2024 WA one-day conference speakers

Gihan Perera

Futurist

Has disruption – from employee burnout, hybrid work, AI, global uncertainty, and more – shaken up your world? Are your people looking for clear leadership in this time of massive change? Do you want to be more confident in chaos and uncertainty?

Gihan Perera is a business futurist, conference speaker, AI researcher, and author who shows you how to be fit for the future in a fast-changing world.

For more than 25 years, he has worked with organisations and leaders throughout Australia and the world, helping them to lead in uncertainty, act with clarity and confidence, and thrive in a fast-changing world.

He is the author of Disrupted, Disruption By Design, The Future of Leadership, and ten other books. Forbes magazine rated him the #5 social media influencer in the world (and #1 in Australia) in his area of expertise.

Dr Robyn Lawrence

Chief Executive, Department for Health and Wellbeing South Australia

Dr Robyn Lawrence is the Chief Executive of the Department for Health and Wellbeing. She is responsible to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing for the governance, leadership and management of the South Australian health system. This includes being the direct employer of more than 45,000 staff and managing a budget of $7.4 billion.

Robyn has more than 16 years’ experience as a senior health care executive in predominantly change roles. She has led many transition projects, including capital developments and commissioning, cultural reform and governance changes. She led the WA COVID-19 response as Deputy Chief Health Officer and Incident Controller and has a medical background and a strong focus on clinical governance and excellence in her most recent roles as Assistant Director General with the WA Department of Health.

Dr Narelle Hadlow

CEO, PathWest

Dr Narelle Hadlow is a well-known Specialist Pathologist with over 25 years’ clinical and management experience in the private and public pathology sectors. Prior to her appointment as Chief Executive, Dr Hadlow held senior roles at PathWest including Network Director of Regional Pathology and Acting Chief Pathologist. Her work with WACHS and regional laboratories to improve their laboratory services including point-of-care testing resulted in her being awarded the WA Rural Health Award for metropolitan-based Specialist Bush Champion in 2018.

An award-winning educator teaching students for over 10 years and a Clinical Associate Professor at UWA’s School of Medicine, Dr Hadlow has collaborated with various clinicians with her research focused on women’s health and endocrinology. She was most recently the CEO of Clinipath Pathology and for over 5 years oversaw the expansion of that service to provide increased testing capacity and led them in their COVID-19 response. She also introduced dedicated subspeciality histopathology reporting and a digital pathology workflow to support the anatomical pathology team.

Dr Hadlow is passionate about both patient and staff safety and their wellbeing. She also values our excellent service to patients and clinicians and looks forward to supporting the various teams across PathWest and highlighting their outstanding achievements locally, nationally, and internationally.

Tracey Brand

Chief Executive Officer
Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service

Tracey Brand is an Eastern Arrernte woman born and raised on Mparntwe country in Central Australia. Tracey is the Chief Executive Officer of the Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service on Noongar Boodjar country in Metropolitan Perth. The Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service is the largest Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service in the State and one of the largest in the country. 

Prior to joining Derbarl, Tracey was the General Manager of Health Services with the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress. She has over 30 years’ leadership experience predominantly working for her community in Aboriginal community Controlled services. 

Tracey is an Independent Director on the Indigenous Allied Health Australia Board of Governance and continues to serve on community boards in her hometown. She also chairs the Aboriginal Health Council West Australia CEO Council and the Perth Metro Aboriginal Health Planning forum. 

Master of Business Leadership, Master of Business Administration, Masters of Arts in Aboriginal Administration, a Bachelor of Business and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an alumni of the WA Health Aboriginal leadership program.

Russell Bricknell

Chief Executive Officer
Juniper

Russell Bricknell was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in December 2022. Russell has an extensive background in the aged care and community services sector. He was previously the Chief Executive of a faith-based aged care provider serving metropolitan and regional Western Australian communities. Prior to this role, Russell was Chief Executive of an Aged Care education provider, overseeing operations in Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand. Prior to this role, Russell held several senior executive and CEO roles in not-for-profit and faith-based aged, disability and community services organisations in Queensland, NSW and Victoria.

Russell has worked in the aged and community services sector since 2001. Russell is a member of the Juniper Finance and Property Development Committee and Juniper Care and Clinical Governance Committee.

Tina Chinery

Chief Executive Officer
St John of God Subiaco Hospital

Tina Chinery joined St John of God Subiaco in 2022. Tina is a health executive leader with significant and broad experience in the hospital and health care sector across all service areas.

Formal qualifications include Australian New Zealand School of Government Executive Masters of Public Administration and the completion of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course.

Tina also has extensive experience in health strategic service planning, capital project management, implementation of new technology, research and education. Having started her career as a nurse, Tina is strongly committed to delivering high quality person-centred care and is pleased to work within an organisation that is focused on the Values of hospitality, compassion, respect, justice and excellence.

Hon Kerry Sanderson AC

The Hon Kerry Sanderson AC was Governor of Western Australia from 2014 to 2018, the first woman to serve in this role. Since retiring from that role and until December 2021she served as Edith Cowan University’s fourth Chancellor. She is Chair St John of God Health Care, and the WA Parks Foundation as well as being a patron of a number of charitable and community organisations.

Prior to being appointed Governor Mrs Sanderson served in a wide range of board positions, including as Chairman of Gold Corporation, Independent Chair of the State Emergency Management Committee, Non-Executive Director of listed companies Downer EDI and Atlas Iron and Director of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research. She has participated in a number of charitable and community activities including as a Board Member of Senses Australia and of the Paraplegic Benefit Fund.

She has held a range of other senior positions including the London based Agent General for Western Australia (2008 to 2011), Chief Executive Officer of Fremantle Ports for 17 years (1991 to 2008), Deputy Director General of Transport for Western Australia and Director of the Economic and Financial Policy Division of the Western Australian State Treasury.

She was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for her service to the maritime industry, was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2004 for her service to the port and maritime industries and to public sector governance, and was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2016 for her eminent service to the people of Western Australia and to a number of causes. She was Telstra Business Woman of the Year (Western Australia) in 1996 and was inducted in the WA Women’s Hall of Fame in 2015. She has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by both the University of Western Australia (Doctor of Letters honoris causa) and Murdoch University (Doctor of the University honoris causa). In 2020 she received the award of Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO).

Rebecca Brown

Director General
Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation

Rebecca Brown commenced as Director General of the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI) in September 2018. In this role, she is also Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Western Australia.
Ms Brown led significant change across JTSI to modernise the agency to become critical in advancing State Government’s key policy agendas. Through her leadership, JTSI has played an increasingly key role in growing local jobs and diversifying the State’s industry base and export potential.

The department plays an important role in supporting government strategy in leveraging the broader research, science and innovation community to advance outcomes for Western Australia.

Rebecca Brown was appointed Acting Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet from March 2020 to May 2021 to support the State Government’s early response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms Brown was awarded a Public Sector Medal for her for outstanding leadership in relation to Western Australia’s management and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She returned to her role as Director General of JTSI in June 2021.

Ms Brown has worked for both Federal and State government agencies in a range of senior roles across revenue and economic policy, social policy, resourcing and performance. She has an Honours Degree in Economics from the University of Western Australia and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Professor Sharon Parker

Director
Centre of Transformative Work Design, Curtin University

Sharon K. Parker is an ARC Laureate Fellow, Director of the Centre for Transformative Work Design at Curtin University, and a John Curtin Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Curtin Faculty of Business and Law. She is a recipient of the ARC’s Kathleen Fitzpatrick Award for mentoring, and the Academy of Management OB Division Mentoring Award. Her research focuses particularly on job and work design, employee performance, proactive behaviour, organizational change, and quasi-experimental designs. She has published more than 200 internationally refereed articles, including publications in top tier journals such as the Journal of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and the Annual Review of Psychology on these topics and, in November of 2019, Sharon was named among the world’s most influential scientists and social scientists in the 2019 Highly Cited Researchers list released by the Web of Science Group, and the only female in Australia appearing on this list in the field of Economics and Business. Sharon is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, and a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology.

Sharon is a past Associate Editor for Academy of Management Annals and the Journal of Applied Psychology, and she has severed on numerous editorial boards. Professor Parker has attracted competitive research funding worth over $65,000,000, and has worked as a researcher and consultant in a wide range of public and private organizations. She created the SMART Work Design model and co-created the mental health model Thrive at Work. Her research has been cited more than 45,000 times, and has shaped work health and safety policy in the USA, UK, and Australia. She is a present and past member of multiple boards and committees, such as the Woolworths Well-Being Advisory Council and the Corporate Mental Health Alliance.

Dr Sarah Love

Chief Executive Officer
Disability Assembly WA

Dr Sarah Love is a well-known physiotherapist with over 35 years’ experience in clinical, academic, leadership and management positions within health, education and disability. Prior to her current appointment as Chief Executive Officer for  Disability Assembly WA, Dr Love held roles in public and private health, NFP disability organisations and in universities.

An award-winning educator, advocate, researcher, knowledge translator and adjunct professor at The University of Notre Dame Australia, Dr Love has collaborated with people with lived experience in all aspects of her work. She is passionate about improving the experience for people with lived experience of disability, and equally passionate in advocating for, mentoring and sponsoring professional colleagues, and in developing leadership skills in others.

She values excellence, equity, and choice; and embraces the enormous opportunity that an Allied Health background gives us in so many employment scenarios here in Australia and abroad.

Rachel Gale

National Manager Nursing & Midwifery Workforce
Ramsay Health

Rachel Gale has a Bachelor of applied science and is a Registered nurse. She has been with Ramsay for just over 22 years and during her time she has held many positions in the company from NUM, Educator, Assistant Director of Clinical Services through to acting CEO.

She is an experienced manager, highly skilled at project work and workforce needs as well as a strong operational mindset, enabling her to deliver clinical needs as well as operational needs. Rachel has a strong passion for staff career development and providing opportunities for nurses to work at the top of their scope.

 

Adam Hort

Director of Pharmacy
WA Country Health Service

Adam Hort is a healthcare leader with a background in clinical pharmacy and a strong dedication to patient advocacy. Currently serving as the Director of Pharmacy for the WA Country Health Service, Adam is passionate about promoting health equity and fostering curiosity within healthcare.

In his role as Director of Pharmacy, Adam has led significant reforms in medicines management across rural Western Australia, with a particular focus on building the capacity and ability of the pharmacist and pharmacy technician workforce. Through innovative initiatives, Adam has worked to enhance attraction, retention and quality improvement efforts within the healthcare workforce, aiming to improve accessibility and outcomes in underserved communities. His impactful reform initiatives have earned him recognition, including an award for his dedication and achievements.

Adam is also a Fellow of The Australian and New Zealand College of Advanced Pharmacy and a Fellow of The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia, reflecting his commitment to advancing the pharmacy profession.

Outside of his professional responsibilities, Adam is actively engaged in community service as the Deputy Mayor of his local government area. He also contributes his expertise to a not-for-profit organization, aligning with his commitment to making a positive difference in society.
 

Dr Emma-Leigh Synnott

Medical Advisor Sustainable Development Unit
Department of Health WA

Emma-Leigh is a wadjela (white person) who lives and works on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja. Committed the pursuit of ‘planetary health’, right relations, and climate and environmental justice, she is a Consultant Physician in Rehabilitation Medicine specialising in Spinal Cord injury and the Medical Lead for Climate Health and Environmental Sustainability at SMHS. Outside of the health system Emma is a Senior Research Fellow and Assistant Lecturer at the Monash Sustainable Development Unit where she is involved in the Transitions to Sustainable Healthcare Systems consortium and the Sustainable Healthcare in Practice micro-credential. She is also the current WA Chair for Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) and involved in the Healthy Environment and Lives (HEAL) Research Network in WA. Emma previously trained in Veterinary Medicine and is currently completing a Master of Environment and Sustainability.

 

Angela Kelly PSM

Deputy Director General
Department of Health WA

Angela Kelly PSM is the Deputy Director General of the Western Australian Department of Health. Ms Kelly has more than 25 years’ experience in the Western Australian public health system, from system performance and financial management, to strategic planning and corporate governance, and she has led numerous projects and teams in system wide reforms.

Ms Kelly has held several leadership positions across the Department of Health, including Assistant Director General, Purchasing and System Performance and in 2018, served as acting Chief Executive at North Metropolitan Health Service for three months.

Since 2020, Ms Kelly has undertaken various senior roles across the Western Australian public sector, assisting in guiding the State’s planning and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In her current role, she leads the delivery of Government key strategic priorities through Major Health Projects and Infrastructure and the Office of Medical Research and Innovation.

In 2022, Ms Kelly received a Public Service Medal in recognition of her outstanding service in the Western Australian health system, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chanelle McEnallay

Chief Risk Officer and Legal Services Director (Australia)
Ramsay Health Care

Chanelle McEnallay is the Chief Risk Officer and Legal Services Director of the Australian business of Ramsay Health Care Limited. Chanelle sits on the Australian Executive Committee and is the Chair of the Australian Risk Management Committee.
Chanelle manages a wide portfolio which includes the risk management framework of Australia, the Australian legal team, work health and safety, workers’ compensation, the Comcare self-insurance licence, environment, CSR, sustainability, diversity and inclusion (DEIB) and the national public liability portfolio. Chanelle is also the Executive lead for the National Vanderbilt Programme, a promoting professional accountability framework.
Ramsay is Australia’s largest private hospital operator and currently employs over 33,000 staff in Australia alone, more than 88,000 worldwide.
Chanelle has been a safety and workers’ compensation professional for 28 years and began her safety career in the construction industry specialising in rail and coal mining before moving to health in 2004. Chanelle is passionate about robust and innovative risk management systems, logical legal frameworks, psychological safety, and ensuring all systems add value.
Chanelle is an experienced Risk Professional, Work Health and Safety Professional, Injury Manager, Advanced Rehabilitation and Return to Work Manager, Workers’ Compensation and Self Insurance Specialist, Workplace Trainer and Assessor, Auditor, holds advanced qualifications in OHS and Corporate Governance and is an admitted NSW Supreme Court Solicitor. Chanelle also holds a Master of Laws from ANU and is a Director of the Board of the Australian Institute of Health and Safety.

Amy Collins

Acting Director Data and Digital Innovation
WA Country Health Service

Born and raised in Country WA, I always aspired to be able to support country communities. Whilst at York Senior High School I discovered the Health Information Management degree; which was the gateway to a profession with a focus on inputting, managing, protecting, and analysing health care data and information to bring about positive health outcome and support clinical service delivery.

I undertook Curtin University work placements for WACHS in the Midwest, Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions. It was during this time I was encouraged to apply and attained a regional HIM role in Wheatbelt. I spent eight years in that role, forging a new way of delivering health information management services that led to opportunities in different roles and secondments in Pilbara, Central Office, progressing to more senior positions including Program Manager and Director roles.
After eight years in Wheatbelt I moved to WACHS Central Office in Perth, working within Business Performance, Policy Development and Governance. This led me to the Informatics Manager role, overseeing the health information management, data and analytics service, release of information, clinical coding, corporate recordkeeping, and health administration functions at a WACHS-wide level. More recently I have been the Acting Director Digital and Data Innovation, taking a leading role in digital services including ICT Operations, ICT infrastructure and Platforms, Strategy and Architecture, Digital Projects and Informatics.

After over 13 years in WACHS I have undertaken a number of different roles that have provided me with great opportunities; to introduce and embed positive change and to lead teams to success within WACHS, whilst looking forward to the next 10+ years ahead.

Grant Robinson

Assistant Auditor General, Financial Audit at Officer of the Auditor General for WA

Grant joined the Office of the Auditor General in 2021 as Assistant Auditor General Financial Audit. Prior to this he was a partner of KPMG and has more than 38 years’ experience as a Chartered Accountant and business advisor, as well as being a non-executive director of various organisations. Grant is experienced in external audit, financial analysis, compliance, governance and risk management. Grant is the Treasurer of Bethesda Health Care.

Paul Fitzpatrick

Chair, Audit and Risk Committee
WACHS

Paul Fitzpatrick was a partner of Clayton Utz between 1 July 1985 and 30 September 2019 and practised in the areas of commercial litigation, competition law, national competition policy, international and domestic arbitration and sports law.

Paul is a former Partner in Charge of the Perth Office of Clayton Utz, and has conducted a wide range of complex litigation, including contractual disputes and cases relating to the Competition and Consumer Act, the corporations law, professional negligence, and intellectual property.

Paul was named Competition Lawyer of the Year, Perth in 2013 by Best Lawyers Australia, and has been named by Best Lawyers as one of Australia’s best lawyers in litigation, competition and alternative dispute resolution.

Paul was a legal advisor to the Western Australian Football Commission and the West Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS), is a former Director of WAIS, current Director of the Wally Foreman Foundation Inc. and is the Chairman of the West Coast Eagles Football Club.
Paul chairs the WA Country Health Service Board Audit and Risk Committee.

Dr Lesley Bennett

Chief Executive
East Metropolitan Health Service

Dr Lesley Bennett is the Chief Executive at East Metropolitan Health Service, having been Executive Director at Royal Perth Bentley Group (RPBG) for five years, and prior to that held senior positions including Director of Clinical Services.  

Before moving from the UK to Australia and RPBG in 2013, she was Consultant Physician and Senior Lecturer at Oxford University Hospitals where she held leadership roles including Clinical Director and Director of the Regional Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre for 13 years. 

Lesley is a visionary Healthcare Executive with a strong focus on authentic leadership and is committed to providing excellent and compassionate patient-centred care. She has a track record of driving operational excellence and nurturing a culture of innovation and has successfully led various healthcare initiatives to improve patient outcomes. Lesley is dedicated to fostering a collaborative and supported work environment and developing a strong sense of purpose for her team.

With Fellowships in General and Respiratory Medicine, Lesley has also maintained her clinical practice over the last 30 years.

Dr Sarah Joyce

Director Strategy, Strategy and Transformation
North Metropolitan Health Service

Sarah Joyce has a PhD in Public Health, with a focus on environmental epidemiology, and has worked across Government for over 15 years providing policy advice and high-level support for public health initiatives. In 2019 she was the Project Director for the Climate Health WA Inquiry, the first statutory inquiry in the world to look at the impacts of climate change on health. In 2020 she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to explore how health systems can reduce their environmental footprint. She was the inaugural Lead Sustainable Development Officer for the Department of Health and recently joined North Metropolitan Health Service as Director of Strategy with responsibility for their climate and sustainability program.

Dr Sanchita Gera

Director Strategy, Strategy and Transformation
North Metropolitan Health Service

Dr Sanchita Gera is a Medical Intern working at Royal Perth Hospital who demonstrates sustained dedication towards Public Health leadership.

She held several leadership positions on the Western Australian Medical Students’ Society including Vice President Welfare, where she managed Indigenous, Mental Health, Mature and Queer portfolios, Interhealth Co-Chair, where she directed 8 non-for-profit projects addressing health inequalities including refugee health and sexual health, and Code Green Coordinator where she increased awareness of the health impacts of climate change. Moreover, she was the student representative for the Medical Association for the Prevention of War Australia. Through these roles, she represented diverse student voice, implemented policy changes and instigated educational reform.

Sanchita also has a strong propensity for research and was previously a research officer at the Sustainable Development Unit and the Office of the Chief Health Officer, Department of Health Western Australia.

Dr Sarah Love

Chief Executive Officer
Disability Assembly WA

Dr Sarah Love is a well-known physiotherapist with over 35 years’ experience in clinical, academic, leadership and management positions within health, education and disability. Prior to her current appointment as Chief Executive Officer for Disability Assembly WA, Dr Love held roles in public and private health, NFP disability organisations and in universities.

An award-winning educator, advocate, researcher, knowledge translator and adjunct professor at The University of Notre Dame Australia, Dr Love has collaborated with people with lived experience in all aspects of her work. She is passionate about improving the experience for people with lived experience of disability, and equally passionate in advocating for, mentoring and sponsoring professional colleagues, and in developing leadership skills in others.
She values excellence, equity, and choice; and embraces the enormous opportunity that an Allied Health background gives us in so many employment scenarios here in Australia and abroad.

Dr Sallie Forrest

Medical Advisor Sustainable Development Unit
WA Department of Health

Dr Sallie Forrest is the Medical Advisor to the Sustainable Development Unit at the Western Australian Department of Health. She is a public health physician and has studied and worked in the area of climate change, sustainability and health for more than a decade in both government and community-based roles.

Tim Leen

Executive Director Transformation
South Metropolitan Health Service

Tim Leen is the Executive Director of Transformation at SMHS enabling patient first, innovative, future proof and financially sustainable healthcare. His portfolios include Innovation, Organisational development, Research and Digital health aiming to move from healthcare in the hospital to health at home.

Tim has delivered a complex, AI enabled, high profile, high value and high-risk transformational projects under budget and before schedule such as the FSH Surgical Robot and EMHS Remote Monitoring Service. Tim strives to leverage innovation, research, new models of care and digital health opportunities to yield a sustainable person-centered health system.
Prior to this , as Service Director held a lead role in the commissioning and establishing of Fiona Stanley Hospital as the flagship hospital of the state

Tim has extensive experience as a senior ICU nurse and Nursing Leader, spanning 25 years in the UK and Australia. He has a masters of Medical Science, project management and change management practitioner and a certified International Coaching Federation coach.
Tim is passionate about relationship centred care and ensures consumer engagement is at the core of healthcare design.

Dr Rosalind Forward

General Practitioner

Dr Rosalind Forward is a recently fellowed GP currently working in Alexander Heights with some added working in occupational medicine. She was raised and trained locally in Western Australia and has extensive experience pre-medicine working in the mines and for WorkSafe WA. She was a co-founder and chair of the WA AMA DiT Welfare subcommittee, AMA WA GP registrar representative (both locally and nationally) and on the board and advisory panel for DHASWA. She has recently become GP Supervisor. Ros has a passion for continual improvement and is constantly looking at ways to improve systems of work for all stakeholders related to the medical profession.

Sharyn O’Neill PSM

Public Sector Commissioner

Sharyn O’Neill was appointed Public Sector Commissioner in July 2018 following 12 years as Director General of the Department of Education. She is the first woman to undertake the role.

Ms O’Neill began her career as a teacher and deputy principal in country schools, before moving to policy, governance and system leadership positions. She has a Master of Education (Education Administration and Policy) and was the youngest Director General appointed to lead the Department of Education.

She has been awarded the Institute of Public Administration Australia (WA) Patron’s Award; made a Fellow of the Institute and received the Australian College of Educators (WA) Medal in recognition of her outstanding achievements in education.

Ms O’Neill was the State Recovery Controller from April 2020 to October 2022 with responsibility for developing, coordinating and overseeing WA’s recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 she was awarded the Public Service Medal for leading this vital work.

In June 2023, Ms O’Neill became the first Western Australian to be appointed Chair of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government Board.

Dr David Russell-Weisz

Former Director General
Department of Health WA

Dr David (Russ) Russell-Weisz is the former Director General of Western Australia’s Department of Health, a position he held since August 2015.

Dr Russell-Weisz graduated as a doctor in Scotland but has spent the best part of his professional life in Western Australia.

After moving to Australia in 1993, he joined the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Broken Hill, and then moved to WA, where, as a procedural General Practitioner and then Director of Medical Services, he served communities in regional and remote parts of North West WA. The work gave him a special appreciation of the unique challenges faced by those living and delivering services in rural/remote parts of Western Australia.

Later, as Chief Executive of the North Metropolitan Health Service, he led the billion dollar redevelopment of the QEII Medical Centre while also overseeing the operations of three tertiary and three outer-metropolitan hospitals.

Prior to taking the helm of WA’s public health system, Dr Russell-Weisz led the commissioning of Fiona Stanley Hospital, which opened its doors to its first patients in late 2014.

As Director General, Dr Russell-Weisz has steered the public health system through a period of significant reform, which included the commissioning and opening of Perth Children’s Hospital, and embedding the new devolved governance arrangements which will ensure the State’s health services continue to respond locally to the growing needs of the WA community. Along with the WA Health executive team he is now responsible for delivering on the State Government’s Sustainable Health Review handed down in 2019.

Dr Russell-Weisz, with the support of the Chief Health Officer and executive officers, rapidly responded to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to guide the health sector’s response and provide advice to the State Government.

Currently, Dr Russell-Weisz is overseeing the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in Western Australia. This is the largest vaccination roll-out in Western Australia’s history.

Giles Nunis

Executive General Manager, Digital Transformation
WAPHA

Giles Nunis joined WA Primary Health Alliance as its inaugural Chief Digital Transformation Officer in September 2020 after almost three years as a Deloitte Partner. Giles’ interest in health technology commenced when has was appointed as the Executive Director ICT at Fiona Stanley Hospital during its commissioning phase.

Having completed the development of a robust implementation program for Fiona Stanley, he went on to be the inaugural Chief Executive and Whole of Government Chief Information Officer for WA Government but continued to assist and advise the Health Department on Fiona Stanley Hospital and the Perth Children’s Hospital ICT.

Giles has a long a diverse background in other industries and has been appointed to other senior roles such as the Deputy Director General, Department of State Development (Mining, Oil and Gas, International Trade), National Managing Director Ajilon (now called Modis a management and technology consulting firm) and Director Courts, WA Ministry of Justice.

Prof Peter Sprivulis

Chief Clinical Information Officer
WA Department of Health

Prof Peter Sprivulis is an emergency physician, health informatician and clinical epidemiologist, perhaps best known for his work on patient harm associated with hospital and emergency department overcrowding.

Following his Harkness Fellowship in Healthcare Policy at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement and Harvard University in the early 2000s he has held a variety of state and national roles leading digital health strategy and clinical information system development and implementation.

Peter has over 30 years’ experience in clinical emergency medicine, including 10 years delivering emergency telehealth. In addition to his role as WA Health CCIO, Peter is CMIO for South Metropolitan Health Service.