Appointed our inaugural Research Director in 2017, Suzie Forell has been instrumental in shaping the research agenda of Health Justice Australia.
As she steps down from her position, we pay tribute to her immense contribution to the organisation and her ongoing commitment to reshaping the way people access legal help for complex problems.
We’re please to say this is not goodbye – Suzie will be staying on at Health Justice Australia as Research Fellow, and will continue to be a valuable part of our research team.
As she departs her current position, we asked Suzie to reflect on her time at Health Justice Australia so far.
How did your role at HJA begin?
I had been working at the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, first hearing from people experiencing homelessness and folk in and out of prison about their experiences of legal need, and challenges to accessing and engaging with legal help. Those experiences and insights, together with those of front line legal and other practitioners, have shaped all my work since. I then worked with legal assistance services to understand and evaluate how they were responding to that need. Coming to Health Justice Australia was a natural progression of that work – and an opportunity to explore how legal help can also support health and wellbeing.
What are you most proud of from your time with us?
Just how much I have learned. Research is a way to listen to, gather, analyse and share the expertise of others. I am humbled by the wisdom that has been shared with me as a researcher.
I am really proud of the contribution Health Justice Australia has made in highlighting to other sectors how the law and legal services can contribute to improved lives and wellbeing – as a shared aspiration of people, communities and colleagues working in other sectors.
I am proud of our work in research work in partnership – with health justice partnerships, in the multi-site evaluation of health justice partnerships, with Neami National, the CRE into Childhood Adversity and Mental Health, and with the STAR CRE.
What are HJA’s greatest opportunities?
To bring people, organisations, funders and researchers together to explore and learn together about how services can better address inequity and its impact in partnership.
What will you miss the most?
The incredible people I have the privilege and delight of working with and learning from – both within Health Justice Australia and all the health justice partnership practitioners and researchers we work and engage with. I will also miss the conversations and the connections around common interests and shared insights among people with diverse expertise and experience.
What’s next for you?
Making space for new opportunities and experiences! I will keep a hand in with the research but ultimately interested in learning some completely new things: like how to drive a tractor and grow excellent capers!
