CONFERENCE FACILITATOR
Andrew Hollo
Director and Principal Consultant, Workwell Consulting
Andrew is one of Australia’s leading experts in realising the potential of organisations and groups to develop ‘big ideas’ and gain collective results. He does his best work with organisations that deliver societal benefit, are ‘system organisers’ and are community-invested. Much of his work is in demanding, complex sectors and where work across organisational and sector boundaries is required. He has a high level of skill in challenging existing paradigms, getting diverse views to clear, and highest-value, conceptual agreement in the shortest possible time. In over 20 years, Andrew has led more than 1000 projects for clients who deliver substantial public value: government and non-government, privately held and non-profit.
SPEAKERS
The Hon Mark Butler MP
Minister for Health and Aged Care
Mark Butler has been the Labor Member for Port Adelaide and Hindmarsh in the Federal Parliament since 2007 and is the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Mark served as Minister for Ageing and Australia’s first Minister for Mental Health in the Gillard Government. He has also held the ministries of Housing, Homelessness, Social Inclusion, Climate Change, Water and the Environment.
Blair Comley PSM
Secretary, Department of Health and Aged Care
Blair commenced as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Aged Care on 17 July 2023. Blair has served as the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and the Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. Blair has also served as Secretary of the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, NSW’s most senior public servant. Blair has a Bachelor of Economics (Hons), a Master of Economics and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Studies.
Blair Exell
Deputy Secretary for Health Strategy, First Nations and Sport, Department of Health and Aged Care
Blair is the Deputy Secretary for Health Strategy, First Nations and Sport in the Department of Health and Aged Care. Blair has been a senior leader in foreign affairs, indigenous and development agendas in Australia and across the Asia Pacific region for almost 30 years. Prior to his role in the Department of Health and Aged Care, Blair was the Deputy CEO of the National Indigenous Australians Agency responsible for Operations and Delivery.
Jason Agostino
Senior Medical Advisor, NACCHO, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
Jason is a non-Indigenous GP and an epidemiologist who is the senior medical advisor at NACCHO, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation. He has worked as GP at Gurriny Yealamucka, an Aboriginal community-controlled health service in the community of Yarrabah, for over a decade and supported Gurriny through their transition to community control. He works with NACCHO on primary healthcare reform and has an interest in developing team-based community health care and the use of routinely collected data to improve health services.
Deb Willcox AM
Deputy Secretary, Health System Strategy and Patient Experience
Deb Willcox AM commenced as Deputy Secretary, Health System Strategy and Patient Experience in September 2022. Deb’s career has included roles in government and non-government organisations and her experience spans clinical, corporate services, government departments and research. Deb started her career in nursing at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and later studied law, having been admitted to the Supreme Court of NSW as a solicitor. In 2023, Deb was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to health administration, and to the community.
Lucille Chalmers
Chief Executive Officer of Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN
Lucille is an experienced health and human services executive with a special focus on community health and primary healthcare. Lucille has a deep commitment to improving community health and wellbeing with extensive experience in the design, delivery and commissioning of health and human services in Australia and the United Kingdom. She has a particular passion for community driven and place-based ways of working to address inequities and improve health outcomes. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds qualifications in Business (Philanthropy and Non-Profit Studies), Masters of Public Health and Bachelor of Applied Science.
Richard Nankervis
CEO Hunter New England and Central Coast PHN
Richard Nankervis commenced in the CEO position of HNECC PHN on 1 July 2015. Richard is the Australian PHN CEO lead for the National PHN Commissioning Review, the development of PHN engagement with Allied Health, and the development of PHN support for ex-service personnel. Richard has contributed on the Expert Advisory Group for the review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Suicide Prevention services, and Integrated Team Care. Richard is also a member of the Commonwealth & NSW Mental Health Bilateral Meeting and is a founding Director on the Board of the Centre of Innovation in Regional Health.
Todd Williams
Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
Todd is a proud Aboriginal man, with family connections to Koa and Wakka Wakka. His background is in health, employment and training. Todd is the Director, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health at Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN, focusing on access to culturally safe services and equitable health care.
Donna Burns
CEO of the Australian Indigenous Doctor’s Association (AIDA)
Elizabeth Deveny
CEO, Consumer Health Forum Australia
Dr. Elizabeth Deveny is the CEO of Consumer Health Forum Australia, were she leads policy development, advocacy and reform to ensure a stronger consumer-centred healthcare system that benefits all and protects the health rights of Australians. Dr. Deveny is recognised for her substantial contributions to primary health care research. With a PhD in Medicine focusing on digital health, she has led several research initiatives that scrutinize clinical decision-making and the implementation of computing in healthcare settings. Dr. Deveny's research has been instrumental in shaping policies and practices that enhance patient care in Australia, particularly in primary health settings. Her academic work not only advances knowledge but also directly influences health care reform, making her a pivotal figure in academic and practical healthcare circles.
Tracey Johnson
CEO, Inala Primary Care
Tracey has been CEO of Inala Primary Care, a charitable, award winning general practice in Queensland’s most disadvantaged suburban location for more than 10 years. The IPC model was named as one of four which should be adopted nationally under the 10 Year Health Reform Process. The group specialise in team based and integrated models of care which improve outcomes for patients with chronic disease. Tracey is research active and Deputy Chair of the Primary Care Advisory Group of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. She is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel Reviewing Practice Incentives and the After Hours Program. To support practices build performance she co-founded Cubiko, Australia’s dominant practice dashboard software solution in 2018.
Peter Breadon
Health Program Director at Grattan Institute
Peter has worked in a wide range of senior policy and operational roles in government, most recently as Deputy Secretary of Reform and Planning at the Victorian Department of Health. He was previously Health Fellow at Grattan Institute, where he co-authored reports on hospital efficiency, pharmaceutical pricing, and health workforce. Peter holds a Master of Public Policy from the London School of Economics and a Master of Public Administration from the Hertie School of Governance. Peter is also the lead author of a 2022 Grattan Institute report on primary care reform, A New Medicare, which made several recommendations that have since been adopted.
Stephen Duckett AM
Honorary Enterprise Professor at the University of Melbourne
Dr Stephen Duckett AM is an Honorary Enterprise Professor in the School of Population and Global Health and in the Department of General Practice and Primary Care at the University of Melbourne. He was a member of the Strengthening Medicare Task Force and is currently a member of the Expert Advisory Panel to the Review of General Practice Incentives. Dr Duckett is chair of the board of Eastern Melbourne PHN.
Nicole Higgins
President of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
Dr Nicole Higgins is an active GP who is a business owner, director, supervisor, medical educator and working parent. Having previously worked with Tropical Medical Training and RVTS in medical education and training, Nicole has been recognised for her entrepreneurship and innovation in her workplaces. Nicole is the recent ex-chair of GP Supervision Australia and has had directorships from the old days of the Divisions of General Practice through the PHNs. Nicole understands the challenges faced by GPs and their communities to ensure that their patients have access to quality and timely healthcare.
Paul Fung
Clinical Director, Uniting Recovery - Deputy Commissioner, NSE Mental Health Commission - Psychiatry Academic Lead, HETI
Dr Paul Fung is a psychiatrist who has been implementing and designing Commonwealth-funded programs within the Community-Managed sector for more than 10 years. He is the Clinical Director of the Mental Health and Wellbeing services at Uniting NSW.ACT. Dr Fung is Deputy Commissioner at the Mental Health Commission of NSW and is on the Strategic Plan Working Group. He has an interest in population-based approaches to mental wellbeing and the development of a connected community mental health care system. As Psychiatry Academic Lead at HETI, he enjoys training the next generation of GPs and psychiatry registrars.
Walid Jammal
MBBS FRACGP DCH M.Health Law
Dr Walid Jammal is a principal General Practitioner in a practice in Western Sydney. He has a strong interest in quality and safety in patient centred health care, health economics, as well as primary care reform. He was Co-Chair of the Commonwealth’s Primary Care Reform Steering Group that informed Australia’s 10 Year Primary Care Plan, is a Member of the Medicare Services Advisory Committee, Board member of the Western Sydney Local Health District, Board Member of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and was a member of the Commonwealth’s Strengthening Medicare Taskforce.
David Ness
Assistant Secretary Health Emergency Management Branch, Interim Australian Centre for Disease Control, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.
David is the Assistant Secretary of the Health Emergency Management Branch in the Interim Australian Centre for Disease Control, Department of Health and Aged Care. In this role, David is responsible for the Australian Government’s national health emergency management plans and for coordinating the national health response to an emergency or disaster. David is an experienced public servant who has previously held senior roles in the Primary Care Division in the Department of Health and Aged Care, the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. David also has extensive experience representing the Australian Government overseas.
Andrew Bryett
Executive Director - Queensland Health Disaster Management Branch
Andrew is the Executive Director of the Queensland Health Disaster Management Branch, he is a healthcare leader with extensive clinical and managerial experience in Australia and internationally. Andrew is accountable for the development, coordination and delivery of the Queensland Health disaster management program. He has a proven ability to drive strategic outcomes and lead successful reform initiatives including high value, complex digital health and innovative service redesign programs.
Monika Wheeler
CEO, Healthy North Coast (PHN)
Monika is passionate about improving social and health outcomes through clever and innovative policy and service models. As CEO at Healthy North Coast, Monika is driving health system improvements in primary health care equity and access, integrated care, healthy ageing, mental health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and disaster management.
Daniel McCabe
First Assistant Secretary Healthy Medicare Benefits & Digital Health Division, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
Daniel McCabe is First Assistant Secretary of Medicare Benefits and Digital Health Division. Daniel is responsible for providing policy advice on the Medicare Benefits Scheme to deliver access to medical and health services for all Australians. Daniel also has policy responsibility for digital health to connect consumers and health care providers with their health information across Australia’s health system. Daniel is a Board member of the Australian Digital Health Agency.
Amanda Cattermole
Chief Executive Officer - Australian Digital Health Agency
Amanda Cattermole is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Digital Health Agency. The Agency is the steward for digital enablement of Australia’s health system, with a lead role in coordinating national engagement, delivery and adoption of digital health to enable person-centred, connected healthcare.
Tony Bayliss
GP and Practice Owner
Dr Tony Bayliss is a GP and has been a practice owner in the West Moreton region of Queensland for the past 9 years. He is presently Chair of DDWMPHN and the PHN Co-operative as well as a Member of the RACGP Queensland Faculty and the RACGP REC - Funding and Health System Reform. He is currently completing an MSc Public Health (Health Services Management, Health Economics) at the LSHTM. Prior to commencing his medical career, Tony work in Corporate Finance for a (then) Big-5 accounting firm. He maintains a strong interest in both the clinical aspects of primary health care service delivery and the ecosystem that surrounds it.
Sam Peascod
Assistant Secretary, Medicare Benefits and Digital Health Division, Department of Health and Aged Care
Sam Peascod is a leader in digital transformation, with extensive experience across private and public sectors. Most recently, Sam has led cross-sector improvements to health care through digital health. This includes access to COVID-19 vaccines, electronic prescribing and interfaces between health and care settings. More broadly, Sam has led digital policy and solutions for large social reforms – including establishing the National Disability Insurance Scheme, remote employment services and cross-government digital strategy and workforce capability. Sam brings a passion for equality into design of accessible health care services.
Paul Creech
Chief Program Officer, Australian Digital Health Agency
Paul Creech is Chief Program Officer at the Australian Digital Health Agency. Paul is responsible for managing and delivering the Agency’s programs and projects as well as supporting the Agency’s external partnerships across Government and non-Government sectors, including health professional and consumer peak bodies. In the 2022 Australia Day Honours, Paul was awarded the Public Service Medal (PSM) for outstanding public service to community health, particularly through ensuring access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Belinda Swan
Director, Department of Health and Aged Care Digital Health Branch
Belinda is a Director in the Department of Health and Aged Care Digital Health Branch. As a co-lead of the My Health Record Section, she is responsible for policy and initiatives which seek to improve the value and utility of My Health Record for consumers, healthcare providers and the health system. Belinda is passionate about promoting consumer partnerships and the opportunities presented by digital health reforms to deliver a more sustainable, connected and learning health care system.
Harry Iles-Mann
Consumer Representative Advisor, Digital Health Branch, Digital health expert advisor, Australian Digital Health Agency, Co-lead, Sparked FHIR Accelerator program
Harry is first and foremost a young person living with complex chronic illness, and is the recipient of two liver transplants. He is also the Consumer Representative Advisor to the Digital Health Branch at Department, a digital health expert advisor to the Australian Digital Health Agency, and a co-lead for the Sparked FHIR Accelerator program.
Sari McKinnon
Strategic Advisor, Digital Health Branch
Sari McKinnon is working as Strategic Advisor across the Digital Health Branch and has lived digital health for over 30 years. She has both national and international experience developing digital health strategies and delivering solutions. While Sari’s focus has been broad across digital health capabilities, on both the delivery and interoperability side, she also became a carer 6 years ago and began to witness the struggles of a consumer when trying to navigate the healthcare system and saw how digital capabilities could really help in the coordination of care.
Shelley Thomson
Author, Facilitator, Allied health professional, Co-founder, Patient Experience Agency
Shelley Thomson is an author, facilitator, allied health professional, and co-founder of the Patient Experience Agency, a human-centred design firm. Leveraging her clinical expertise and design thinking, she collaborates with patients, carers, families, and communities to advance value-based health care service design and implementation in the health, disability, and aged care sectors. Shelley is also a faculty member at the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, Improvement Academy, where she develops and delivers webinars on the Partnering with Consumers Standard.
Kate Ebrill
National Coordinator - Sparked CSIRO
Kate has over 22 years of experience in leading delivery and implementation programs in health care with a key focus on initiatives that build community and drive the adoption of standards to enable an interoperable, digital health system. Kate is responsible for the global business development of Ontoserver and other associated terminology and FHIR based products, working with government, healthcare and industry organisations to enable the meaningful adoption of clinical terminologies and FHIR. Kate is a Director of HL7 Australia and represents Australia on the Member Forum of SNOMED International. Kate is National Coordinator for Sparked- Australia’s FHIR Accelerator.
Jen Zacny
Director, Digital Health Strategy, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
Jen is the Director of the Digital Health Strategy Section, in the Digital Health Branch at the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. Jen is responsible for the strategic planning and coordination for Australian Government investment in digital health initiatives, as well as ensuring strategic alignment and oversight of key national digital health policy initiatives. The Digital Health Strategy Section also manages the implementation and oversight of the Intergovernmental Agreement on National Digital Health and relationships with states and territories.
Steve Miller
Director - National Digital Health Infrastructure Policy, Medicare Benefits and Digital Health Division, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
Steve is the Director of National Digital Health Infrastructure Policy, Medicare Benefits and Digital Health Division, within the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. Steve is currently leading the policy work to drive nationally scalable infrastructure to support the trusted, timely and accessible use of digital and health data. Steve has a range of experience in the public sector leading national security, education, foreign policy and health reforms. Most recently, Steve led the Department's international health strategy and engagement. Steve is happily married with four children.
Farah Magrabi
Professor of Biomedical and Health Informatics at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University
Farah has a background in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering, and has worked as a health services researcher for 20 years (UNSW and Macquarie University). At the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, she leads a research stream in patient safety informatics investigating the clinical safety and effectiveness of digital health and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for clinicians and consumers. She is also co-chair of the Australian AI Alliance’s Working Group on safety, quality and ethics; advises the Australian Digital Health Agency; and serves on the TGA’s Technical Reference group for AI.
Phillip Gould
Chief Data Officer and First Assistant Secretary for the Health Economics and Research Division within the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care
Dr Gould holds a PhD in Time Series Econometrics and has worked across the private, university and government sectors, where his work has had the common theme of using data to inform decisions. Throughout his public service career Phillip has had a passion for data integration, including working on the early establishment of the ABS’s data integration program. In his role at DoHAC he has championed the use of integrated data to shine light on issues faced by vulnerable Australians and to work with community groups to ensure data is used and communicated effectively.
Meegan Fitzharris
Industry Leader (Health) and also works at CyberCX
Meegan’s career has spanned a variety of public policy, leadership and advocacy roles including as a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly where she served as the Minister for Health, Medical Research, Transport and Higher Education. As Health Minister Meegan chaired the National Health Ministers Forum. In 2020, she chaired the Queensland Health Reform Advisory Group that developed the “Unleashing the Potential” report. At CyberCX she works with Australia’s pre-eminent cyber security professionals to ensure a digitally enabled, secure and trusted health system to ensure a sustainable health sector and improve the health and wellbeing of the Australian community.
Penny Shakespeare
Deputy Secretary for Health Resourcing, Department of Health and Aged Care
Penny Shakespeare is Deputy Secretary of the Health Resourcing Group. This includes the Technology Assessment and Access Division, Medical Benefits Division, Health Workforce Division, Benefits Integrity and Digital Health Division. Since joining Health in 2006, Penny has held a number of senior leadership positions, including First Assistant Secretary of the Technology Assessment and Access Division and Health Workforce Division. Penny has a Bachelor of Laws, a Master’s degree in International Law and is admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor.
Alison McMillan
Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer
As the Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison provides high-level strategic policy advice to the Australian Government and the within Department of Health and Aged Care on nursing, midwifery, health system reform, health workforce, regulation and education. Alison has been a Registered Nurse for more than 40 years. Alison has received a number of awards including a Distinguished Alumni Award from Latrobe University in 2024, a Public Service Medal and a Humanitarian Overseas Medal in 2021, and a National Emergency Medal in 2009.
Anita Hobson-Powell
Chief Allied Health Officer at the Department of Health and Aged Care
Anita Hobson-Powell is the newly appointed Commonwealth Chief Allied Health Officer. Anita has extensive history of working within the allied health sector including 17 years as the CEO of Exercise & Sports Science Australia, and previous board roles with the National Alliance of Self Regulating Health Professions (chair), and Allied Health Professions Australia (deputy chair).
LOCATION
National Convention Centre Canberra
DATE
2 - 4 September 2024