About Us
The Cognercise Foundation has been established to source, distribute and support important health and wellbeing promoting content that adheres to the principles of Cognercise and that has been proven to improve quality of life and reduce the potential of illness and suffering in the community.
Co-Founders
Judd Murray
Judd is the creative force behind Cognercise. He believes his passion to assist others is best served by sharing the wealth of knowledge he gained from 30 years of study, research and clinical experience. To this end, he has created a series of interactive programs based on the functional principles of Cognercise and its Four Pillars of Wellbeing: Essential Health, Physical Literacy; Mental Fitness and Social Intelligence.
Judd is passionate about the need for self-empowerment as a way for individuals to realise their potential and to stay healthier longer. He is a talented and dedicated educator and communicator and “practices what he preaches”. He believes the principles of good health apply across all ages and cultures, and remains an active clinician while creating Cognercise products which can be shared with a wider audience.
In his own words, “Cognercise has been designed to provide high-quality tools and content which help empower all people, without prejudice, enabling them to better realise their physical, mental and emotional potential and a sustainable state of health and wellbeing”.
Ian Tresise
Ian is a senior business executive with a background in economics. He has a special interest in changing the current unsustainable health paradigm and is a strong advocate of self-care as the path to prevention rather than cure. He believes that most people live below their natural potential. After a five year search for an involvement in practical health reform he came across Cognercise and has decided to devote his commercial skills to spreading the important messages of the Cognercise movement.
Ian comes from a family background of community service – his uncle Bill Tresise founded the Lions Club in Australia in 1947. He strongly believes that one can’t have a complete life unless one gives back to the community and furthers the wellbeing of humanity.
In his own words, “Cognercise is easily accessible and its instruction is achievable by all and the world will be a better place when we can bring its valuable messages to every mind and everybody”.
Advisory Councillors
Steve Drummy
Steve Drummy is a senior finance executive with Australian Unity, a $2.1B healthcare and financial services organisation. As a FCPA he brings 25 years’ experience in financial, commercial and operational roles in private and listed organisations to the Advisory Council.
Steve is passionate about community health and wellbeing and is directly engaged in supplying solutions to such public issues as the NDIS, within the Independent Assisted Living division of Australian Unity. His experience with the commercial issues related to large client service organisations is most valuable in business planning and governance.
In his words, “Cognercise is a practical movement with promising applications to address the needs all ages and abilities”.
Nicholas Hudson
Nicholas Hudson is a former Australian rower and natural leader with an eclectic background of project management and advisory roles to government and private industry. Most recently, he has held the role of Sport and Population Health Adviser to the Health and Sport Minister the Hon Greg Hunt MP and the former Minister the Hon Sussan Ley MP in Canberra. This has provided the opportunity to understand and contribute to the strategic direction of public health policy in relation to health and sport from within the Australian Government in Canberra.
Nick is aware of the need to provide coherent solutions which link Health, Education and Physical Activity.
In his words, “Everyone knows what the problems are and what should be done, now we have Cognercise we can actually do it”.
Michael Murray
Michael Murray has a broad range of management, clinical and clinical teaching experience in the area of aged care. He is the Medical Director of Continuing Care and Head of Geriatric Medicine at Austin Health, Associate Professor at Melbourne University and Adjunct Associate Professor Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care, La Trobe University. Michael holds a number of board and committee positions with a variety of health and educational institutions, and is the president of the National Ageing Research Institute among other roles.
In addition to his long-term service to the provision of Public Health, Michael provides governance in relation to the medical direction of the Foundation and assists with assessing the evidence base of Cognercise from a medical perspective.
In his words, “Cognercise – a fantastic initiative that I believe actually encourages sustainable health and positive life habits”.
Anthony Phillips
Anthony Phillips is a renowned teacher and educator who pioneered personal and group training. In 1993 he co-founded Camp Australia, a business which focuses on Child-Care and has had a profound effect on shaping the health and well-being of the future generations. Their holistic programs developed physical, mental, social, emotional skills for school children across Australia.
Under Anthony’s guidance, the Camp Australia Foundation was founded in 2007 to “Change lives through Education” and make a significant difference to the educational opportunities of disadvantaged children around Australia. Upon divestment of his commercial interests, Anthony provides private coaching and mentoring services with all proceeds going to The Phillips Foundation proudly supporting around 30 charities helping children achieve their potential, around the globe.
In his words, “In my recent work in coaching and mentoring disadvantaged and able-bodied people, all roads lead back to Cognercise”.
Field Rickards
Field Rickards is a leading academic of world standing in the field of Education. Having been the Dean at the internationally prestigious Melbourne Graduate School of Education, he has recently been honoured by the University of Melbourne with the title of Dean Emeritus of Education for his outstanding contribution to improving teaching standards.
Field is a keen sports advocate and is an accomplished Masters rower with success at national and international regattas. Having led a world-wide movement to understand and improve student teaching outcomes through direct engagement, Field is now actively seeking to promote the benefits of physical activity and conditioning for the personal wellbeing of students, and as a platform for educational achievement.
In his words “Among all the talk, it is important that we have practical and achievable programs that we can measure, to promote functional confidence in young Australians”.
Economic Burden
Billions of dollars are devoted annually to acute and chronic medical study and treatments, but there is little coordinated effort to alleviate the need for such effort and expense by teaching people how to be functionally healthy.
The global rise in preventable disease caused by ‘lifestyle’ issues such as inactivity, poor eating habits and stress have reached epidemic proportions causing more long-term disability and death than all other causes combined. “Unless serious action is taken, the burden of lifestyle disease will reach levels that are beyond the capacity of all stakeholders to manage” – WHO (2017).
Our Strategy
Aligned with the Cognercise movement, the Foundation works directly with leading researchers and esteemed academics to bring independent and truthful information to guide people of all ages to better lifestyle choices leading to greater mind and body performance, enjoyment and sustainable health outcomes.
The Foundation targets the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases which are caused by many factors such as physical inactivity, poor diet, social disadvantage, ignorance, inappropriate behaviour and disconnection. These factors, among others, may lead to early on-set Type 2 diabetes, heart and lung disease, and many associated forms of cancer and various mental health disorders.
Our work is particularly inspired by UNESCO’s Kazan Action Plan arising from the MINEPS VI Conference held in Kazan in July, and the ASC’s Physical Literacy construct. Further, the Foundation is committed to the overarching policy consensus of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda / Sustainable Development Goals recognized in that Plan.
Values – Ethics and Independence
The cornerstone of the Foundation will be the integrity of the information presented in-line with the pledge of the True Health Initiative. We see the Foundation being the primary community resource for citizens to get trustworthy advice of a practical nature informed by the best knowledge sources available. Our focus will be on lifestyle practices that enhance Physical Literacy, Mental Fitness, and Social Intelligence, providing all people with the practical means to achieve and maintain independent, healthy and productive lives.
We will focus on prevention first then cure and we will aim to practically reduce the need for medical intervention or pharmaceutical dependence. The Foundation recognises that, like climate change, most informed people know what the health problems are and basically what is needed for change, but they consider that the problems belong to somebody else and, or, they can’t do anything about it. The Foundation also believes that, although tailored and practical education can dramatically improve health outcomes, particularly in disadvantaged communities, the messages are often not being delivered effectively. This provision of honest and reliable information to educate the community will be a primary goal.
Unfortunately, it seems many valuable health messages are often tainted by manipulative influences and misleading advertising. For this reason, the Foundation will not accept funds from any organisation seeking to influence editorial policy or passing off their organisation or products as “healthy” through association. Examples of this could be:
(a) Confectionery or soft drink manufacturers funding academic research;
(b) Fast food manufacturers underwriting community lifestyle activities;
(c) Supplement manufacturers seeking to convince communities that a well-balanced ‘wholefood’ diet is insufficient for good nutritional health.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact us through the form below.
