Biography

Melanie Dunford is the Head of the Dementia Unit at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), an independent statutory Australian Government agency producing authoritative and accessible information and statistics to inform and support better policy and service delivery decisions, leading to better health and wellbeing for all Australians. She leads the AIHW National Centre for Monitoring Dementia which aims to monitor dementia in Australia, inform specific dementia policy needs and undertake work to address existing data gaps.

Melanie has 10 years of government experience in the design, provision, analysis, reporting and interpretation of meaningful data. She has extensive experience in analysis and reporting from a range national health and aged care administrative data sources (including linked data) and national surveys. She has been a leader and active contributor of numerous publications providing insights on people living with dementia and their carers, including their health outcomes and use of health and aged care services nationwide. Previously, she was a key member of the Australian Burden of Disease Study team, which measures the impact of diseases and injuries on a population.  Melanie holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Sydney.