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Tarun Weeramanthri

President of the Public Health Association of Australia

Tarun Weeramanthri is President of the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), and an adjunct professor in the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Western Australia.

He is a trained specialist in internal medicine and public health, and has a PhD in social medicine. He was Chief Health Officer in Western Australia (WA) from 2008 to 2018, and in the Northern Territory (NT) from 2004 to 2007. 

In 2014, he was awarded the Sidney Sax Medal by PHAA for his contribution to public health in Australia. 

From 2019-2020, he conducted a statutory Inquiry into the Impacts of Climate Change on Health in WA.

Since 2020, he has worked with governments across Australia, state and federal, on the COVID-19 response, including the National Contact Tracing Review, and Review of Hotel Quarantine Arrangements in WA.

His interests are in how public health and good governance can contribute to change processes to address ‘climate health,’ COVID-19, and future global threats that threaten equity and solidarity.

See Tarun Weeramanthri at the Better Futures Forum:

Thursday 19 August, 12.30pm - 1.20pm AEST
BREAKOUT: Prioritising health in the national climate response