Nicole Turner is a proud Kamilaroi woman, mother of 4 and grandmother of 6, and the current IAHA Chairperson, and has served as a Director on the IAHA Board for over 10 years through a period of sustained growth. During this time, Nicole has shown national leadership across allied health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing, community-controlled sector and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce development, education, and training. 

Nicole has worked in the health sector for over 30 years and in Aboriginal health for over 25 years as an Aboriginal Health Worker and enrolled nurse before becoming one of very few qualified Aboriginal Community Nutritionists in Australia, having completed a Bachelor of Applied Science (Community Nutrition).

Nicole holds a full-time position as the CEO of Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council (AHMRC) the Peak body in NSW, where she works with closely the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce and community-controlled sector in New South Wales, maintaining strong relationships nationally.

An Adjunct Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Canberra, Nicole’s work on topics such as food security have been published in research papers and national and international journals. Nicole believes research is very important if it is for the benefit of Indigenous peoples and must have true meaningful impact. 

Nicole’s passion is nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle and she believes in the importance of opportunities to educate and give knowledge to our people about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, prevention of chronic diseases, and education and training opportunities. Nicole is committed to empowering other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to join the allied health workforce and encouraging young people to finish school and follow their dreams, including through her ongoing leadership role with IAHA.

If elected back on to the IAHA board , Nicole is looking forward to leading the organisation in to the new strategic plan and excited about the future vision and direction for IAHA .