Before she was the CEO of Australia’s Mental Health Commission, Christine Morgan served for 10 years as CEO of Butterfly. And to mark Butterfly’s 20th anniversary, she sat down with Sam Ikin for an in-depth review of eating disorders in Australia. Their conversation included the state of awareness, research, diagnosis, and treatment options - first looking back to 2002 and then looking forward to 20 years from today.
“It was pretty horrific back in 2002," she says. “Thank goodness we've moved on.”
Christine was instrumental in getting eating disorders on the government’s radar. She commissioned the first economic impact report in 2012 whereby she was able to establish prevalence rates and the effect of eating disorders on the economy. With this as her springboard, she successfully advocated for investment in research, prevention, evidence-based treatments, and psycho-social supports.
"When you unbundle the economic perspective, you see the impact on somebody's life,” she explains.
But the impact report was only one of many contributions Christine has made to people living with eating disorders and those who care about them. Listen to her story and thoughts about the next 20 years for eating disorder prevention and care.
If you're keen on reading the Paying the Price report from 2012 you will find on the Butterfly website and if you're really into reports and publications there are plenty on Butterfly's research policy publications page.

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