Maxine Morand

Maxine Morand
Victorian Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development
In office July 2007 – 2 December 2010
Preceded by	Lisa Neville
Succeeded by	Wendy Lovell
Constituency	Mount Waverley
Personal details
Born	(1959-01-30) 30 January 1959 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Profession	Nurse, Researcher

Maxine Veronica Morand (born 30 January 1959)^[1] is Chief Executive Officer of Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA).

Prior to joining BCNA, Morand was Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development and Minister for Women's Affairs in the Brumby Ministry, and held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Mount Waverley.

Before being elected to Parliament, she was a researcher at Cancer Council Victoria and ministerial adviser. Prior to entering politics she was a nurse and transplant coordinator.

Morand lives in Melbourne with her husband and two children. Morand was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011. Morand took over as CEO from BCNA founder Lyn Swinburne in November 2011.^[2]

Career

Morand has a background in health, research and politics. After commencing her career as a general nurse, Morand was one of the first organ transplant coordinators in Victoria. After a career break with the birth of her two children, Morand returned to university and completed her Arts degree at La Trobe University with an honours year in Sociology, majoring in statistics. This led to a research role at the Centre for Behavioural Research at the Cancer Council Victoria and work on a diverse range of projects including evaluation of the Quit program and cancer patient needs. Morand went on to become an advisor to John Thwaites, the newly elected Victorian Minister for Health and Deputy Premier, working across a range of public health policies and programs and health practitioner regulation.

Political career

Morand ran as the Australian Labor Party candidate for Kooyong in 1998 and produce a 2.4% swing towards the ALP but was not elected .

Morand won the Liberal sea of Mount Waverley in 2003 at the age of 43 and joined the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Victoria. During her time in Parliament, Morand served four years on the board of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) and held a range of senior government positions including Parliamentary Secretary for Health.

On 2 August 2007, newly appointed Premier John Brumby announced a cabinet reshuffle. As a result Maxine was elevated to the newly created portfolio of Children and Early Childhood Development. Maxine was also appointment Minister for Women's Affairs.^[3]

As Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development Morand had responsibility for a wide range of early years services including maternal and child health, kindergarten and early intervention services for children with disabilities. As Minister for Women's Affairs Morand was a passionate advocate for women's equality of opportunity, the prevention of violence against women and led major legislative reform in women's health.

Morand introduced the abortion law reform bill in 2008 which decriminalised abortion in Victoria.^[4] As a consequence of her pro-choice advocacy she was targeted by Right to Life organisations during the remainder of her career and during the campaign for the Victorian state election, 2010.^[5]

She lost her seat of Mount Waverley in 2010 to the Liberal Party of Australia.^[6][7]

Breast Cancer Network Australia

Morand was appointed as BCNA's CEO in November 2011. Her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment earlier in the same year has provided her with an intimate knowledge and understand of the issues and challenges faced by women with breast cancer and their families around Australia.

External links

• Breast Cancer Network Australia CEO Maxine Morand

References