Committee

Kym Strachan

President

Kym is thrilled to be joining the AHPA Qld Branch Committee as the President and is excited to be working with such an experienced group of health promotion professionals. Kym holds a Master of Public Health (Health Promotion), Graduate Certificate in Health Promotion, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Education (Applied Learning), and a Diploma in Project Management. She is passionate about health promoting settings and older people’s health. Kym currently works at the Brisbane North Primary Health Network as the Manager of Care Coordination in the Aged and Community Care Team. Throughout her 30-year career in health she has had a strong focus on wellbeing, collaboration, partnerships, quality improvement, clinical governance, and supporting people with chronic disease. Kym is looking forward to serving the AHPA QLD Branch members over the coming 12 months.

Jemma King

Secretary

Jemma is the past President of the AHPA Queensland Branch. Jemma holds a Master of Public Health (Health Promotion) and a joint degree in Bachelor in Business and Psychology (Hons). Jemma is employed as a Lecturer in Public Health with a focus on teaching future health professionals about research. She is interested in health literacy, injury prevention, the research and practice nexus and the application of behaviour change principles to health enhancement. She is currently a member of the Townsville Health Promotion Network and the Active Transport in the Tropics Network.

Eva James

General Member

Eva James holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Health Promotion and is currently completing a graduate diploma in Planetary Health. Eva has worked on a range preventive health programs, projects and policy developments across regional, state and national portfolios. She is super passionate about the intersection of climate change and health, and interested in place based approaches to prevention. Eva loves supporting early career professionals in their transition from student to workforce and was previously a tutor in the School of Public Health, UQ. Eva currently works at Healthy North Coast (Primary Health Network) leading initiatives focused on supporting wellbeing and resilience, particularly in communities impacted by recent natural disasters.

Anne Bartuschat

General Member

Anne holds a Bachelor of Health Science with a major in Health Promotion and is currently completing a Master of Public Health through James Cook University. She is currently working in the Older Persons Health and Palliative Care space. Anne’s passion is to build capacity, strengthen relationships and to collaborate. Advocating for regional, rural and remote areas is close to her heart.

Sue Devine

General Member

Sue holds a Graduate Diploma in Health Promotion, Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and a DrPH. Sue has worked in the health promotion field since the early 1990’s and is passionate about building health promotion capacity in both within and outside the health sector. She currently works at James Cook University where she teaches health promotion subjects to postgraduate Public Health students and undergraduate allied health students.

Susan Breckenridge

General Member

Susan holds a Master of Health Promotion, a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Psychology, Anatomy and a Graduate Diploma in Education. She has been a registered health promotion practitioner with the IUHPE since 2019. Susan has always been passionate about health, from health education to health promotion with a purpose to enable everyone to have the best possible health to live their best life. Susan has worked in programs encompassing people at all stages of life, in primary and secondary schools, community-based programs, private business and now in the Primary Health Network. Susan is particularly interested in a preventative, early intervention approach to health including an awareness of health as holistic and dependant on the environment in which we live.

Kath McFarlane

General Member

Kath has been a previous President of the AHPA Queensland Branch and involved as a general member of the committee on-and-off since 2008. Kath has worked in the field of health promotion for over 20 years and has completed a PhD focused on building health promotion and research capacity in an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service. Kath is passionate about improving health outcomes in disadvantaged settings and has a strong interest in how organisational systems can be strengthened to increase health promotion capacity. Kath has dual roles in leading sexual health promotion approaches in north Queensland and supporting Allied Health staff to undertake research activities.

Samantha Somers

General Member

Samantha Somers is a dedicated advocate for public health, currently in her final year of a Master of Health Promotion. Holding a Bachelor of Health Science in Naturopathy, Samantha brings a unique blend of clinical expertise and holistic health principles to her work and is keen to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement as part of our work on the branch committee. Samantha led the review, planning, and update of the AHPA QLD Branch Operational Plan for 2024 – 2026. Her commitment to evidence-based initiatives and stakeholder engagement was instrumental in shaping the direction of the association's strategic objectives.
In addition to her role as a clinical Naturopath, Samantha is also a Permaculture Educator, facilitating community workshops on holistic health and sustainable ecosystems. She is passionate about health in all policies, patient-centred care, health equity, food systems, sustainable health and well-being for individuals, communities, and planetary health.