Di's bio

I am a proud daughter of a World War II veteran and have a Bachelor of Community Welfare and Master of Social Policy from James Cook University.

Like many veterans my dad sheltered us from his war experiences and tended to relay only the “funny” stories.  However, I was fortunate to learn more about my Dad’s and other veterans experiences through by work as a Community Development Officer in North Queensland and for the past 15 years  working as a Community Adviser and later as a Manager for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

 My work with the Department involved working alongside members of the Ex-Service Organisations to support veterans and their families particularly in  relation to their health and well being.  This provided me with a greater understanding of the impact of military service on families and the difficulties they face.

I believe from both my personal and professional experience the importance of supporting not only the veteran, serving or ex-serving member but their family members and this support needs to involve evidence based research.

 I support the aims and objectives of AFOM and am very honoured to be part of this Foundation.