Member	A/Prof Erika Gonzalez Garcia	Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators
Member	Ms Siri Gunawardana	Centre for Culture, Ethnicity and Health
Member	Dr Noelleen Kiprillis	Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation
Member	Dr Scott Mills	Social Policy Group
Member	Dr Adele Murdolo	Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health
Member	Ms Jamila Padhee	Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (FASSTT)
Member	Michelle Possingham	Mental Health Australia (Embrace Multicultural Mental Health)
Member	Ms Samara Rodway	National Ethnic Disability Alliance
Member	Prof Helen Skouteris	Monash University
Member	Dr Aidan Tan	The Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Member	Mrs Andrea Vancia	Brisbane South Primary Health Network
Member	Dr Kate Walker	Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
Member – Carer and consumer representatives
Carer	Dr Fernanda Penaloza	National Multicultural Health Consumer and Carer Network – Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative
Consumer	Ms Ashanthi Jayasekera	National Multicultural Health Consumer and Carer Network – Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative
Member – Health Experts
Health Expert	A/Prof Georgia Paxton	General paediatrician, Head of Immigrant Health Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne
Health Expert	Professor Christine Phillips	Medical Director at Companion House Medical Service
Health Expert	A/Prof Ines Rio	General Practitioner, North Western Melbourne Primary Health Networks
Health Expert	Dr Judy Tang	Neuropsychologist at Invictus Health
State and territory observers
Observer	Ms Eleni Hatzilaou	Northern Territory Government
Observer	Ms Bee Andersson	Government of South Australia
Observer	Mrs Udani Dhanojanan	Government of Western Australia
Observer	Mrs Elizabeth Mahnken	Tasmanian Government
Observer	Ms Melanie Nicholls	Queensland Government
Observer	Mr Nick Sandrejko	New South Wales Government
Observer	Mr Izaac White	ACT Government
Observer	Dr Evelyn Wong	Victorian Government

Principles for collecting and using culturally safe data

8 Principles for culturally inclusive and sensitive data practice

These principles were developed in consultation with members of the Advisory Group. They are a set of simple steps in how to collect, manage, use and share data representing culturally diverse Australian communities in a respectful and responsible way.

Communiques

Multicultural Health Advisory Group – Communiques

This collection contains communiques from the Multicultural Health Advisory Group

Keep in touch with our work for multicultural communities

Subscribe to Health information for multicultural communities

Date last updated:

20 June 2025

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