Maxine Drake

Maxine has been employed by the Health Consumers' Council for the last 10 years, joining shortly after its establishment. A position that started as a Community Development Coordinator eventually evolved to that of Advocate as the call for active assistance with consumer complaints and problems increased.

After obtaining an Arts degree at university, Maxine started work at the Western Australian AIDS Council in the early days of the HIV/AIDS crisis. This work was an excellent training ground for learning the art of advocacy for system reform, with the Australian community-driven response becoming a world-recognised model for managing HIV/AIDS prevention and care. The consumer empowerment seen in the HIV/AIDS response profoundly influenced all other areas of community activism and created a generation of activists who have moved into other more 'mainstream' areas of work.

Maxine worked in HIV/AIDS education and support in the WA prison system for four years, before moving to the Health Consumers' Council.