Dr Kara Lilly is an early career researcher and teacher in public health in the School of Health. With a strong passion for health promotion, equity and social justice, Kara’s academic role is centred on encouraging and supporting knowledgeable, confident, agile and professional graduates who are able to navigate the forever changing environments that influence population health. Kara’s research applies systems theories and policy sciences to navigate and understand complex governance systems and decision-making processes, particularly within local government and place-based contexts, with a pragmatic approach to contribute to health promotion practice and/or policy.
Kara joined UniSC in 2013, after a 15 year career in public health practice, working in senior health promotion positions, strategic public health planning roles, and management positions within the public sector. During her academic career, Kara has led the Bachelor of Health Science program as Program Coordinator, developed and coordinated courses in first year public health, advanced health promotion subjects, and facilitated work integrated learning opportunities for public health disciplines.
Professional Memberships
- Australian Health Promotion Association
Kara’s PhD explored the policymaking environment of Australian local governments to establish what factors influence decisions to address determinants of health using a Health in All Policies approach. The mixed methods study applied a health political science lens to make meaning of the interconnected factors influencing policy decisions to prioritise action on determinants of health within local government. The research highlighted the professional and personal priority and obligation that local government decision-makers report in addressing health determinants, along with the political and fiscal influences that challenge these policy decisions. The research also supports a stronger emphasis on health political science competencies amongst health promotion and public health students, academics, and practitioners.
Key publications:
- Lilly K, Kean B, Hallett J, Robinson S and Selvey LA (2023) Factors of the policy process influencing Health in All Policies in local government: A scoping review. Frontiers in Public Health 11:1010335.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1010335 - Lilly, K., Robinson, S., Hallett, J. & Selvey, L.A. (2019). Insights into local health and wellbeing policy process in Australia. Health Promotion International, 35(5), 925-934. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daz082
Kara also has a strong interest in establishing healthy environments for families and children. Kara has worked in collaborative partnerships to lead the development of a State of Children’s report for the Moreton Bay North region and led an evaluation of a trial program for the Queensland Department of Education to evaluate a quality assurance process in strengthening quality school-based playgroups. Kara also represents UniSC on the Thriving Queensland Kids Country Collaborative Strategic Leadership Committee and the Moreton Bay Region Collective Impact Advisory Committee, championing an increased investment in place-based initiatives to advance the health and wellbeing of children and their families.
Kara is a member of the Australian Health Promotion Association and contributing member to the national Health Promotion Teaching and Learning Community of Practice management team.
Teaching areas
- Health Promotion
- Public Health
Kara Lilly's specialist areas of knowledge include public health and health promotion.