Helen Veronica Szoke was born on 9 November 1954 and is the former chief executive of Oxfam Australia, and a commentator and advocate on issues of human rights, poverty, inequality, gender and race discrimination.
15 Facts About Helen Szoke
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Helen Szoke studied at the University of Tasmania, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts.
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Helen Szoke then worked for a health consumer organisation, the Health Issues Centre, ultimately becoming executive director.
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Helen Szoke returned to the health sector, joining the Royal Melbourne Hospital, first overseeing the mainstreaming and closure of the Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital, then as Director for the Psychiatry business unit.
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Helen Szoke became the inaugural chief executive of the Infertility Treatment Authority in 1996, during an expansion of access to reproductive technology, including the availability of in vitro fertilisation to lesbian and single women.
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In 2004 Helen Szoke joined the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, holding roles as chief conciliator and chief executive, before being appointed in 2009 as commissioner and chairperson of the board.
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Helen Szoke announced her resignation as commissioner in November 2012 to assume the leadership of Oxfam Australia.
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Helen Szoke commenced the role of chief executive of Oxfam Australia in January 2013 and retired in 2019.
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Helen Szoke was a councillor for the Preston City Council for one term in the 1980s.
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In 2014, Helen Szoke was appointed to the Australian Civil Society 20 steering group.
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Helen Szoke was appointed as the chair of an expert advisory group that would look into the issues.
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Helen Szoke is a board member and Humanitarian Reference Group Champion for the Australian Council for International Development, the peak body for Australian aid and development NGOs, of which Oxfam Australia is an organisational member.
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In 2010 Helen Szoke was made a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration.
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Helen Szoke was a Victorian finalist in the 2016 Telstra Business Women's Awards, in the For Purpose and Social Enterprise category.
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In January 2018 Helen Szoke was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for "distinguished service to social justice through roles with human rights, anti-discrimination and equal opportunity organisations, to health sector policy development, and to the disadvantaged".