Painaustralia: Former MLA Giulia Jones appointed CEO

Former Liberal MLA Giulia Jones has announced her new job after resigning from the ACT Legislative Assembly.

Less than a week after giving her final speech to the ACT Legislative Assembly, former Liberal MLA Giulia Jones has announced her new role as the chief executive of Painaustralia.

Painaustralia is health advocacy organisation that aims to improve the lives of people living with pain.

Mrs Jones said she wanted to “assure people who’ve had their quality of life taken away by the insidious impact of long-term pain” she would “take up your cause with determination and vigour”.

“In health there are so many ailments that present challenges to people that it may come as a surprise to many to learn that one in five Australians live with long term pain,” she said.

“Understanding the pervasive effect pain is having on so many people in our community is difficult to grasp because so many people suffer in silence.

Former Liberal MLA Giulia Jones has announced her new role as CEO of Painaustralia. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

“It is obvious that people suffer physical pain on a wide variety of fronts, but we are only beginning to understand the impact mental pain can have on people, and how we need to address it.”

Mrs Jones said she looked forward to connecting with governments, experts and people living with pain to improve the outcomes.

“We need the community and government to look at pain in a new light,” She said.

“Not just as a condition that is associated with other medical conditions but a condition in and of itself.”

Last month, Mrs Jones announced her resignation from the Legislative Assembly citing family and health reasons.

During her near-decade-long career in the Assembly, Mrs Jones served as the Deputy Opposition Leader, Shadow Minister for Health, Mental Health and for Multicultural Affairs.

In her final speech as an MLA, Mrs Jones called on her former colleagues to “strive harder for Canberra”.