Emeritus Professor Dr Jane Latimer AO (Broderick, 1978) BAppSc (Phty), GradDipAppSc (Manip Phty), PhD, MAPA was awarded an AO at this year’s Australia Day honours for distinguished service to tertiary education and research, particularly public health, and to women.

Jane was the MLC School Captain and the winner of the Old Girls’ Union Prize in 1978. At School she was a talented debater and played high-level tennis, netball and softball. She went on to the University of Sydney where she completed two degrees in Applied Science and later a PhD in Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences.

Currently the Emeritus Professor in the School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, Jane was previously Deputy Director of the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, an academic health partnership between the University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, and was the visiting Professor of Musculoskeletal Health at the University of Oxford, UK. She is recognised internationally for her innovative research in back pain and for her work in Indigenous health.

Jane’s musculoskeletal work focused on designing and leading high quality clinical trials; some of the most challenging and influential in the field; to identify the most effective treatments for musculoskeletal conditions, the main cause of disability in Australia. She received over $22 million to fund her work and has published in the world’s leading medical journals including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet and Nature.

In the mid 2000s, Jane was part of a team that received $1.1 million from the Federal Government to fund the first study of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) prevalence in a remote Indigenous community in Australia. She worked with Aboriginal leaders in the Fitzroy Valley in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia to address the legacy of years of alcohol misuse reflected in the number of children thought to be affected by FASD. Her work, together with exceptional Aboriginal women, resulted in the production of two films, one of which was launched by the Australian Government at the United Nations in 2009. Her research was considered ground-breaking and was described by Australia’s Social Justice Commissioner as “...setting an example to the rest of Australia of how best to approach Indigenous affairs.”

Jane also currently works as Director of Strategy for Elizabeth Broderick & Co., an organisation that works both within Australia and globally in the areas of gender equality, diversity and cultural renewal to help build the organisations of the future. In this role Jane works closely with the STEM Champions of Change coalition, and supports Elizabeth Broderick (her twin) in her role as UN Chair-Rapporteur for Discrimination against women and girls.

Jane has been an invited mentor for both university and industry programs. She recognises that the responsibility a good mentor has is to move beyond advice and coaching and to use their positional power to advance the careers of their mentees.