Associate Professor Julie Mooney-Somers is an academic at Sydney Health Ethics, School Public Health, University of Sydney, and holds an adjunct position at Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University. Prior to this, she was a researcher at the Kirby Institute (then the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology & Clinical Research) where she learned about community-based research through working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander researchers and advocates.

Julie has a long-standing track record in research on the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people, with specific expertise in LBQ women. Since 2009, she has led SWASH, a biennial health survey of lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women. Critical data on smoking, alcohol, and other substance use from SWASH have driven subsequent qualitative and quantitative projects on substance use and shaped innovative health promotion activities such as ACON’s Smoke Free Still Fierce campaign.  

Julie spent 12 years on the Board of Directors of ACON, contributing to two strategic reviews and the development of an LGBTIQ health centre, and six years on their community-based ethics review committee. She was a member of the NSW Health LGBTIQ+ Health Strategy Advisory Committee and is now on the Implementation Committee to support system-wide improvements in health equity and inclusion. Julie Is currently the Director of the Master of Public Health, University of Sydney.