1. Decolonising and indigenising health curriculum: Lessons from Australia
Visiting scholars and educationists Dr Vanessa Lee (University of Sydney) and Dr Leanne Coombe (University of Queensland) from the Public Heath Indigenous Leadership in Education Network will share stories, tips and strategies to support paper, programme and discipline leaders decolonise white curriculm
and affirm indigenous realities.
12 to 2pm Wednesday 10th July 2019
at AUT South Campus – 640 Great South Rd, Manukau
A light lunch will be served
RSVP to
RSVPs to by 5th July 2019

2. The presenters Dr Vanessa Lee Dr Leanne Coombe
Vanessa, from the Yupungathi and Meriam people, resides on the land of the Gadigal clan of the Eora nation. Dr Lee is a social epidemiologist, human rights advocate, educator, writer and public health/ health sciences researcher at the University of Sydney. In her capacity as a social epidemiologist Vanessa has actively challenged government policy to provide services and to reduce suicides for Indigenous people and the sexuality and gender diverse populations.
Dr Lee began her public health and education career over 20 years ago and takes a collective approach in her leadership style. As a curriculum change agent she applied a strength-based holistic approach to the decolonising of the Faculty of Health Sciences which resulted in a University wide Indigenous implementation.
Vanessa has been involved with the Executive Board of the Public Health Indigenous Leadership in Education Network for over 10 years, in the capacity as deputy Chair and Chair. She led the publication of the 2nd Indigenous Core Competencies document.
In 2005, Vanessa was awarded an Australian Government award for Outstanding Citizen in the Torres Strait for her work in public health to empower the community.
Dr Leanne Coombe
Leanne is an academic specialising in Indigenous public health, with extensive experience teaching using a strengths-based approach as opposed to the deficit model. Furthermore, she has a strong background as a health practitioner, executive manager in both the Australian Government and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, and as an international public health consultant. As an Executive member of the Public Health Indigenous Leadership in Education (PHILE) Network, Leanne has undertaken research focused on integration models for curriculum design and cross-cultural teaching practices.
She continues to work with the Executive Board of PHILE to lead future directions and activities of the network, and provide knowledge and experience to membership of the World Federation of Public Health Associations' Public Health Professionals' Education and Training Working Group. Her current position at the University of Queensland is as Academic Lead, Curriculum Design & Integration for the Faculty of Medicine, which involves numerous collaborative projects intended to inform and enhance curriculum design of the Faculty’s teaching and learning programs. Leanne has a Doctor of Public Health degree, which investigated Interuniversity Collaborations: A model for sustainable specialised public health education programs.