McCabe Centre announces Director Jonathan Liberman stepping down

Thursday 23 April, 2020


The McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer announced today that Jonathan Liberman has stepped down from his position as Director.

Jonathan was appointed Associate Professor in Law and Global Health at the University of Melbourne in July 2019, with a joint appointment across the Melbourne Law School and the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, and has been working to strengthen collaboration between the McCabe Centre and the university. Jonathan’s areas of work at the university have since expanded, and he will now be engaged in a range of interdisciplinary projects relating to the legal responses to COVID-19.

Hayley Jones, who has been Acting Director of the McCabe Centre since last August, will continue in this role.

“On behalf of our team, I want to thank Jonathan for everything he has accomplished with the McCabe Centre,” Hayley said. “He was the driving force establishing us as the only centre of our kind in the world.”

Jonathan founded the McCabe Centre in 2012 as a joint initiative of Cancer Council Victoria, the Union for International Cancer Control (based in Geneva, Switzerland), and, more recently, Cancer Council Australia. He has since helped build the McCabe Centre’s world-leading research and training program, which supports governments, civil society organisations and individuals to use law to prevent and control cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

“It’s been an amazing privilege to establish and lead the McCabe Centre over these eight years. We’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with extraordinary people from around the world to jointly harness the power of law for global health and development,” Jonathan said.

“The importance of this work has never been as apparent as it is today,” he added. “I’m excited to watch the McCabe Centre continue to thrive, and to keep collaborating with the wonderful McCabe Centre team.”

Cancer Council Victoria CEO Todd Harper also thanked Jonathan, whose eight years as director of the McCabe Centre were among more than two decades with Cancer Council.

“Jonathan’s global leadership has created global understanding of how the law can be a valuable tool in transforming lives in NCDs, and in particular cancer,” Todd said. “In particular he has demonstrated how this can advance health outcomes for people in low- and middle-income countries through knowledge exchange and collaboration.”

Hayley added that she looked forward to continued collaboration with Jonathan and the University of Melbourne. “While we will miss having Jonathan at the helm, it is because of his efforts that we are making great strides in our mission to advance law to fight cancer and protect people affected by it,” Hayley said.


For more information contact:

Daniel Punch, Communications Manager, McCabe Centre, +61 402 867 319, daniel.punch@mccabecentre.org