Governance

Associate Professor Amanda Walker

Clinical Director - Australian Commission on Safety and quality in Health Care

Associate Professor Amanda Walker is a practicing Specialist in Palliative Medicine from the Southern Highlands of NSW. She also works as a Clinical Director at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and is a Clinical Advisor in safety and quality in health IT at eHealth NSW. She has led state-wide work in improving care at the end of life at the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission, and has a special interest in diagnostic error and strategies to prevent it.

Ms Carmela Sergi

Health Partnerships Director - Flinders University

As the Director of Health Partnerships at Flinders University, Carmela is responsible for developing research partnerships and fostering collaboration at local, national and international levels across the broad health sector. With an undergraduate in biotechnology, Carmela has post-graduate qualifications in business administration and IP law and is a registered trade mark attorney. Carmela works with diverse stakeholders such as Federal and State governments, Australian and international universities, industry, health services and business including start-up, SME and large corporations to ensure research evidence is translated into practice. An accomplished executive, Carmela has been instrumental in the development of the Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) which fosters collaborations between researchers, industry, end-users and government to develop medical technologies with global market potential. Carmela has previously led and managed the operations of the Medical Device Research Institute, engaging in business development, operational management and partner engagement. Her previous work experience includes commercialisation and IP management roles for Mayne Pharma, Medvet Science and GroPep.

Mr Chris Hall

Chief Executive Officer - Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement

Christopher is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement. He is a psychologist specialising in grief and bereavement. Christopher was elected President of the Association for Death Education and Counselling in 2015. The Association for Death Education and Counselling in 2018 awarded him the ADEC Service Award for his commitment to the field and advancing the study of dying, death and bereavement. A Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. Christopher is also an Honorary Fellow of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne. He serves as the Editor of the journal Grief Matters: The Australian Journal of Grief and Bereavement and is a former Associate Editor of Death Studies.

Daniel Coase

FECCA

Daniel is the Senior Policy Advisor for Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Council of Australia (FECCA). Prior to this role from 2003-2018 he was a Senior Policy Manager with ACT Health, where he contributed to strategic policy on a range of issues, including reproductive and sexual health, blood and blood products, organ and tissue donation, gene technology, the health impacts of climate change, the social determinants of health, and the intersection between health services and the NDIS. He also established and led a team within ACT Health set up to improve the organisation’s response to diversity. The initial focus was on consumers and staff from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The team was then expanded to include work on the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people, and people living with disabilities. Prior to 2003 he also worked with Arthritis Victoria where he coordinated the development of a multicultural access strategy and afterwards he was involved in the community response to HIV/AIDS, and was General Manager of the AIDS Action Council of the ACT.

Ms Shyla Mills

Chief Executive Officer - Palliative Care Queensland

Shyla Mills is the CEO at Palliative Care Queensland (PCQ). Shyla has worked in palliative care as a nurse, educator and national program manager for over 20 years and has been the CEO of Queensland's peak body and leading charity for Palliative Care since 2017. Inspired by international models of palliative care, Shyla has successfully led the introduction of several new community engagement programs at PCQ including Ambulance Wish Queensland (which when launched in 2019 reached over 155 million people online) and the community education program, Last Aid. Her dream is that just as all businesses have first aid officers, they also have last aid officers to support their colleagues experiencing serious illness, dying, death or grief and that last aid is embedded in the Queensland school curriculum. She has worked in palliative care across different settings including paediatrics, community and aged care throughout Australia, as well as internationally in India, Nepal, Mongolia and the UK. Shyla has a special interest in public health palliative care, palliative care strategy and policy, as well as compassion and death literacy. She holds a Master of Palliative Care and Master of Public Health and has been a board member of the international organisation Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom for over 10 years.

Mr Tony Lawson

Executive Director - Laurel Palliative Care, The Hospital Research Foundation

Tony established his consulting practice in August 1998 and for over 20 years has managed major organisational and cultural change projects and been involved in the development of key policies and strategies across all tiers of government and in other sectors. Tony is respected for his leadership and management skills and for his highly developed understanding of the workings of government and industry and the importance of strategic relationships between government, industry and the community. Tony has held a number of senior executive and Chief Executive Officer positions during his career; two key positions were Commissioner for Consumer Affairs and Chief Executive Officer, City of Mitcham. Tony is currently Executive Director, Laurel Palliative Care, The Hospital Research Foundation. Tony has been involved in palliative care issues as a manager of a Foundation that supports palliative care for over 5 years. Tony has also been involved in the health sector for more than a decade and is Chair and a Board Director of two national health-related not-for-profit organisations. Tony has also undertaken a number of high-level health-related projects and has co-authored three major articles on the development of health service standards and consumer engagement frameworks for consumers involved in research.

Professor Trish Williams

Cisco Chair and Professor of Digital Health Systems - Flinders University

Professor Trish Williams is a leader in research and innovation in digital health. Trish is Cisco Chair and Professor of Digital Health Systems at Flinders University, Director of Flinders Digital Health Research Centre, and Director of Cisco-Flinders Digital Health Design Lab and Digital Health IOT Laboratory. Internationally recognised in her field, Trish applies 30 years’ experience in healthcare computing to research and practical outcomes in cybersecurity, health IoT, mobile health, medical devices, governance, patient safety, and health software safety. A passionate contributor and advocate for digital health informatics standards, Trish is co-chair HL7 International Security Workgroup and national expert on health informatics, security and medical device ISO standards. She has authored over 130 medical information security and safety publications.