After over 16 years of dedicated service to the McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer and Cancer Council Victoria, we extend our deepest gratitude to Sondra Davoren, as she leaves the McCabe Centre and takes up a new role as Senior Legal Counsel at Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora.
Sondra has been an integral part of McCabe Centre since it commenced in 2012, playing a pivotal role in shaping its identity, direction and success. Her leadership and contribution helped lay the foundation for McCabe Centre’s growth, and her influence will be felt for years to come. Though she is moving on, her legacy remains in the culture she helped build and the many lives impacted along the way.
Throughout her tenure, Sondra has worked in cancer prevention and control in Victoria, Australia and globally on many issues ranging from fake cancer cures to end of life decision-making and assisted dying, alcohol policy and gender inequities in cancer. Sondra also contributed to Cancer Council Victoria’s wider work in a range of areas, as Manager of Treatment and Supportive Care, and Acting Head of the Strategy and Support Division in 2018-19.
In 2016 she was the inaugural awardee of the Nigel Gray Scholarship for innovation in work to advance cancer control, and served as a member of the Australian National Preventive Health Agency’s Expert Committee on Alcohol.
As Strategic Advisor, Sondra provided strategic counsel and operational advice in the delivery of the McCabe Centre’s capacity building and engagement programmes, as well as technical legal advice on existing and emerging issues in cancer and NCD prevention and control, working with international partners such as UICC, the Lancet Commission on Women, Power and Cancer and IARC.
Sondra’s key achievements include:
- Securing significant financial grants to support innovative law and cancer care projects.
- Leading impactful workshops and master courses, including at World Cancer Congresses.
- Driving systemic change in access to treatment and transport and accommodation support for rural and regional Victorians.
Sondra’s unwavering commitment, expertise, and leadership leave a lasting legacy and impact on our centre and our team, and while her departure marks the end of an era, her contributions will continue to shape our work for years to come.
Sondra’s last day with the McCabe Centre is on 28 March, 2025.
We thank her for the significant contribution she has made.
Her passion, positivity, insight and compassion will be missed by all.