PSNZ 76th Annual Meeting 2025

Speakers
Child Protection Clinical Network SIG

Elizabeth Emere Harte
(Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou)

Inspired by her mother and grandmother, Elizabeth Emere Harte is the founder of Tūpuna Parenting, a movement to reclaim the gentle and respectful parenting ways of pre-colonial Māori. She and her passionate team share this kaupapa in many ways with whānau and professionals, growing awareness and creating impact.

Florina Chan Mow

Florina is a Samoan-Chinese Paediatric doctor, born and raised in Samoa. She is currently working at Kidz First Hospital Counties Manukau Health. Her vision is for a healthy and thriving future for children and young people especially among our Pacific communities in NZ and home island nations.

Heather Muriwai

Ko Taranaki te maunga
Aotea te waka
Waingongoro te awa
Tangahoe raua ko Ngāti Ruanui ngā iwi
Ngāti Tupaia raua ko Ngāti Tanewai ngā hapū
W’arepuni te marae
Ko Heather Kimirongo Rangi Muriwai toku ingoa

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa

It is a privilege to have been invited to become a member of Te Kaunihara. I bring with me 25+ years of midwifery experience, passion and commitment to the birthing whānau of Aotearoa.

I began my career caring for homebirthing whānau in the rohe of Waikato, Te Arawa, Tauranga Moana, Hauraki and Tāmaki and all areas in between whilst living in Matamata. It was these whānau that gifted me mātauranga Māori to sit alongside my clinical knowledge, which instilled my deep belief in the normal birth process. It was also these whānau that taught me the importance of wairoa to achieve healthy birth outcomes using kaupapa like Rangimarie Rose Pere’s Te Wheke.

I have taken this learning into my subsequent roles as a member of a Kaupapa Māori midwifery team at Turuki Health Care; South Auckland, Programme Manager of the Te Rito Ora Community Breastfeeding Service; South Auckland, Clinical Lead Advisor Maaori Midwifery; Counties Manukau, Principal Advisor; Manatū Hauora, and Chief Clinical Officer Midwifery; Te Aka Whai Ora.

I was appointed to the inaugural role of Chief Clinical Officer Maternity at Manatū Hauora in March 2024. This role includes engaging with the Health Ministers alongside entities who have the responsibility for the delivery of safe and effective health services. My goal is to ensure Manatū Hauora has a strong focus on quality and safety as it strengthens system stewardship in the maternity area. This mahi intersects with my on-going commitment to both improving the outcomes for our birthing whānau, and growing and supporting Māori midwifery leadership across Aotearoa.

Annie Ualesi

Annie Purcell Ualesi is an Edmund Hillary Fellow with expertise in co-design and systems change, specialising in Pacific health and wellbeing. She led the Samoa Team of the Rheumatic Fever Co-Design Initiative, working with patients, families, and health professionals to develop Soālaupule Capability Building—an approach that helps practitioners connect and work more effectively with Samoan and Pacific families. Annie is committed to empowering clinicians to build trust, partner with families, and deliver care that is both clinically and culturally effective. Annie will be joined by Dr Florina Chan Mow and the Pasifika Chapter of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners – Dr Vaaiga Autagavaia, Dr Maryann Heather, Dr Monica Liva, Dr Mamaeroa David.

Dr Tanya Wright

Tanya is a psychiatrist with over 20 years of experience in the public health sector. After training in Australia, she returned to Aoteoroa, and has worked in a range of services and systems since- infant, perinatal, forensic, liaison and in DHB leadership roles. At present she is the Clinical Lead of CAMHS integration in South Auckland, an Honorary Senior Lecturer at University of Auckland, does a few forensic reports, ACC sensitive claims work and flyout locum work to rural and remote areas.

Nicolette Dickson

Nicolette Dickson is the Chief Social Worker and Deputy Chief Executive for Professional Practice at Oranga Tamariki. Nicolette is responsible for setting the strategic direction and priorities for practice and amplifies and advocates for the Social Worker voice. She is also responsible for driving service design, practice, quality, and improvement for frontline service delivery.

Nicolette is a registered social worker with over 20 years' experience as a social work practitioner and leader. She joined Child Youth and Family in 2003 and has since held a range of practice and leadership roles across Oranga Tamariki in care and protection and also in youth justice as a site, operations and regional manager. Nicolette co-directed the Practice Programme which has led a fundamental shift in Practice, including the introduction of a new Practice Framework. 

Deborah Woodley

Deborah is the Director, Starting Well. Deborah has held a number of national policy, planning, implementation and commissioning roles within the health system. After 21 years at the Ministry of Health, she spent two years as Service Group Manager at Hutt Valley DHB, overseeing Surgical, Women’s, and Children’s Health services.

In 2019, she was appointed Deputy Director-General of Population Health and Prevention. Whilst emergency management responses, including COVID19, dominated her time in this role she is incredibly proud of a team that delivered public health legislative change, cancer screening business cases, the Review of Wellchild Services, and the successful implementation and service commissioning of a range of initiatives spanning communicable and non-communicable diseases, tobacco control, housing, and Pacific Health.

Deborah is passionate about building strong teams that can effect change and improve outcomes by working with a range of partners including those with lived experience. https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-woodley-94a7b3270/

Dr Patrick Kelly

Dr Patrick Kelly is an Honorary Associate Professor in Paediatrics at the University of Auckland and a paediatrician in the Starship Child Protection Team (Te Puaruruhau), based in Puāwaitahi, Aotearoa’s first multi-agency child advocacy centre. He has a longstanding clinical and research interest in child and adolescent sexual abuse.

More speakers to be announced shortly.

Elizabeth Emere Harte (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou)