Lauren is an experienced and passionate healthcare executive, having worked in the research and service development space for 15 years. Lauren’s aim is to be able to improve the health system, health outcomes and experiences for women. She has a particular interest in mental health, domestic violence and reproductive health issues including endometriosis and PCOS.
Lauren completed a Bachelor of Psychology through Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, NSW and started her career working at the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health in Orange, NSW. She had the opportunity to work on and lead a number of clinical research projects around early psychosis, severe mental illness, suicide risk and a longitudinal mental health and wellbeing study focusing on Australians living in regional and rural areas. She completed a Masters in Evaluation through the University of Melbourne, with a focus on real world formative and impact evaluation, which has contributed to her expertise in value based healthcare and health system planning.
With her health system knowledge and experience gained from working across not-for-profit, private, government and education sectors, Lauren hopes to be able to develop strong cross sector partnerships to better address women’s health issues in the ACT.
Lauren is excited to explore how the organisation can work differently and in innovative ways to raise the profile of women’s health in the ACT.
Lauren finished up with WHM in May 2026. We thank her for her contribution towards the organisation. Recruitment for the CEO position is underway and this section will be updated in due course.
Amelia has over 15 years of experience in professional administration, with a focus on business development and corporate governance. She previously worked in Higher Education and private sectors developing strategic initiatives, policies and projects, giving her a breadth of knowledge in highly regulated industries.
She completed a Bachelor of Gender and Diversity from the University of Canberra which furthered her knowledge and her keen interest in advocacy work. Amelia is excited to bring her blend of experience to support the work that Women’s Health Matters undertakes.
Merri has worked in social policy and advocacy for over fifteen years, across both the ACT and national levels, with a focus on gender equality and gender-based violence. Most recently, Merri spent five years managing a national alliance of organisations working to end gender-based violence, before working locally to deliver violence prevention training to educators, businesses, and community members.
Through her PhD in political science at the Australian National University (ANU), Merri studied feminists’ attempts to shape social policies affecting work and care.
She subsequently researched the development of women’s services and women’s policy agencies, including those focused on health. She has authored numerous articles and book chapters on gender equality, gender-based violence and human rights, including articles in Australian and international journals.
Merri is happy to be part of a community-based organisation working for women’s health in the ACT, where she can contribute to violence prevention, sexual and reproductive health, better access to health information, and all the changes needed so that women can have full enjoyment of their lives.
Sarah has been in the communications space for over nine years, with experience in Not For Profits and Universities.
She is passionate about Women’s Health and supporting the WHM team to share the important, valuable work they do advocating for better outcomes in this area.
Cat joins the Women’s Health Matters team from the university research sector. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with minors in English and Women’s Studies from Marywood University (Pennsylvania, USA) and a Master of Science in English Language and Literature (Pedagogy) from Southern Connecticut State University.
At Marywood, she studied women’s literature and history; women and world religions; the effects of political, industrial and corporate decision-making on women’s lives; and feminism and its hard-fought battles. She is a passionate advocate for women’s rights and well-being.
Ursula is an experienced gender equity advocate, drawing on her lived experience and practice wisdom to shape strategic direction and develop evidence-based policy at local, national and international levels.
Ursula believes that people who have experienced domestic, family and sexual violence and gendered health barriers hold invaluable knowledge needed for effective policy and program design. She is committed to ensuring these voices are actively incorporated into community responses, recognising that gender-responsive health and social systems are fundamental to advancing gender equity.
Her work is informed by her education, including a Bachelor of Human Services (Multicultural Welfare) and Diploma of Community Services.
Ursula feels extremely grateful for the vicarious resilience gained from over a decade working directly with people experiencing health, social and gender inequities. She feels very lucky to continue her advocacy for systemic change through her work at Women’s Health Matters.
Gemma is a Social Worker with more than 14 years’ experience across the community sector in Victoria and the Northern Territory. She has worked in partnership with people with lived experience of homelessness and domestic, family and sexual violence to advocate for meaningful social justice reform across the homelessness and DFSV sectors.
Gemma has also led gender‑based violence prevention initiatives within the higher education sector.
She is deeply committed to systems change and is proud to work alongside a community organisation that shares her vision for governments and institutions that meaningfully embed lived experience voices within their decision‑making processes.
Maya is a survivor advocate and psychology student with a strong commitment to elevating survivor voices and advancing meaningful policy reform. She serves on the Bravehearts Youth Advisory Council and contributes to the working group supporting improvements to the ANU’s Rights, Relationships, and Respect program. In 2025, Maya was invited to speak with members of the Federal Government to present findings from the YourVoice youth engagement project related to young people’s experiences of gender-based violence.
Alongside her academic and advocacy work, she volunteers with elderly community members and enjoys spending time with her cats.
Meet Bormey!
Bormey’s experiences as an international student and her work with non-profit organisations promoting women’s rights has given her a unique perspective on the challenges women from diverse backgrounds may face in accessing healthcare.
She understands how accessing health care as international students or non-citizens can be challenging, especially when there are language and cultural barriers and financial constraints.
As a Bilingual health Educator at Women’s health Matters, Bormey plans to deliver health education program in both Khmer and English Languages.
She hopes that she can help break down language and cultural barriers and ensure that more women in ACT have access to the information they need to make informed decisions about their health.
In her spare time, Bormey enjoys a variety of activities, including cooking, hiking, travelling, and functional training as they help her manage stress and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Anushe leads the Health in My Language program at Women’s Health Matters as the HiML Project Coordinator.
Having personally experienced the challenges of navigating the healthcare system after moving to the ACT as someone with lifelong chronic conditions, Anushe understands the barriers faced by those who may be new to Canberra and seeking support.
Before joining WHM, Anushe worked with state and national peak bodies, advocating for better health outcomes and access for multicultural and multilingual communities. This experience has provided her with information on the challenges faced by women from diverse backgrounds when it comes to accessing healthcare.
She hopes to leverage the insights and outcomes gained from the project to strengthen WHM’s advocacy on improving health access and system responsiveness within the ACT.
In her spare time, Anushe enjoys cooking for friends and family, being a pretty average plant mum, and picking up a new craft hobby every month!
Meet Bing.
I have been working in the Community service sector for the last 14 years. I have worked as a social support group facilitator and program officer in two different community centres in Canberra . I also study in CIT and got a diploma in Community service work during this period.
I love to work at Women’s Health Matters because I think there are many barriers for migrant and refugee women to access health information and services, I would like to help migrant and refugee women to break down the barriers and improve their health.
I have been dealing with Chinese seniors for a long time. As a Bilingual Health Educator, I will deliver health information in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
Tayyaba holds a PhD in Anthropology from the Australian National University. Her doctoral research examined women’s activism within Islamist political movements, exploring gender, power and political participation. She is particularly interested in how structural inequalities shape women’s lives, opportunities and access to resources.
She is pleased to work with Women’s Health Matters, where she brings her background in gender research and social analysis to support evidence-informed policy and advocacy. She is passionate about addressing structural inequalities and contributing to meaningful change in women’s health and wellbeing.
