Affinity has proudly collaborated with Multicultural NSW for an episode on ‘Faith Communities and Inter-Faith Cooperation During COVID-19’.
Join us for a webinar with Dr Jan Fizzell, Senior Medical Advisor, COVID-19 Response Team, NSW Health along with Joseph La Posta, CEO of Multicultural NSW as they provide the latest updates on the current situation with COVID-19 and its impacts on faith communities, and share their insights on the important role of religious leaders and inter-faith cooperation during this time. The webinar will be facilitated by Philippa McDonald, Senior Reporter ABC News NSW.
Registration required: Please Click here to register
About This Webinar:
Religious leaders and faith communities play a vital role in stopping the spread of COVID-19 and supporting people during this difficult time. Religious leaders are a powerful voice for communicating public health information and messages. With restrictions put in place to keep communities safe at places of worship, faith leaders and religious charities have had to find innovative ways to provide spiritual, psycho-social and welfare support to their communities.
Since the outset of the pandemic, Joseph La Posta (CEO, Multicultural NSW) and Dr Jan Fizzell (Senior Medical Adviser, NSW Health COVID-19 Response Team) have actively engaged some of the most senior faith leaders in the state to get the message out and share ideas on how to stop the spread. Over 100 faith groups have participated in their frequent online engagement forums, creating an inter-faith community of practice dedicated to stopping the spread of COVID-19 while extending social and spiritual care to those in need.
Mr La Posta and Dr Fizzell will provide the latest updates on the current situation with COVID-19 and its impacts on faith communities, and share their insights on the important role of religious leaders and inter-faith cooperation during this time.
Key Speakers:
Keynote Speaker: Dr Jan Fizzell is a Senior Medical Advisor who has worked in the Office of the Chief Health Officer since 2006. She is an experienced public health physician working at the population health/clinical medicine interface. Dr Fizzell has extensive experience in pandemic planning and response including the key role in managing the 2009 H1N1 (Swine Flu) outbreak and supporting the development of the NSW Health Influenza Pandemic Plan. Dr Fizzell has become the public face of NSW’s COVID-19 Response with her popular daily ‘Ask Dr Jan’ sessions on Facebook Live and regular engagements with the multicultural and faith communities of NSW.
Keynote Speaker: Joseph La Posta is a respected leader in the government, sport and corporate sectors of NSW. He has been the CEO of Multicultural NSW since January 2019. Multicultural NSW promotes community harmony and social cohesion in one of the most culturally diverse states in the world. Joseph’s aim is to ensure that in NSW, diversity remains our strongest asset and that all communities feel supported.
In Joseph’s previous role, he was the General Manager of talk force, a leadership and people development company. Joseph also worked at the AFL NSW/ACT where he was a senior executive responsible for leading Commercial, Diversity, Government Relations, Indigenous, Multicultural, Major Projects and Infrastructure portfolios.
Joseph is passionate about conscious consumerism and is a strong advocate for gender equality and workforce diversity. He has been involved in sport his whole life with a background in swimming, AFL and soccer, while today he enjoys running, touch football, golf and tennis socially.
Facilitator: Philippa McDonald is a senior reporter at ABC News NSW and currently covering bushfire recovery, as well as the impact of the coronavirus on regional communities.
Her career has been built on breaking news and analysis on the biggest stories of our time. She has been at the centre of the media’s coverage of Australia’s worst bushfires, political upheaval, family violence, the disappearance of MH 370, terrorist attacks, earthquakes, mine disasters and coups. From medical “breakthroughs”, to the billing practices of internationally renowned surgeons, to the hunt for a serial killer, to the Royal Commission which revealed how the nation’s most trusted institutions failed children.