Australian Digital Health Agency Board
Mr Jim Birch AM, Chair
is also Chair of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Deputy Chair of the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, Chair of Mary MacKillop Care SA and a board member of the Australian Red Cross Society, the Little Company of Mary Health Care and Cancer SA. He was formally a Partner in Ernst and Young having been the Global Health Leader. He has also been the Government and Public Sector Leader from 2012 until the end of 2014. Formerly Mr Birch was also the Lead Partner in Health and Human Services for Asia Pacific. He has over thirty five years’ experience in planning, leading and implementing change in complex organisations transcending such areas as healthcare, justice and human services. Mr Birch has been a Chief Executive of a Human Services and Health Department (South Australia), Deputy Chief Executive of Justice and Chief Executive of major health service delivery organisations, including teaching hospitals. Mr Birch has previously been Chair of the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council, a member of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and was a Board Member of the National E-Health Transition Authority and Chair of Rural Health Workforce Australia. He has a Bachelor of Health Administration from the University of New South Wales.
Mr Rob Bransby
has more than 35 years experience in business, financial services and the health sector. Rob recently stepped down from his full time role as Managing Director of HBF Health Limited, a position he had held since 2008. During Rob's 12 years at HBF, the organisation consolidated its position as Western Australia's leading health fund, reaffirming its focus on member health and embarking on an ambitious strategy to become a valued health partner to HBF members. Rob has long held a leadership position within the health insurance sector and is the immediate past President of the industry association, Private Healthcare Australia (PHA). Rob is well known for championing the interests of health fund members and as an advocate for not-for-profit health insurers. Prior to working at HBF, Rob enjoyed a successful 25 year career in banking with NAB holding positions including Corporate Finance Manager – Corporate Banking Western Australia, Head of Business Financial Services – New South Wales and CEO – Medfin Finance. Rob is currently a Director of the Australian Digital Health Agency, Synergy, Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited, BW Financial Advice Limited, Count Financial Limited, Financial Wisdom Limited and the Craig Mostyn Group. He is also a Commissioner of the Insurance Commission of Western Australia.
Dr Eleanor Chew
is a specialist general practitioner and medical educator, with extensive experience representing the role of primary care in the health services profession. Dr Chew has worked as a GP in Brisbane, Darwin, Perth and Canberra in a variety of practice settings including solo, small practices, and corporate practice.Dr Chew is on the board of General Practice Training Queensland and is a past Vice President and Chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Dr Chew is an experienced leader with strategic vision and a solid understanding of governance responsibilities.
Dr Chew serves on a range of committees and working groups focused on the advancement of quality primary care, in both the private and government sectors.
Dr Chew holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery and a Masters of Medicine (General Practice) from the University of Queensland. She is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Dr Elizabeth Deveny
is currently the CEO of South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network (SEMPHN). Before her appointment at SEMPHN, Elizabeth was Chief Executive of Bayside Medicare Local (BML) from its formation in 2012. Her emphasis on mutual respect and accountability of each and every staff member was a key factor in the nationally-recognised success of BML. Amongst her other current appointments she chairs the Southern Metropolitan Partnership which brings community, industry and local government together to provide the Victorian government advice about regional priorities.Elizabeth Deveny is an experienced and well-respected senior executive with a strong commitment to providing sustainable health outcomes for all Australians, and a demonstrated ability to build and maintain positive, productive partnerships with key stakeholders and the broader community. She holds a Masters degree in vocational health education and a PhD in Medicine (clinical decision making), both from Melbourne University.
Dr Deveny is also currently Acting Chair of the Australian Digital Health Agency Board’s Privacy and Security Advisory Committee (PSAC).
Ms Lyn McGrath
is the Executive General Manager, Retail Sales at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, leading the largest distribution business within CBA; a team of over 10,000 people across Australia, the UK and China. Lyn has been in her current position since 2010, promoted from her previous role of Regional General Manager, Sydney Region. Prior to this, she held roles with St George in the Retail Bank as Head of Customer Experience and as Regional Manager, Northern Sydney. Lyn has extensive senior management experience in strategic and operational roles within the utilities and media industries and over 20 years’ experience in Financial Services. Ms. McGrath is highly regarded for her transformational leadership and customer experience strategy. She holds an MBA and BA from Macquarie University as well as a Dip PR (Hons). She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and currently holds a Board positions at Commonwealth Financial Planning and the Evidence for Learning Board a joint initiative with Social Ventures Australia and Commonwealth Bank. Ms. McGrath is a Senior Fellow with FINSIA and a Fellow with the Australian Institute of Management. In 2012, she was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Australia by the Australian Financial Review.
Ms Stephanie Newell
is a consultant facilitator, educator and healthcare consumer advocate who is highly regarded across multiple industry sectors for her collaborative and innovative approach. Ms Newell works in partnership across all levels of healthcare so that health services and health systems are safe, consumer focused and are designed with health care consumers for health care consumers. Prior to her work in health, Ms Newell’s career was in banking and finance with the National Australia Bank.Ms Newell’s roles within health care have included Consumer and Community Engagement Coordinator of the Health Consumers' Council of Western Australia and consultant educator developing and facilitating the 'Partnering with Consumers to Achieve Quality Outcomes in Healthcare' & 'Patient-centred Care' workshops across Australia for The Australian Council on Health Care Standards.
Ms Newell is a foundation member and a designated ‘Patients for Patient Safety Champion’ of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Patients for Patient Safety program. Ms Newell led the first Australian Patients for Patient Safety 3 day workshop in partnership with the WHO, WA Department of Health, Curtin University WA and states and territories Health Departments. This landmark workshop was an instrumental contributor to Australian and International health policy development on partnering with health consumers in health care governance and also in health consumers’ individual health care.
Ms Newell is a founding member of the Global Patient and Family Advisory Group of the Beryl Institute (USA) for Patient Experience. She also contributes to a number of Australian and international health care policy and research groups and initiatives in areas which include consumer engagement, patient experience, patient safety, quality improvement, accreditation and standards development.
Ms Newell is a past board member of Consumer Health Forum of Australia and was the inaugural Chair of the South Australian Department of Health Safety and Quality Consumer and Community Advisory Committee. Ms Newell holds post-graduate qualifications in Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation from the University of Adelaide and is a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Dr Bennie Ng
is a specialist hospital administrator and general practitioner, with senior management and policy experience in Australia and abroad.He is currently the General Manager, Partnerships and Strategy at Healthscope, a leading healthcare provider which operates 45 private hospitals across every state and territory in Australia and 63 pathology laboratories across New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. The company employs over 18,600 people, with another 17,500 accredited medical practitioners working on sites.
Bennie commenced his career as a General Practitioner in Western Australia before becoming the Managing Director of General Practice Registrars Australia, a national body advocating for better primary care workforce, education and training policies.
Bennie has extensive experience in providing advice to the Australian Government. As an adviser to the Minister of Health, he oversaw the introduction of chronic disease management and mental health programmes into primary care and Medicare. He was later appointed as Head of Social Policy at the Office of the Prime Minister and had responsibilities across health and hospitals, aged care, disabilities/NDIS and indigenous affairs.
Bennie has held senior positions in strategy, services planning and general management in the public hospital sector. He was the Head of Clinical Services Planning at the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, a government statutory body managing 42 public hospitals across the territory. In Australia, Bennie held roles as General Manager of Cancer Medicine and Director of Medical Services at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, one of the world’s leading cancer research, education and treatment centres and is Australia’s only public hospital solely dedicated to caring for people affected by cancer.
Bennie has a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery and a Masters of Business Administration. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators and of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Bennie is currently a part-time member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Professor Johanna Westbrook
is Professor of Health Informatics and Director, Centre for Health Systems and Safety Research, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, at Macquarie University. She is internationally recognised for her research evaluating the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) in health care and has published over 300 papers. This research has led to significant advances in our understanding of how clinical information systems deliver (or fail to deliver) expected benefits and supported translation of this evidence into policy, practice, and IT system changes. In 2014 Professor Westbrook was awarded Australian ICT Professional of the Year by the Australian Information Industry Association. She has a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Sydney, a Masters in Health Administration from the University of New South Wales, and a Bachelor of Applied Science (with Distinction) from the University of Sydney. She is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics and the Australasian College of Health Informatics.
Mr Michael Walsh
is the Director-General Queensland Health where he leads a public health and hospital system for a population of nearly 5 million people. Prior to this role, Michael was the inaugural Chief Executive / CIO of eHealth NSW, providing eHealth and ICT services to the NSW Health System. Michael has also worked as Chief Executive of HealthShare NSW, the NSW Health shared service provider. Michael has extensive experience at the Government Senior Executive level in both NSW and Queensland and has worked in the private sector including for a leading consulting firm. Michael has led large organisational strategy and change programs including major departmental integrations; significant ICT programs; and, large hospital infrastructure programs such as the $10 billion Queensland Hospital rebuilding program including the Gold Coast University Hospital, Sunshine Coast University Hospital and Queensland Children's Hospital. Michael has a strong background in public sector governance and leadership. Michael also has strong experience in portfolio, program and project management, business case development and implementation of major government initiatives.