HAAG Committee of Management

Chairperson

Pamela Young has been on the Committee of Management Housing for the Aged Action Group since June 2018 as Secretary.

She volunteers with Community Radio and for 10 years she was the Supervisor at Glenloch Homes for the Elderly where she resides and when this job was dissolved and a paid CEO was installed she found that she still wanted to help the Elderly in some way and joined Housing for the Aged Action Group.

The three charities that she supports in Melbourne are Pencil Community, Books for Disaster Areas, and collection of items for Rotary Clubs that are needed for their many projects. Internationally she supports an Australian girl in Tanzania who is running Secondary and Primary schools for the very poor children all with sponsorships and donations from Australia. She is retired now, and her work life was spent mostly in temporary work in various states of Australia and PNG as her husband was an Officer in the Army and they moved often and this work suited the lifestyle. She was the Membership Officer for the VCSA and mostly was involved in the private sector from chemical companies to retail and many more. She is very concerned about the rights of people and compassionately helps where she can.

Deputy Chairperson

Kris Spark's involvement with Housing for the Aged Action Group began 17 years ago when she started work in COTA Victoria’s information service, Seniors Information Victoria.  Throughout her 14 years at COTA, there were many opportunities to work with, and support, HAAG, advocating for secure and affordable housing for older people. She is committed to consultation with members and good governance Committee of Management’s decisions and actions. She is a member of the finance sub-committee.

Treasurer
Karen Abols was a credit manager with a medium sized business for 34 years, where she managed the accounts and prepared financial reports for the Board, working closely with the Company Secretary and auditors. This has given her a strong understanding of financial reports and audit requirements. She joined HAAG after being impressed with the work of the housing support team in assisting a friend into long-term housing. Since retirement she has volunteered for a local charity in the Western suburbs, and lends her skills to HAAG as Treasurer since 2021. Karen leads the finance sub-committee.

Secretary

Maeve Browne-Cooper

Education:  Graduated from the London School of Economics (LSE) with a BA, MA and Ph.D.
Discipline: Anthropology
Post Grad in Labour Law - Melbourne University
Fields of Study and Research:  I’ve travelled and lived in India, South Africa, (unfortunately during the apartheid years, but interesting), USA and Tehran for between eleven and eighteen months respectively.
I visited many other countries for shorter durations.
Employment:  Since arriving in Australia in 1972 I’ve worked as a journalist. I’ve also worked in publishing and my final twelve years in Industrial Relations, being an Associate to the Deputy President of the Industrial Relations Commission of Victoria.
Volunteering:  I’ve volunteered at the Sacred Heart Mission and spent some time teaching English to refugees.

Hoda Nahal is a qualified and accredited mental health social worker with 30 yeas of experience in the welfare field. She is committed to social justice and empowering individuals, families adnd communities to take charge of their life.

Hoda has worked in the not for profit  sector as a counsellor, case manager, community development worker, mediator, team leader  and  manager. She has worked with clients in complex situations involving family violence, homelessness, housing issues, mental health, drug abuse, family separation, gambling addiction, and with migrants and refugees.

She has been involved with HAAG since 2016 as a Bi-lingual community educator, delivering information sessions about  housing options for older people in Arablic speaking Assyrian and Chaldean communities. She is a member of HAAG's Cultural and Linguistically Diverse community reference group.

Andrew Rogers is a semi-retired educator and trainer who currently works in the field of diversity and inclusion. He is also active in his commitment to improving the wellbeing of older LGBTIQ people. As a trainer with Val’s LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care, Andrew has a developed understanding of the needs and supports necessary to ensure the healthy ageing of older people in the LGBTI community.
Andrew is a volunteer speaker for Beyond Blue, which allows him to speak of his lived experiences of suicidality and mental health conditions. He is also a member of the Thorne Harbour Suicide Prevention Project consumer advisory group and a participant in this year’s Victorian Government/Leadership Victoria LGBTIQ Emerging Leaders program.

Andrew’s prior professional experience as a banker and as a university lecturer adds to his capacity to contribute to the direction and activities of community organizations such as HAAG. He is a member of HAAG's LGBTIQA+ community reference group.

Pauline Crameri is the co-ordinator of Val’s LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care, a program of Rainbow Health Victoria at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, (ARCSHS) at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Val’s aims to improve healthy ageing pathways, care and visibility of older LGBTI people. Val’s works directly with service providers and facilitates a network to foster an understanding of the histories and experiences of older LGBTI people, and how these may impact their access to support services and care as they age. Pauline has been at ARCSHS for the past 6 years. She previously worked in a range of human services programs over the past 25 years. Pauline came to Val’s with 15 years’ experience in community aged care and aged care planning in local government, including practical experience in LGBTI service development in a mainstream service, culminating in the achievement of the first Rainbow Tick accreditation.

Margaret O'Laughlin has worked in the Commonwealth and Victorian public service as a senior manager in statistical consultancy, strategic planning and program management, including Aged Care planning and community programs.  She made a career change and became a social worker in the last 12 years of her working life, in the homelessness sector as a housing worker and case manager, including in women’s housing, where her interest in homeless older people, especially women, was sparked. She has professional qualifications in economics, politics, urban sociology and social work. She has volunteered at Sacred Heart Mission, Asylum Seekers Resource Centre, West Welcome Wagon and at HAAG as an Aged Care System Navigator.

Ann Bronwell is a retired solicitor and University lecturer. She started her working life as an employee in a real estate agency, and eventually became a fully licensed Estate Agent. Later in life she studied and practiced law, and taught at various universities. Her formal qualifications are: Master of Business (Property) Graduate Diploma of Laws, Bachelor of Laws. She has over 50 years working experience in many facets of tenancy, wills and estates, contractual disputes, and building and planning matters. She has supported tenants with disabilities to access housing and understands how the lack of social housing causes serious problems for vulnerable people, who are unable to access services to help them due to the lack of affordable housing. The paucity of social housing and the un- wiliness of governments to address this is a serious issue. Currently she is a presenter, two days per week at a community radio station and is involved with other community activities concerning housing for disabled persons and their welfare. She hopes to contribute to HAAG and be part of a team to find strategies and solutions to these issues that affect all Australians.