A NSW Government website
Multicultural Health Communication Service

Meet our team

Director, Lisa Woodland
Lisa Woodland, Director

Lisa Woodland is Director, Health Equity, Promotion and Prevention Service, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District and NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service as well as Conjoint Lecturer, Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, UNSW. Lisa has over 20 years’ experience working with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. This includes developing, implementing and evaluating health promotion and community education programs; policies and plans; research projects; and tailored service models to meet the needs of CALD communities.

lisa.woodland@health.nsw.gov.au

Deputy Director, Jesusa Helaratne

Jesusa has 18 years of experience running major multicultural health media campaigns for MHCS featuring stories of culturally diverse people with lived experiences combining innovative arts and health initiatives. Jesusa is also working within the NSW Ministry of Health COVID-19 Communications and Media Team for 3 years now. She plays a critical leadership role in delivering accurate and timely COVID-19, public health information and multilingual resources across NSW. Since 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreaks, she has been moderating the ongoing Multicultural Media Online Conference. As an award-winning broadcast journalist for 13 years, Jesusa brings expert knowledge to her role having worked with news organisations such as CNN, SBS, ARD German TV, ABS-CBN News Channel and other major TV and radio stations.

jesusa.helaratne@health.nsw.gov.au

Systems Manager, Rajan Manickarajah

Innovative and solution-focused IT and communications professional with over 20 years’ experience in health, government, and multicultural services. As Systems Manager at MHCS since 2006 and with more than 15 years in SESLHD Health ICT, Rajan has extensive expertise in IT systems management, translation services, and digital media production. He is recognised for delivering high-impact multicultural health communication initiatives, including in-language COVID-19 resources, webinars, and audio-visual materials, and for building strong partnerships across NSW Health, Cancer Institute NSW, Multicultural NSW, and the Department of Customer Service to improve communication with CALD communities.

rajan.manickarajah@health.nsw.gov.au

Media and Communications Manager, Jie Cao

Jie has over 10 years’ working experience in communications and marketing, with a specialisation in health communication within culturally and linguistically diverse communities. With her extensive experience in media relations, stakeholder communications, event management, translation projects, and campaign management, she brings in strong skills of developing communications strategy and delivering evidence based, insight driven communications projects and campaigns to effectively communicate with CALD communities.Jie holds a Master’s degree in strategic public relations from the University of Sydney and a Master’s degree in Linguistics and Foreign Languages.

jie.cao1@health.nsw.gov.au

Senior Project Officer, Gayathri Dharmagesan

Gayathri (Gaya) Dharmagesan is Senior Project Officer, has over 25 years of project management expertise in Australia and abroad. Gaya has a wealth of experience working with multicultural and refugee communities both within health and in the community sector and have exceptional skills in co-design of health information with communities. She has been a part of numerous projects, including those focused on COVID-19, Women's Health, Domestic Violence, and Cancer Screening.

gayathri.dharmagesan@health.nsw.gov.au

Translation Project Coordinator, Na Pham

Na Pham holds a Doctorate in Philosophy (Education) from the University of Western Sydney, a Master of Arts in TESOL from the National University of Singapore and is a NAATI Accredited Translator. She brings over 26 years of extensive experience across five major fields: translation/interpreting, language teaching, researching, consulting, and teaching material design. She has taught language courses in Australia, Singapore, and Vietnam universities and serves as a language consultant for numerous language research projects. From 2020 to 2024, Dr. Na Pham held various managerial and coordinating for Family Planning NSW and ACPSEM. She is now Translation Project Coordinator at Multicultural Health Communication Services.

na.pham@health.nsw.gov.auna.pham@health.nsw.gov.au

Digital Project Officer, Glaiza Perez

Glaiza has been involved in coordinating the MHCS digital platforms since 2018. With a strong background in online campaigns and projects for diverse communities, she brings valuable expertise to the team. Her experience includes working with not-for-profit organisations like Diversity Arts Australia.

Glaiza also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Information Management from the University of Technology, Sydney.

glaiza.perez@health.nsw.gov.au

Social Media Project Officer, Heidi Yaqi Han

Heidi is a seasoned multicultural media and communications specialist with over a decade of experience as a bilingual journalist in community media, SBS, The Australian, and in consultancy roles for major CALD marketing and public information campaigns, events, and cultural policy initiatives. She has worked with organizations such as the City of Sydney and PR and marketing agencies including Cultural Perspectives.

yaqi.han@health.nsw.gov.au