Concurrent Session 5C: Priority Populations: Enabling Equity & Access
Tracks
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| Wednesday, November 11, 2026 |
| 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM |
Speaker
Dr Jacob Sorbello
Research Fellow
University Of Queensland
Help in the Outback: Outpatient AOD Treatment Characteristics in Regional, Rural and Remote Communities
1:35 PM - 1:45 PMBiography
Dr Jacob Sorbello is Clinical Psychologist and Research Fellow in the School of Psychology, at the University of Queensland. Jacob works on projects under the Meaningful Outcomes in Substance use Treatments Centre of Research Excellence (MO-CRE) and the National Centre for Youth Substance use Research (NCYSUR).
Mrs Michelle Edmondson
Operations Manager
Life Without Barriers
Beyond the Waiting Room: Stigma Responsive Assertive Outreach in Alcohol and Other Drug Care
1:45 PM - 1:55 PMBiography
With a Master in Social Work and Addictive Behaviours, Michelle has worked within the field of Addiction for over fifteen years in a wide variety of roles. Michelle is passionate about helping those navigate the path to recovery and decreasing the stigma and discrimination often experienced by those with addiction.
Dr Louise Tierney
Head, Tobacco, Alcohol & Other Drugs Unit
Australian Institute Of Health And Welfare
People who received alcohol and other drug treatment services and specialist homelessness services who have died
1:55 PM - 2:05 PMBiography
Louise Tierney (PhD, MSc, BSc) is Head of the Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Drugs Unit at the AIHW. In this leadership role, she manages statistical programs to develop methods and improve contextual relevance of data collections to provide the evidence base to inform policy decisions and service delivery.
Mr Hillary Rono
Health Promotion Officer
Queensland Health
Scaling up cessation support: iterative design of a statewide smoking and vaping training program for health professionals
2:05 PM - 2:15 PMBiography
Hillary Rono is a Health Promotion Officer at the Health Contact Centre and supports the daily operations of the Quitline service, with a focus on quality improvement, data and analytics and stakeholder engagement. Hillary is passionate about collaborating with stakeholders to drive smoking cessation in priority populations.
Ms Alyssa Abasolo
Health Promotion Officer
Health Contact Centre, Queensland Health
Improving access to smoking and vaping cessation support for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness through community partnership and outreach
2:15 PM - 2:20 PMBiography
Alyssa Abasolo is a Health Promotion Officer at the Health Contact Centre, Queensland Health, working within Queenland Quitline. She holds a Master of Public Health from Griffith University, with professional interests in smoking and vaping cessation among priority populations.
Dr Rose Crossin
Senior Lecturer
University Of Otago, Christchurch
Exploring public perceptions on drug policy using deliberative workshops
2:30 PM - 2:40 PMBiography
Rose is a Senior Lecturer in the Dept of Public Health, University of Otago, Christchurch. Her research focusses on ways of understanding, measuring and reducing drug harm from a public health perspective.
A/Prof Sally Nathan
Associate Professor
UNSW Sydney
Framing drug policy reform: Third-sector advocacy and the 2024 New South Wales Drug Summit
2:40 PM - 2:45 PMBiography
Sally is a public health social scientist who partners with non-government organisations to improve health equity for young people. New knowledge through this research is used to improve health equity through advocacy with a focus on youth, drug and alcohol and Aboriginal health and well being,
Professor Anne-Marie Laslett
Professor
La Trobe University
Can storytelling about and counting of alcohol’s harm to others change national and global policy beyond 2030?
2:45 PM - 2:50 PMBiography
Anne-Marie is an NHMRC Emerging Leader at the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University, renowned for her research on Alcohol's Harm to Others, Secretary of the Kettil Bruun Society for Epidemiological and Social Research on Alcohol, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research.