Jodie Lydeker
Jodie Lydeker is a lawyer by training and has spent over 20 years in the public sector leading national and state-wide social policy reforms in the areas of criminal justice, education, mental health and anti-corruption. But a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer 5 years ago at the age of 40 carved out a new pathway into public health.
After being part of the Victorian Government’s COVID-19 response and a brief stint in Canberra leading national mental health reforms for the Australian Department of Health, Jodie is now the managing director of her own policy and project management company.
Outside of work, Jodie is a proud consumer representative with BCNA, Cancer Council Victoria, Genesis Care and the Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG) at the University of Sydney.
In addition to qualifications in law and business, she has studied psychosocial oncology and service navigation to help advocate for improved availability of integrative care models that prioritise emotional health and wellbeing for people impacted by cancer. She is currently writing her book called ‘Strong Enough to Break’ that reflects on her experiences of both cancer and mental illness to encourage people to give themselves permission to pause.
Abstracts this author is presenting: