Staff & Board Members

Chris Gough is Executive Director of the Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy (CAHMA) and The Connection health service. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Honours in entomology and developmental parasitology from the University of Queensland.

He has over ten years of experience in the blood borne virus and alcohol, tobacco and other drug sectors, and has identified as a person who uses drugs for 20 years. Chris’ expertise centres around peer and consumer driven programming including peer education, peer treatment support, community development, consumer representation and advocacy.

He has worked at the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) and the NSW Users and AIDS Association (NUAA). Chris has served on the Boards of the Health Equity Matters (HEM) formerly Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO), NUAA, the ACT Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association (ATODA) and is currently the President of the Australian Illicit and Injecting Drug Users League (AIVL).

Leah joined INPUD, the International Network of People who Use Drugs in 2024 as the Communications Specialist. During the previous 11 years she was employed at NUAA, the New South Wales Users and AIDS Association, as the Communications and Community Engagement Program Lead.

Sione Crawford has been the AIVL Treasurer since 2019.

Since 2004 Sione has worked at three AIVL member organisations in various roles including policy, advocacy, community development and health promotion. Sione is currently the CEO of Harm Reduction Victoria.

“As part of this community of people who inject drugs and of people affected by hepatitis C I know that peer-based organisations have a crucial role to play both as advocates for our communities and as places our community can work and be who we are”.

Jane has worked in various roles with people who use drugs since 1998. She is a keen advocate of peer work and lived experience in relation to drug use and is passionate about the health and human rights of people who use drugs. Jane currently coordinates the health promotion team at Harm Reduction Victoria.

Esha Leyden is a Peer Harm Reduction Worker at QuIHN.

Esha has worked in the drug sector for the past 7 years and has been a member of the drug-using community for over 34 years. Esha has lived experience of injecting drug use, incarceration, hepatitis C and hepatitis C treatment. Esha’s lived experience gives her a strong understanding of the stigma, discrimination and challenges faced by the community.

Esha has been a participant and presenter at many forums, symposiums and conferences at a state and national level, using her lived experience to educate and advocate for the health and human rights of people who inject drugs.

John is the CEO of AIVL, leading the strategic vision and development of the organisation anchored in its community and network. With over 20 years of experience in health promotion and harm reduction leadership nationally and internationally within the community health and social services sectors, John specialises in non-profit management, innovation and peer workforce development. Before joining AIVL in 2023, they worked in several frontline and leadership roles for renowned community-led organisations, notably NUAA, ACON, the Red Rattler, the YMCA and multiple drop-in centres successfully improving service delivery and programming, building organisational capacity and increasing sustainability.

John draws from their lived and living experience of discrimination, marginalisation, and stigma as a neurodivergent LGBTQ+ PWUD peer and CALD-ESL migrant. They strongly believe in the importance of self-determination, advocacy and collaboration to drive change and build a better future. John is deeply passionate about equity, social justice and human rights!

Ele is developing an evolving advocacy agenda that aims to achieve drug law reform, equitable support for harm reduction and genuine leadership of people who use drugs in responses that impact on our lives and communities.

Ele has worked in harm reduction roles, programs and services since 2001. Her first role was in community development at Melbourne’s first primary health service for people who inject drugs. She went on to support harm reduction and the development of drug user organisations in Asia and Australia, including 8 years as the International Program Manager at AIVL. Ele has knowledge and expertise in injecting drug use and harm reduction, opioid dependence treatment, safer using and health promotion.   

The ocean is Ele’s happy place. 🌊

Molly is the Director of Operations and Communications at AIVL, powered by the knowledge that authentic communication processes support communities in achieving their goals.

Molly started her career in marketing and advertising, working with consumer goods, services and NGOs. After this short stint in the corporate world, Molly discovered feminist organisations, working as a communications practitioner across sexual and reproductive health, abortion care, gender equality and domestic and family violence.

She began working in Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) and Harm Reduction in 2022 at our member organisation QuIHN.

Molly Howes holds a Bachelor of Mass Communications from the Queensland University of Technology and is currently (slowly) studying for a Masters of Communication for Social Change at the University of Queensland.

Jess is the Research Lead for AIVL, advocating for people who use and inject drugs through her lived experience. She spearheads the first national Research Strategy developed by and for this community.
With over 15 years of experience, Jess has worked across various health and social sectors at both peak and local service levels. Her expertise spans program development, policy advocacy, research, community engagement, and grant writing. A significant portion of her career has been dedicated to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, focusing on health, housing, child protection, mental health, and social services. Her work is informed by the holistic approaches she learned from First Nations Elders and Traditional Owners.

In recent years, Jess has integrated her professional skills with her lived experience as a person who uses and injects drugs. She serves as a Director on the NSW Users and AIDS Association (NUAA) Board and was previously a Director on the Queensland Injectors Health Network (QuIHN) Board. Jess holds a BA in Social Science (Hons) and plans to pursue a PhD focused on peer-based support for mums, bubs and families impacted by perinatal drug exposure.

Living in regional NSW, Jess enjoys connecting with nature, running, yoga, and spending time with her son, Billy. She is passionate about translating community needs into effective supports for people who use and inject drugs.

Emily Ebdon is the Campaigns & Capacity Building Lead at AIVL. In this role, Emily provides support to AIVL’s national Advocacy and Communications Teams, through illustration and original art work, as well as contributing to policy work and other AIVL projects.

Emily first began working in Harm Reduction, Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) and community health in the late 2000s when working for the Tasmanian AIDS Council (TasCAHRD.) Since then, Emily worked in frontline harm reduction, supporting BBV projects and managing Primary Needle Syringe Programs (NSPs) for over a decade.

Before joining AIVL Emily also worked with other peak organisations including the Tasmanian Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drug Council (ATDC) as a Lived Experience Project Officer and a Communications Officer with the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD).

Emily is an artist who is passionate about peer art, peer artists and supporting community art events. Emily holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from University of Tasmania, majoring in Art Theory and Curatorial Practice.

Emily is a practicing Narcofeminist and a strong ally to sex workers and LGBTIQA+ peers. She is passionate about empowering women and femme identifying people with harm reduction tools and knowledge and human rights advocacy. Emily also has a special interest in supporting people in prison who use and inject drugs and she provides peer-based harm reduction education in men and women’s prisons.

Emily has in-depth knowledge regarding safer injection of illicit and licit drugs, as well as extensive experience with the Australian opiate pharmacotherapy program.
Emily loves community and is passionate about peer power and authentic peer leadership. She sits on the board of the Tasmanian Drug User Organisation TUHSL (Tasmanian Users, Health and Support League) as a Director and is a member with INPUD.

Adrian Gorringe joined AIVL in 2021. With a background teaching in Australia, India, and the Middle East, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, across primary, secondary, and tertiary settings, Adrian has extensive experience in diverse educational and public health environments.

Before joining AIVL, he worked as a project officer at Country to Coast Primary Health Network and volunteered as a health promotor in Nepal. Adrian holds a Bachelor of Public Health (Health Promotion) from Central Queensland University and a Bachelor of Educational Studies from the Australian Catholic University.

Adrian is a strong ally and advocate for harm reduction principles and the health and human rights of people who use and inject drugs. Through personal family experiences, he understands how stigma, discrimination, and punitive drug laws impact families and communities. This understanding informs his advocacy and support work at AIVL, where he continues to learn and grow alongside his colleagues.

Richard has dedicated over 20 years to the community services sector, beginning his career in the HIV field as a Case Worker before advancing to Programs Manager at BGF. There, he facilitated workshops in Art, Writing, Cooking, and Nutrition, and presented a poster abstract at the ASHM Conference in Adelaide. He is a Master Trainer in Chronic Disease Self-management for PLWHIV, certified by Stanford University. Richard has organised multiple art exhibitions and book launches, showcasing client talents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as a Case and Contact Tracer at the NSW Ministry of Health, focusing on the LGBTIQA+ community.

More recently, he worked at New South Wales Users and AIDS Association (NUAA) as an Administration Assistant and contributed significantly to the Peers and Consumers Forums. Before joining AIVL, Richard was engaged in various roles, including Peer Worker at NUAA NSP, Hepatitis NSW, Research Interviewer for NDARC/UNSW, and worked on the Ethos Project for the Kirby Institute.

Richard is a former Vice-President and President on the Board of Positive Life NSW. 

Samu is the Community Engagement & Creative Lead at AIVL, he creates impactful visuals, messaging, and stimulates community engagement through social media and design art to drive change and promote harm reduction.  

With over 15 years as an exhibition artist, Samu has also worked for the Red Rattler and NAPWHA before starting at AIVL in 2023. His journey of resilience and activism is anchored by his LGBTQ+, PLHIV, CALD and PWUD living experience. Diagnosed with HIV in 2016, his passion for advocacy and creative expression blossomed, exploring the emotional impact HIV, queerness, neurodivergence, drug use, stigma and discrimination.  

As an international multi-award-winning visual artist, Samu channels his passion into challenging inequity and fostering awareness. He is dedicated to platform inclusivity and compassion through storytelling of community experience, expertise and voices, making him a transformative force of advocacy and art.