Lily O'Hara

I am a public health and health promotion educator and practitioner with over 30 years of experience in Australia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar. I have worked in academic positions at UniSC, QUT, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi University, and Qatar University, teaching public health, health promotion, and a wide range of other courses. I am currently teaching in the Master of Public Health, Master of Global Public Health, and a foundation course for many undergraduate health programs. I have received a national award for teaching excellence, and an international award for work in size and weight inclusion.

In addition to working in academia, I have also worked in health promotion practice roles with Queensland Health, Cancer Council Queensland, a multi-national pharmaceutical company, a small private health promotion company, and the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi, UAE on community, workplace, school, and health service programs addressing a broad range of health and wellbeing issues.

I have a PhD in Public Health from the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), Master of Public Health from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Postgraduate Diploma in Health Promotion (Distinction) from Curtin University, Bachelor of Science from the University of Queensland, and a Certificate 3 in Vocational Assessment from the Council for Awards in Care, Health and Education, UK.

I am the current Secretary of Size Inclusive Health Australia and a Life Member and former national president of the Australian Health Promotion Association. In 2025, I hosted the 11th International Weight Stigma Conference and inaugural Fat Joy Festival.

My research focuses on analyzing public health approaches to body weight and their inequitable impact on people with larger bodies, and developing and evaluating ethical, evidence-based, salutogenic health promotion initiatives for body liberation using social justice-based size and weight inclusive approaches.

My research also focuses on developing the ethical and technical competencies of the health promotion workforce. I am the co-author with Jane Taylor of the Red Lotus Critical Health Promotion Model and the Quality Assessment Tool for Critical Health Promotion Practice (QATCHEPP).

In addition, I am interested in the health and wellbeing impact of access to green and blue spaces and urban environments that utilize biophilic design.