Refugee Health Advisory Group - Refugee Health Network Queensland

Home » Networks » Refugee Health Advisory Group

Supported by Mater Refugee and Multicultural Health Service, the Refugee Health Advisory Group are 11 Refugee Health Consultants who are all regarded as natural leaders in their respective communities from South Sudan, Eritrea, Rwanda, Congo, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar (including Rohingya community).

The group is a mechanism through which health services can have access to the voice of refugee background communities. The group also participate in training, research projects and increase health literacy with communities via the Health Literacy Project.

More information:

Refugee Health Advisory Group – Focus areas for 2026
Community engagement with refugee-background communities around health: the experience of the Group of 11 – Paula Peterson, Samira Ali, Alie Kenneh & Ally Wakefield – Australian Journal of Primary Health Care (2019)
E: ally.wakefield@mater.org.au /Ph: 07 3163 6355

Samira Ali

Samira Ali is originally from Eritrea and is a mother of three children. She has lived in Australia for over 10 years.

Evelyn Pe

Evelyn Pe is originally from Myanmar and speaks Burmese and English. She has lived in Australia for over 35 years.

Maria Phaltang

Maria is originally from South Sudan and has lived in Australia for over 15 years. She has lived in Australia for over 15 years.

Amiel Nubaha

Amiel, former Rwandan refugee and former Chairperson of the Federation of Rwandan Communities in Australia Inc.

Sara Yousif

Sara Yousif is originally from Iraq and has been a member of the Mater Refugee Health Advisory Group (known as the ‘G11’) for 7 years.

Michel Ghazal

Michel Ghazal is originally from Syria and speaks both Arabic and English. He has lived in Australia for over 7 years.

Sanam Ahmadzada

Sanam Ahmadzada is a PhD candidate in the School of Public Health at The University of Queensland (UQ) researching co-designing a Mental Health Promotion Framework for refugee and migrant communities. She holds a Master of International Public Health and a Bachelor of Science majoring in Biomedical Science from UQ.

Samuel Kimanuka

Samuel is originally from Democratic of Congo and moved to Australia in 2005. He is involved in community development and community advocacy.

Faiza Abdurahman

Faiza Abdurahman is originally from the Somali region of Ethiopia and speaks Somali, Amharic and Oromifa languages. She has lived in Australia for over 14 years. Before coming to Australia she lived in Ethiopia for nearly 18 years where she finish her high school education and worked as a Somali interpreter.

Rahim Mohammadi

Rahim is the newest member of the G11 group and the youngest and arrived to Australia as a refugee from Afghanistan..

Mohib Ullah

Mohib is originally from Myanmar (Burma) and has been living in Australia since 2010. Before coming to Australia, he lived in a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh for 18 years.

Somiya Mabu Alam

Somiya Mabu Alam is a Bachelor of Nursing student at Griffith University with strong community connections to the Rohingya population across Brisbane and Logan..