Speaker Profiles

Dr Tony Hobbs is a GP Obstetrician from Cootamundra on the south- west slopes of NSW, where he has been involved in the establishment of an innovative integrated primary care service. He was Chair of the External Reference Group working with the DoHA to develop Australia’s first National Primary Health Care Strategy. He is the immediate past Chair of the Australian General Practice Network. He is the Chair of the Riverina Division of General practice and Primary Health. He has recently been appointed to the NHMRC Prevention and Community Health Committee.

Professor Hal Swerissen is Dean of Health Sciences and Pro Vice Chancellor (Regional) at La Trobe University. He has previously been an Associate Dean, a Head of School and a Director of a health research institute. He has also worked for Commonwealth and State government as a senior ministerial advisor. Professor Swerissen is a leader in health policy and planning. He has contributed extensively to policy and service development in primary care, public health and health workforce development. He has lead a number of research and evaluation project on these topics. He has been on a number of government reviews and he is a director of Alfred Health.

Janet has worked in the Australian public health sector for over 20 years in the areas of policy development, services planning and program implementation.  She has held executive positions in the NSW Department of Health, the Northern Sydney Area Health Service and the Commonwealth Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Over the last nine years in the NSW Department of Health, Janet has been Director of the Primary Health and Community Partnerships Branch, then the Futures Planning Unit, and is now in charge of Inter-Government and Funding Strategies with a strong focus on the national health reform agenda. She holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health.  In 2009 Janet was awarded the Public Service Medal in recognition of her work in the public health sector.

Dr Brian Morton has been a General Practitioner in Willoughby, Sydney, since 1976. He graduated from University of NSW in 1974. In 1981 he was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. He moved to Northbridge Medical Practice in 2009 following the amalgamation of his practice. Dr Brian Morton is in full-time medical practice. He is a panel member of the Professional Services Review, a member of the Technical Advisory Board of GPA Accreditation Plus, and a member of Medicare Participation Review Committee. He is a clinical teacher in General Practice at Sydney University Department of General Practice. He was the Chairman of the Northern Sydney Division of General Practice from 1996 to 1999. He is currently the Immediate Past President of AMA(NSW), an AMA Federal Councillor and Chair of the AMA Council of General Practice.

Dr Christopher Pearce is Director of Research at the Melbourne East General Practice Network and a Program Clinical Lead for the National E-Health Transition Authority. He has been active in E-Health for many years, beginning with the Information Management Strategy Group and The General Practice Computing Group. He completed a PhD on Health Informatics in 2008, and is now researching the effects of health information access on consumers and the use of population health data from and in general practice.

Gawaine Powell Davies is CEO of the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of NSW, and the leader of its primary health care research stream. Gawaine has been involved in research and development in primary health care and chronic disease prevention and management since 1996. Much of this work has related to the development of national and state policies and programs, and has involved working closely with the field to support and evaluate innovative approaches to health care. He is a firm believer in linking research, policy and practice, and considers that we need to combine experience, evidence and creativity to build a health system that will meet the changing needs and expectations of the community.

Russell McGowan is a bone marrow transplant survivor who has been active in the healthcare consumer movement since the early 1990s and is now retired from the workforce on health grounds. His working life had included teaching, field work, program management and policy development, mainly involving employment, education and training programs for indigenous people.

At the national level, Russell is Consumer Commissioner on the Australian Commission for Safety and Quality in Health Care and sits on the Governing Committee of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia and the Boards of the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards and the Australian General Practice Network.

Russell lives in Canberra and participates in numerous community and consumer healthcare organisations in the ACT. He has been an office holder in the Health Care Consumers Association of the ACT for over a decade, and until recently he was deputy chair of the ACT Health Council on which he had served since its inception in 2002.

A general practitioner involved in health system change for more than a decade, Di chairs the NSW General Practice Council, and is a member of the NSW Health Care Advisory Council. As a general practice adviser to NSW Health, she contributes to the evolution of reform related initiatives including the NSW Community Health review, HealthOne, the Severe Chronic Disease Program and Maternal and Child Health programs.

Nationally, in late 2008 Di stepped down after eight years on the RACGP Board, and since then has chaired the college’s National Standing Committee-Education which advises on all aspects of education, from pre vocational training through assessment processes to continuing professional development. Di is also an Executive member of AHCRA - the Australian Health Care Reform Alliance.

At regional level, Di is a Board member and chair of WentWest, a regional general practice training provider and one of only two such organisations to also manage divisional services. Integration of education and training into primary health care service planning and delivery is a high priority being achieved via this dual role and through strong partnerships with local universities, divisions, general practitioners and the Area Health Service.

Evolving new integrated primary health care models will be central to effective health system reform, and involvement as an adviser in the evolution of HealthOne Mt Druitt creates an opportunity to put health reform strategies into practice. The Mt Druitt HealthOne community hub provides an example of how partnerships between general practitioners, community health, other services and the communities they serve, can form strong local support platforms for communities experiencing significant disadvantage while simultaneously making health professionals’ lives more satisfying.

Rod is the CEO of the Inner East Community Health Service a position he has held for the last 12 years. He has been the CEO of 2 other Victorian community health services prior to this. He has been active in the National Health Reform debate through involvement with the Australian Health Care Reform Alliance and through the development of integrated primary health care services. He has an academic background in Education, Research and Policy.

Graduated as a dentist from The University of Adelaide in 1974, spent several years in rural South Australia in the School Dental Service and was a lecturer at the School of Dental Therapy 1976-1980.

Became Principal Dentist in charge of the SA Dental Service Evaluation Unit from 1980.

Gained an MBA in 1983 and became the inaugural Director of SA’s Community Dental Service in 1986 and Director of Statewide Dental Services from 1988.

Author of the 1992 National Health Strategy Background Paper No: 9 “Improving Dental Health in Australia” that led to the Commonwealth Dental Health Program in 1994.

Moved to Melbourne as Chief Executive of the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne in 1994 and became the inaugural Chief Executive of Dental Health Service Victoria in 1996.

Returned to Adelaide in 2001 to the position of Chief Executive and then Executive Director of SA Dental Service. Now holds the position of Executive Director Statewide Services in the Central Northern Adelaide Health Service incorporating SA Dental Service and Breast Screen SA.

Member of the National Advisory Committee on Oral Health 2002-2004 that produced Australia’s first National Oral Health Plan and, from 2004, member of the National Oral Health Monitoring Group that is monitoring the implementation of the National Oral Health Plan.

Currently Chair of the National Dental Directors Committee.

Associate Professor Dart has a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts (Economics & Government), Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, and Doctor of Philosophy (Medicine and eHealth). He has published widely in cardiology (1-9), clinical pathways (10, 11) and eHealth (12-14). His Doctorate investigated the role of eHealth in health literacy and delivering health information to people in low socioeconomic communities. His interests lie in practical solutions for primary care. He is currently Director of GP Super Clinics at the University of Queensland, Director of a consultancy firm, iHealth Solutions Pty Ltd, and works part time in a clinical capacity. A/Prof Dart performed the literature review, statistical and stakeholder analysis, designed the clinical model and contributed to the design of the education, research, business and eHealth models for three South East Queensland GP Super Clinic proposals: the Moreton Bay Integrated Care Centre (funded - $5 million), the University of Queensland Ipswich GP Super Clinic proposal (funded - $2.5 million), and the University of Queensland Brisbane Southside GP Super Clinic proposal (currently under consideration - $7.5 million).

Is the Chief Executive Officer of the Sydney Division of General Practice, a leading division in NSW which manages 15 Australian Government funded health programs and provides over 60 educational events annually for around 500 General Practitioners and 200 Allied Health Professionals . Kevin’s specific interests lie in the area of healthcare corporate governance. His 20 year career in Health Administration in the Royal Australian Navy and his more recent 6 years experience in the Divisions Network in the heart of Sydney make him amply qualified to discuss the pressures currently facing the primary health care industry relevant to its interface with the hospital system.

Warwick Plunkett served on the PSA National Council for nine years (seven as an Executive Councillor) and was National President from 1996-97. He rejoined the Board in 2007 in the lead-up to the unification of PSA, served on the Interim Board and was elected as President of the new Board in August 2008, and was re-elected in 2009. His major achievements include the development and introduction of the Self Care program (a health promotion program still highly successful more than 20 years later with more than 30 per cent of all Australian pharmacies as members) and the Pharmacy Offshore Conference for which he has acted as organising conference chairman for 30 years. His other achievements include development of a national continuing education curriculum and the introduction of the Pharmaceutical Care concept leading to acceptance of Domiciliary Medication Management Reviews.

Slawka is currently embracing transformational change management within a capacity building environment.  Previously Slawka was as an Executive of ICLEI Oceania and Blue Green Alliance, international and local organisations embracing alliance-based triple bottom line projects within a sustainability context. With leadership and P&L roles within member based professions; Institute of Architects (RAIA), Environment Institute (EIANZ) and the Property Institute of Australia (API), Slawka has repositioned her broad commercial knowledge through her MBA achievements with strong communication skills to deliver innovation for organisations. Her work on ‘Thinktank’ projects includes, Mental Health and Work Environment-The New Workplace Agreement, as well as GRI Reporting for the Not For Profit Sector, providing a global context.

Slawka's exposure to all three tiers of government is broad, with experience drawn from throughout Australia as well as managing organisational growth plans through M&As both nationally and in NZ. Her involvement in the AICD enhanced further, her skills in organisational governance.

Associate Professor Hepworth is a health psychologist and academic at The University of Queensland. She is the author of numerous publications on primary care, patients’ experiences of chronic conditions and services, methods and evaluation, and is a reviewer and Advisory Board Member for several major journals. Associate Professor Hepworth has also worked in the UK and USA bringing international research experience to her practice. She has conducted research on health-related behaviour and change for over ten years. This research underpins the current development of a decision-making tool for patients with chronic conditions and the innovative Team Resource Maximisation TRM Model co-authored with Professor John Marley.