Sessions
Panel - Why the time is now: professional, consumer and community insights
11:40 AM - 12:20 PM Tue
Executive leader in the healthcare industry with more than 25 years’ experience as a CEO, chair, board director and key executive, driven by a strong commitment to improving health outcomes for all Australians. As CEO of CHF Australia, I lead policy development, advocacy and reform to ensure a stronger consumer-centred healthcare system that benefits all and protects the health rights of Australians.
Prior, as CEO of South East Melbourne Primary Health Network from 2015 – 2021, I was responsible for large advocacy and policy change, the oversight of 30+ primary health care programs, primary care capacity building, and outcome and impact evaluation.
In my most recent role as CEO of South Eastern Primary Health Network (#SEMPHN), I led significant mental health reform, including the recent Head To Health program. This work and many other significant reforms were only possible because of the smart and committed teams that I worked with, both within SEMPHN and across the PHN network.
I am also an experienced chair and board director. I was chair of the Australian Digital Health Agency for several years, leading the drive to use technology and information to improve people’s health, significantly reduce the digital divide and partner collaboratively to bring together the many digital health innovations in play so that our collective efforts are game-changing.
I chaired the Southern Metropolitan Partnership through a significant phase in its development, advising state, local governments and communities on policy and initiatives around inclusion, education, skills and health. I sit on many committees and am a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors #GAICD.
I have a love of research with a PhD in Philosophy, Medicine. One theme I explore is how we make decisions and as part of my Master's degree in Vocational Health Education, spent six months crouched in the back of an ambulance exploring resuscitation and differences between teaching mouth to mouth and doing mouth to mouth. I enjoy coaching and mentoring - both as the coach and the student. I love learning and sharing what I have learnt. That’s actually how I would like to be remembered - as adding value and meaning.
I don’t have much downtime, but mindfulness, kitchen dancing, easy crafts, a pet menagerie, and the organised chaos and warmth of family life are both wonderfully distracting and grounding.