Maxine Veronica Morand (born 30 January 1959) is an Australian academic, advocate for cancer patients, and former politician. Morand has a current academic appointment at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

where she is a professorial fellow in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. In addition she is a board director at Inner East Community Health and is the chair of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Morand served as the Chief Executive Officer of

Breast Cancer Network Australia Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) is a not-for-profit organisation that supports Australians affected by breast cancer. BCNA aims to ensure that Australians affected by breast cancer receive support, information, treatment and care approp ...

(BCNA) between 2011 and 2014. Prior to joining BCNA, Morand was Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development and

Minister for Women's Affairs The Ministry for Women ( Māori: ''Manatū Wāhine'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on policies and issues affecting women. It was formerly called the Ministry for Women's Affairs (MWA), ...

in the Brumby Ministry, and held the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

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 Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

and

transplant coordinator Transplant coordinator is a healthcare professional – doctor, nurse, or allied health science graduate – who coordinates activities related to organ donation and transplantation. Transplant coordinators can either be Donor Coordinators or Rec ...

. Morand lives in Melbourne with her husband, John Merritt, and two children. Morand was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

in 2011.

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 La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 196 ...

with an honours year in

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

, 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. In March 2020 Morand was inducted into the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the Australian state of Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the celebrations of Victoria's Centenary of Federation. Public nom ...

Political career

Morand ran unsuccessfully as the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms ...

(ALP) candidate for the federal electorate of Kooyong in the 1998 election, achieving a 2.4% swing towards the ALP. She won the Liberal-held Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Mount Waverley in the

2002 election The following elections occurred in the year 2002. * 2002 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2002 Comorian presidential election * 2002 East Timorese presidential election * 2002 Fijian municipal election * 2002 Hong Kong Chief Executive election * ...

, at the age of 43. During her time in Parliament, she served for 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 John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier a ...

announced a cabinet reshuffle in which Morand was elevated to the newly created portfolio of Children and Early Childhood Development. She was also appointed

. 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

she was a passionate advocate for women's equality of opportunity and the prevention of violence against women, and led major legislative reform in women's health. In 2008, Morand introduced the Abortion Law Reform Bill. The passage of the bill decriminalised

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

in Victoria up to twenty four weeks and up to the moment of birth if two doctors grant approval. As a consequence of her

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pr ...

advocacy she was targeted by

Right to Life The right to life is the belief that a being has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including capital punishment, with some people seeing it a ...

organisations before and during the campaign for the 2010 Victorian election. At that election, she lost her seat to the Liberal candidate, Michael Gidley.

Breast Cancer Network Australia

Maxine served as CEO of Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) between 2011 and 2014. Maxine was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer in 2011, giving her personal insight into the impact and management of a cancer diagnosis. Morand has been a member of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre board of directors since 2015.

References

External links

Breast Cancer Network Australia CEO Maxine Morand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morand, Maxine Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria 1959 births Living people Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Ministers for Women (Victoria) Politicians from Sydney La Trobe University alumni Academic staff of Monash University 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Members of the Order of Australia Women's ministers of Australia Ministers for Children (Victoria)