Louise Murphy (Churchill Fellow), Bushfire Relief Recovery Coordinator at Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District & NSW Peer Support Coordinator at St John Ambulance

Louise is passionate about building peer support programmes that value the commitment and service of volunteer first responders, drawing on her subject matter expertise, operational credibility and International network of best practice to build support systems that care for those who care for you. 

Louise is a Registered Nurse with over 30 years experience working in a variety of Senior positions in clinical, management and education. Her areas of expertise are mental health and drug and alcohol medicine. Academically she holds a Masters in Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) with post graduate certificates in leadership and health management. 

Her passion is in education, connecting and engaging people and volunteering as a St John Ambulance Officer first responder and trainer. She has been responsible for the development and implementation of the State Peer Support Program for St John Ambulance (NSW) and a National Education Program for the Australian Department of Defence. 

In 2018, Louise was awarded a NSW Health Judith Meppem scholarship to investigate how to grow and sustain compassionate workplace cultures. In 2018, she was also awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate peer support programs in volunteer first responders to reduce mental health issues and suicide in first responders.