Refugee Health Advisory Group
Supported by Mater Refugee Health the Brisbane Refugee Health Advisory Group are 11 Refugee Health Development Consultants who are all regarded as natural leaders in their respective communities from South Sudan, Eritrea, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar.
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 contribute to increasing health literacy with communities via the Health Literacy Project.
More information: 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.
Elizabeth Niyokushima
Elizabeth is originally from Burundi and has lived in Australia for more than 15 years.
Amiel Nubaha
Amiel, former Rwandan refugee and now 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 6 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.