Bree Heffernan has recently joined Onemda to work as a Research Assistant on an ARC-funded Aboriginal Child Mortality Study. Bree joins Associate Professor Jane Freemantle in the early stages of the 5-year project, which seeks to build a mortality profile of Victoria's Aboriginal (and non-Aboriginal) children 1998-2008, using an innovative method and research process. The project will address the critical issue of a lack of data to describe Aboriginal health in Victoria, especially child health. The project will be undertaken in partnership with VACCHO.
Bree comes to Onemda from the Koori Human Services Unit (KHSU), Department of Human Services, where she worked in the data team for a number of years. In the KHSU, Bree was involved in developing strategies to improve the accuracy of Indigenous identification in hospital, birth and death datasets and the analysis and reporting of information to inform policy makers, health services and the community on the health status of Victoria’s Aboriginal population.
Bree is currently undertaking a Masters Degree in Public Health and also has an academic and work history in the performing arts field.
