Executive Officer of YDHF (he/him)
Stephen McNally was appointed Executive Officer of the Yarra Drug & Health Forum in December of 2022. Stephen has a long-standing commitment to advancing human rights with over two decades working to advance harm reduction from a policy, research and program base both internationally and in Australia.
Stephen was introduced to the principles of harm reduction through his PhD research on HIV in Vietnam in the mid 1990’s. Since then, he has held a research position at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University for 12 years leading strategic research projects with a focus on increasing the health and wellbeing of communities associated with HIV and viral hepatitis. During this time, he also managed a multi-country research capacity development program building research skills of academics and community organisations across Asia and the Pacific. Stephen left academia returning to international development work with Australian Red Cross managing health and livelihood programs in Tibet and Mongolia and leading a regional leadership program in Asia. Prior to taking up the position at the Yarra Drug and Health Forum, Stephen was the Deputy CEO at Penington Institute a well-respected not-for-profit organisation working to support the adoption of approaches to drug use which promote safety and human dignity.