The Public Health and Health Systems Committee provides strategic advice on public health, health and medical research, and the Australian health system. 

The NHMRC-MRFF Public Health and Health Systems Committee will advise the NHMRC and NHMRC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and/or the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board (AMRAB) and CEO of the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care’s Health and Medical Research Office (HMRO) on:

  • Strategies for improving individual and population health through research and research translation that strengthens:
    • prevention and public health, and
    • primary care and other health services
  • Strategies for embedding research translation in the health system, such as:
    • facilitating and embedding an evidence-based culture in the health system
    • improving the uptake of evidenced-base health care in the health system
    • increasing the linkages between clinical practice and research practice
  • Barriers to the uptake of research evidence within the Australian health system
    • Any other matter referred to it by the NHMRC CEO and/or HMRO CEO.

Membership

The joint National Health and Medical Research (NHMRC)-Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Public Health and Health Systems Committee is established as a working committee under Section 39 of the NHMRC Act 1992. The committee members for the 2024-2027 triennium are below.

Committee members

Photo of Darryl O'Donnell

Chair,
Adjunct Professor
Darryl
O'Donnell

Director & Principal of Praxis Insights and Adjunct Professor, UNSW

Adjunct Professor Darryl O’Donnell is a seasoned health leader with over 30 years experience in government, research, and not-for-profit roles. As Principal and Director of Praxis Insights, he works as a management consultant with health and social services organisations on leadership, organisational culture, planning, policy, advocacy, and management.

He has led transformative initiatives in HIV and mental health across government and community sectors. As CEO of Health Equity Matters, he advanced Australia's HIV response, achieving reforms that significantly reduced incidence. At the Mental Health Commission of NSW, he established a new public sector agency and drove major mental health reforms. His experience includes roles on ministerial committees and directorships with not-for-profit organisations.

Adjunct Professor O’Donnell serves on the board of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia and chairs its governance committee. He is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. His academic contributions and research partnerships in public administration and health policy have earned him an adjunct professorship at the University of NSW.

Adjunct Professor
Ginny
Barbour

Editor in Chief, Medical Journal of Australia and Adjunct Professor, QUT

Professor
Tracey
Bucknall

Director of Nursing Research, Alfred Health and Professor, Deakin University

Adjunct Professor
Paul
Burgess

Executive Director Health Statistics and Informatics, NT Health and Public Health Physician and Rural GP, Charles Darwin University

Professor
Karen
Canfell

Professor of Public Health, University of Sydney and Chair of the Cancer Screening Committee, Cancer Council

Mr
Harry
Iles-Mann

Health Consumer Leader & Digital Health Advisor, Australian Digital Health Agency

Professor
Louise
Maple-Brown

Deputy Director (Research), Menzies School of Health Research

Associate Professor
Veronica
Matthews

Leadership Program Fellow at the University Centre for Rural Health, The University of Sydney

Professor
Danielle
Mazza

Professor and Head of Department of General Practice (GP), Monash University

Professor
Caroline
Miller

Director of Health Policy Centre, SAMHRI

Professor
Julie
Redfern

Director of the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare, Bond University

Professor
Chris
Reid

John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Curtin University and Assistant Director of CCRE Therapeutics, Monash University

Professor
Paul
Scuffham

Professor of Health Economics, Griffith University

Professor
Christine
Stirling

Head of School of Nursing, University of Tasmania

Professor
Andrew
Way

Interim Chief Executive Officer, RANZCP and Chair, HealthShare Victoria Board

Emeritus Professor
Paul
Worley

Emeritus Professor in the College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University