News update

Meet the advocacy team!

Meet the growing advocacy team who are working hard on a range of advocacy issues and will be reporting back to you via STRIDE and other communications channels. We sat down with our newest team members, Bronywn Morris-Donovan, Steven Brown and Dan Miles to find out more about their roles and their purpose.

Advocacy is a long game. Every now and again we achieve a quick win, but more often than not, it’s about strategy, staying the course, monitoring the landscape for relevant change and knowing when to act and when to hold…

Meet Bronwyn

Bronwyn Morris-Donovan is a primary health sector advocate with expertise in advocacy, health sector strategy and planning, governance, and service innovation. Most recently Bron has worked with the National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce on the development of living guidelines for the management of people with COVID-19. Bron has experience across several Australian health peak bodies and Colleges including the RACGP, Australian Primary Health Care Nurses, APA and established the Mental Health Professionals’ Network in 2008. Bron has a Bachelor of Podiatry, Master of Public Health, the AICD Company Directors Course, Graduate Certificate in Infection Prevention and Control and is accredited in PRINCE2 Project Management. Bron and her husband Will have two gorgeous kids, Willow and Hugo.

Meet Dan

Dan Miles is a physio by background who has worked clinically in a wide range of settings, in public, private, community and sporting teams. He completed a Masters of Public Health quite some time ago with the aim of trying to help make a bigger difference in improving the populations health. Following that Dan has worked in a number of settings including the Commonwealth government, compensable bodies, Medibank (being involved in the previous iteration of the Australian Defence Force healthcare service provision, whilst still having some clinical involvement. More recently Dan has been involved in advocacy at the Australian Physiotherapy Association. Outside of work he enjoys working in community broadcasting and he has a deep love of sport and keeping fit and enjoys running on a regular basis.

Meet Steven

Steven Brown has a strong interest in health care. He has worked with the APodA for several years and has used his passion for podiatry and for connecting with members to transition into a full time role in the advocacy team.

Prior to this Steven worked in investment banking for 11 years while undertaking postgraduate studies in Finance. Since leaving finance, he has developed his knowledge in podiatry and is now enrolled in a Graduate Certificate in Public Health, all the while using his experience to strategically drive positive change for members. Steven lives in Sydney and can be often found riding his bike at all available opportunities.

...a primary driver is to make sure that providers are remunerated fairly, and consideration of the value for consumers is taken into consideration...

What are your key advocacy passions?

B: Access to affordable, timely primary health care services is a topic I am completely connected to. In the early part of my career, I worked in community health as a podiatrist and developed a real interest in health system funding and service integration. My real passion is actually focused at the workforce level and exploring ways to influence decisions around workforce policy. Many of the key primary health care challenges that exist today were emerging when I transitioned into advocacy almost 20 years ago. Issues like workforce sustainability and planning, system integration, digital integration and deep inequalities in access and affordability still exist.

D: Collaborating with providers, funders and consumers to work towards improved access to healthcare services that make a difference in people’s lives. Making this difference is a key pillar of our preventative health strategies.

I would also like to think that a primary driver is to make sure that providers are remunerated fairly, and consideration of the value for consumers is taken into consideration (not just, as funders often like to talk about, costs!)

Lastly, it’s important to consider what matters most for funders, and how we as providers can help them to achieve their goals. Once these aims are centred around patient outcomes and value, then there are real opportunities to work together and pilot new models, structures and so forth.

S: There are many but at the top of the list I would say is the opportunity to connect with members and work out ways I can make a difference. I also enjoy reading through public health acts and legislations to then work out ways it applies to podiatry.

I enjoy the challenge of constantly learning new things and so gaining a better understanding of state and federal funding structures that influence podiatry is really important to me. I also feel lucky to work with experts in their fields every day and I always learn something new from these interactions.

How would you like members to become more involved this year?

B: You, as members, are fundamental to achieving outcomes in advocacy. Advocacy adopts a somewhat macro view but is informed by your day-to-day experiences. We are interested in the composition and funding mix of your practices, how you utilise third party funders to maintain business sustainability, and where the gaps in these schemes exist. You bring clinical expertise and case examples to the table which allows us to more deeply understand the downstream impact on both podiatrist and consumers. Deep engagement with you adds to the richness and ultimately the success of our work. Your input helps us see the challenges at the practice level and we marry that up with our understanding of the overarching health policy landscape. Contact Bron at 0488 777 939 or advocacy@podiatry.org.au

D: When working with third party funders of all flavours, real life examples or case studies are invaluable when it comes to showing the value which is offered to patients or consumers.

It would be amazing if some of these real life examples of the value from a human, health and downstream cost impact can be drawn together. I love a chat and I’m always happy to hear thoughts and ideas. Advocacy is always more powerful when forces join together. Contact Dan on 0412 919 229 or dan.miles@podiatry.org.au

S: I would encourage members to share how any advocacy-related changes will affect their business. The more we can access any real life examples or case studies to support current and future bodies of work, the better for everyone.

I also would urge members to work with our special interest groups to discover how we can best assist, through a coordinated and targeted approach. Contact Steven on 02 8074 4867 or advocacy@podiatry.org.au

I love working to a schedule and timing how long something takes... There is a lot of chipping away at projects and even though we work so hard, the outcomes can be less tangible on a day to day basis.

What frustrates you when it comes to advocacy work?

B: Advocacy work can be frustrating when we adopt short-term perspectives or change course/direction without thorough consideration. Advocacy is a long game. Every now and again we achieve a quick win, but more often than not, it’s about strategy, staying the course, monitoring the landscape for relevant change and knowing when to act and when to hold. Relationships with funders and state/territory/federal policy makers are critical to success, however purposeful, enduring relationships take time to build.

D: Slow change, and a constant move to discuss prices and forget the value paradigm; this can be frustrating. It can also be frustrating when the concepts that outline the evidence (or the economic rationalism of value) need to be reinvented and re-explained. I can completely understand that this is needed, but in many cases evidence and value has been highlighted for many years and change has still not been forthcoming.

The other challenge with third party funders is finding the right people to work with and to collaborate on issues. The industry changes and the people move on, so forging long and strong relationships can be a real key to success.

S: As I am new to the advocacy team, I can’t say anything frustrates me yet! To be honest, I love working to a schedule and timing how long something takes, and then ticking jobs off as I go. So I guess this isn’t always possible with the work we do. There is a lot of chipping away at projects and even though we work so hard, the outcomes can be less tangible on a day to day basis.

Is there anything else you would like members to know as the year kicks off?

B: Dan, Steven and I are here to focus on driving podiatry forward for you. We essentially have two jobs in advocacy – to advance your profession and to protect it. This essentially means we guard your scope from downstream threats and we explore upstream opportunities to shift you toward a more equal footing with funders. We do this in a way that is collaborative, open and transparent. Call or email the advocacy team anytime to chat about through the ideas, opportunities and challenges you see for podiatry. The more we talk to you, the deeper our understanding of what you need and how we can support you. We’re also super collaborative beings who like nothing more than talking to members.

D: Like Ted Lasso, I may not have ever played the sport that our members play and love. My background is as a physio (though I have played and coached the equivalent of American football!) But what we are doing in advocacy shares similar themes, regardless of your background.

The following list sums up some universal ‘truths’ that the great (albeit fictional) Ted Lasso lives by. I reckon these values hold strong when it comes to how I’ll approach all advocacy work in my role at the APodA.

Believe in yourself
Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing
All people are different people
See good in others
Forgive first
Tell the truth
Winning is an attitude
Optimists do more
Stay teachable
Happiness is a choice.

S: I am always happy to listen and help where I can, so please do contact me for any reason. I believe that no matter what the size, a concern is still a concern and I want to try and help.

Contact the advocacy team via advocacy@podiatry.org.au