top of page

HRVic BOARD
2021-2022

"The speed of decision making
is the essence of good governance.
 

-Piyush Goyal

ROBYN DWYER

president@hrvic.org.au

Robyn Dwyer has more than 20 years’ experience in harm reduction and drugs research. She has worked at several research and health centres in Melbourne and Sydney, including the National Drug Research Institute, Burnet Institute and Kirketon Road Centre. Robyn currently works at the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University. In all her work, Robyn aims to give voice to people who choose to consume drugs and to challenge stereotypes and false ideas that perpetuate stigma and discrimination experienced by the drug consumer community. Robyn joined the Board of HRVic in 2011 and has served as Board President since 2015.

Picture 1

KATIA LALLO

Katial@hrvic.org.au

Katia is a community lawyer and advocate for the rights of criminalised people and communities. Her work is informed by de-carceration and grassroots organising, especially in the space of community legal education. Katia is interested in the way the law impacts on the lives of people who consume drugs, and its implications for individual and community safety and self-determination. Katia is a community lawyer and advocate for the rights of criminalised people and communities. Her work is informed by de-carceration and grassroots organising, especially in the space of community legal education. Katia is interested in the way the law impacts on the lives of people who consume drugs, and its implications for individual and community safety and self-determination.

Picture 2

TONY WYATT

tonyw@hrvic.org.au

Tony has over 15 years of board level experience across the public, commercial & not for profit sectors, with particular experience in the health and pharmaceutical sector. Board level highlights include: Member of the DHHS Methadone Advisory Committee; Executive Director of the HPS Board and Member of the HPS Shareholder Committee. As a Non-Executive Director he contributed to the development of one of the first non-Government community AOD treatment centres in Victoria and later took over the management of the not for profit program at Moreland Hall. Tony advocated  to the PBS on 2 separate occasions to have methadone added to the PBS and worked on a number of pharmacotherapy innovations. With a Master of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Pharmacy and as a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Tony has a range of ways to contribute to the HRVic Board.

Picture 3

PENNY HILL

pennyh@hrvic.org.au

Penny Hill is the current Deputy Secretary of the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs, Oceania Representative to the International Drug Policy Consortium’s Members Advisory Council, Board Member of Harm Reduction Australia, Vice President of Harm Reduction Victoria, and co-founder of Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia. Penny has recently submitted her PhD thesis focussed on opioid overdose through the Burnet Institute, and currently works as an Emerging Drugs Research Fellow at UNSW. Penny started working in the harm reduction sector as an NSP worker, and has substantial experience working and volunteering in various harm reduction services, including peer-led supervised consumption sites, festival spaces and drug checking services in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Picture 4

PETER HIGGS

peterh@hrvic.org.au

‘Growing up’ in the inner suburbs of Sydney while studying a social work degree pre NSP in the mid-1980s meant learning lots about drugs and the people who use them. My first job in Melbourne in 1988 was on the North Melbourne high-rise housing estate which was ‘awash with heroin’. This led me to work with families who were  greatly impacted and very confused about harm reduction. Much of my work over the past 25 years has been in and around the Footscray ‘street scene’ through a range of different iterations - with a couple of long stints in Vietnam doing HIV peer-based prevention work. Most of my recent work has a focus on hep C and changes in drug use patterns. I’m keen to give what knowledge and support I can to HRVic as I step back in my paid research work roles and look forward to the opportunities available.

Picture 5

GABY BRUNING 

gabylb@hrvic.org.au

Gaby has been working primarily with Aboriginal clients in the AOD sector for the last 8 years as an AOD Clinician and Harm Reduction Practitioner. I wish to run for the Board because I believe in HRVic, and I believe in advocating for the human rights of people who use drugs.

Picture 6

CRAIG HARVEY

craigh@hrvic.org.au

My professional background has focused on supporting marginalised communities, those that inject drugs and male sex workers, in the UK. Since arriving in Australia in 2006 I have held a number of both frontline and management roles supporting people who use drugs, with a focus on innovative harm reduction strategies.

Picture 7

bottom of page