Rhonda Galbally

Dr Rhonda Galbally has spent a lifetime working towards a more equitable society and is an inspiration to many people. She has spent more than 25 years as a CEO in non-profit, educational and community organisations searching out and, in many cases, initiating effective solutions for social, health and economic development.

Dr Galbally has been a pioneer, leading the creation and development of a number of cutting-edge organisations and, as a result, she has accumulated extensive experience in organisational development and management, strategic policy and program development, capacity building, fundraising and grant making. At the same time, she has been a champion for those suffering physical, sensory, psychiatric, or intellectual disability, working to improve the choices available to people with a disability, carers and their families.

Her many achievements include being the founding Chief Executive of numerous organisations. Dr Galbally was invited by the Federal Government to set up ANPHA, the first federal preventative health agency where she established the start-up operational systems.

As the founding CEO of Our Community Pty Ltd., a world-leading social enterprise providing advice and tools for Australia’s 700,000 community groups and schools, and practical linkages between the community sector and the general public, business and government, she led the development of Australia’s first social investment business.

Dr Galbally was the founding Managing Director of the Australian International Health Institute (now the Nossal Institute) Faculty of Medicine, University of Melbourne which rolls out Australia’s intellectual medical muscle and health solutions to the world. She negotiated it to become the Australian hub for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s child vaccination program.

Dr Galbally has also been a driving force behind a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and is a key adviser to the federal government on the scheme. As Chair of the National People with Disabilities and Carers Council, Dr Galbally has worked tirelessly with people living with a disability and their families to endorse this initiative.

Rhonda established the world’s first organisation to use the dedicated tobacco tax for health promotion, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth). She also created the Australian Commission for the Future which began the movement to establish Greenhouse emissions as a vital issue for Australia. And, from 1982-1985, Dr Galbally was the Executive Director of the Myer Foundation and the Sidney Myer Fund, two of the leading Foundations in Australia’s philanthropic world. During this time she developed many ongoing programs in partnership with corporations and other Foundations and Trusts.

In 1990, Dr Rhonda Galbally received the Order of Australia for Services to the Community.