Speakers

Assoc Prof Hairil Rizal Abdullah is a Senior Consultant Anaesthesiologist and Perioperative Physician at Singapore General Hospital. He holds an MBBS, MMed, MSc, and PhD, with his doctoral studies focused on the utilisation of Data Science in Healthcare from Duke-NUS Medical School Singapore.

After completing his advanced specialist training in Singapore, he pursued a fellowship in Perioperative Medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada, followed by an MSc in the same discipline from University College London, UK. His commitment to lifelong learning earned him the National Medical Research Council Research Training Fellowship in 2020 and the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship by the Public Service Commission, Singapore in 2022.

Since 2020, Hairil has been the Value Lead for SGH, guiding a cross-functional multidisciplinary team in scaling up and operationalising Value Based Healthcare (VBH) initiatives across the hospital. His efforts in promoting positive systemic change were recognised with the "Distinguished Champion of Change Leader Award" by SingHealth in 2022, and his team received the "Distinguished Team Award" in 2024.

In 2024, Hairil was appointed as the Director of the Office of Value Based Healthcare for SingHealth. In this role, he is responsible for driving VBH initiatives across 12 different healthcare institutions, catering to 1.6 million people. His expertise in this field has led to invitations to participate in leadership forums of multiple international VBH-related organisations, including ICHOM and Choosing Wisely International.

Hairil also serves as Co-Director of the Data Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Singapore General Hospital, and holds the position of Associate Professor in Health Services and Systems Research at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.

Nicole has worked extensively in public health and government in executive and non-executive roles for over 20 years and has been Chief Executive at cohealth since 2019 having served in a range of leadership roles in community health since 2006.

Nicole is passionate about community health and committed to the mission of improving health in partnership with individuals and the community. Social justice and health equity are the core principles of her decision-making and key drivers of her advocacy priorities. She feels privileged to have led an organisation that has consistently delivered outstanding services for communities who experience disadvantage.

Mojca is the General Manager of The Council of Ambulance Authorities. Her degree in Political Sciences has over the last two decades seen her work across Europe, Australia and New Zealand in the policy arena, on topics ranging from international relationships, European Union representation, local municipality policies and since joining the Australasian ambulance sector 16 years ago, the health and ambulance sector.

In her role as General Manager of The Council of Ambulance Authorities she is responsible for HR, Sponsorship & Partnership matters and oversees the daily operations, including Marketing & Communications, Events, CAA Campaigns, CAA Groups, Policy, Research and Data Management which provides reporting for member services to a number of national and federal government bodies.

Mojca is committed to growing CAA’s advocacy, to help expand the reach of CAA’s members and the ambulance sector, and provide networking and collaborative opportunities with partner agencies and associations across Australasia and globally.

Dr Bolevich was appointed the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in June 2024.

Prior to his appointment as CEO of the AIHW, Dr Bolevich was the Chief Executive of eHealth NSW and the Chief Information Officer for NSW Health and responsible for planning, implementing and supporting a digitally enabled, integrated and patient-centric health information environment. During his prior 25-year career, Dr Bolevich worked in a range of senior health management, information and communication technology (ICT) leadership roles in Australia and New Zealand.

Before joining eHealth NSW, Dr Bolevich worked at NSW Health as executive director for health system information and performance reporting and as acting deputy secretary for system purchasing and performance.

Dr Bolevich served as a member of the AIHW Board from 11 February 2016 to 9 May 2024. He is a Doctor of Medicine and has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with Distinction.

Dr Rachel David is the Chief Executive Officer of Private Healthcare Australia, the peak body for health insurance funds in Australia. In her corporate career, she has earned a reputation for identifying strategic commercial opportunities and delivering on them by navigating complex regulatory and stakeholder environments.

Rachel previously worked for Australian biotechnology powerhouse CSL at the time it transformed from being a local plasma company to a global pharmaceutical giant. Her proudest moment was a successful campaign to secure the initial government funding for the Australian-developed HPV vaccine Gardasil program to immunise women and girls.

She was the inaugural practice manager for the health and government services practice at McKinsey & Company and worked as a senior adviser to the Federal Health Minister in the Howard era.

In her current role, she undertakes high-stakes negotiations between governments and commercial players in the healthcare sector and provides advice and advocacy to ensure the Australian healthcare system is both sustainable and effective. She also plays a role to ensure the health insurance sector can play its rightful role as a leader driving transformation of Australian healthcare to better serve the needs of the consumer.

She is a medical doctor who started her career working in public and private hospitals. In addition to her medical qualifications, she has an MBA and has done postgraduate studies in economics.

Conjoint Professor Anne Duggan was appointed Chief Executive Officer in March 2023, in recognition of her breadth of knowledge and leadership experience across a range of healthcare settings.

With experience as a practicing clinician, policy maker and health sector leader, Professor Duggan has gained an in-depth understanding of the complex issues surrounding safety and quality in health care. Professor Duggan works closely with jurisdictional stakeholders, colleges and peak bodies, and she has represented the Commission in a range of forums.

Before her appointment as CEO, Professor Duggan was the Commission’s Chief Medical Officer from 2021 - 2023 and a Clinical Director from 2014 - 2021. Before joining the Commission, Anne was Director, Clinical Governance, with the Hunter New England Local Health District. She is a highly respected gastroenterologist and is also Conjoint Professor, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle.

Professor Duggan was a member of the expert panel for the Independent review of the regulation of medical practitioners who perform cosmetic surgery. She is also the Chair of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review Advisory Committee (MRAC).

Professor Adam Elshaug is a researcher and policy advisor who works closely with healthcare payers across 15 jurisdictions to design and implement reforms to reduce waste and optimise heath care safety and value, including the design and evaluation of alternative care and payment models. This includes a large program of low-value care research and reform. At the University of Melbourne he is Professor of Health Policy with joint appointments in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health (MSPGH) and Melbourne Medical School, and is Director, Centre for Health Policy (MSPGH), home to 135 academic staff.

In May 2024 Professor Elshaug was elected as Australia’s representative member of the Scientific Council of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), WHO. He sits on numerous national and international committees, including the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review Advisory Committee (MRAC) which takes over from the 2015-20 MBS Review Taskforce on which he also sat, including its Principles and Rules Sub-Committee. In 2022 he was appointed to the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and in 2023-24 was a member of the Department's Scope of Practice Review ('Unleashing the potential of our health workforce'). Since 2014 he has been economic and policy advisor to Cancer Australia. Adam is currently chairing an MRAC review of all time-tiered MBS items in primary care.

Dr Elissa Elvidge is a mixed methods researcher whose work focuses on improving clinical and public health outcomes through community research partnerships. As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, she has published work of considerable clinical and strategic policy importance. Despite being an early career researcher, Dr Elvidge has already made significant contributions to the field, including leading the development of a novel empirically validated cultural safety tool. To date her work has been adapted and implemented in seven countries in a variety of healthcare settings for First Nations and CALD communities.

Meegan has unique and varied professional background as a senior government minister, member of parliament, public servant and consultant. She has worked extensively across a range of sectors. She brings unique insights together with deep knowledge of systems and approaches to generate new ideas and consider different perspectives. She is adept at connecting people and ideas and focusing on delivering outcomes for communities.

Meegan was an elected member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and served as the Minister for Health, Medical Research, Transport and Higher Education. As Health Minister Meegan also chaired the National Health Ministers Forum. Post politics she chaired the Reform Advisory Group for the Queensland Health Minister in 2020 that developed the “Unleashing the Potential” report, a foundational report for the ‘HEALTHQ32: A vision for Queensland’s health system’. She has also worked in law enforcement, national security and more recently as the Health Industry Lead at Australia's leading cyber security company, CyberCX. She is a Non-Executive Director of Dementia Australia and the Dementia Australia Research Foundation.

Philip Haywood is a health economist at the Leeder Centre - University of Sydney. Currently he is working on funding reform, virtual care, the economic evaluation of RPAvirtual. He is a is a chief investigator on the Centre for Research Excellence on Value-Based Payments in Cancer Care and the Cancer-Patient Population Projections project. Previously at the OECD during the COVID pandemic, Phil led the health system resilience stream which included assessing the benefits and costs of improved data, virtual care and co-ordination. Phil practiced emergency medicine in the Asia-Pacific region, including in remote and Indigenous communities.

Professor Harriet Hiscock is a consultant paediatrician and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. She is Academic Lead, Transforming Health Domain, in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sconces at the University of Melbourne and Group Leader, Health Services and Economics, at Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Her research focuses on developing, testing and implementing new approaches to (i) keep children out of hospital; (ii) reduce low-value (wasteful) care; and (iii) integrate health, social and education services to improve health and wellbeing for children, including those living with family adversity. She has published 300 peer reviewed papers, has been awarded continuous National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding since 2002 and has received state and national awards including NHMRC's "10 of the Best Research Projects 2022" for her ground breaking trials in sleep in children with ADHD and with autism and a 2023 Victorian Public Healthcare Award for her novel program strengthening the mental health workforce in the community.

Julie is an accomplished leader in health system policy and planning within Queensland Health. She brings a broad range of skills, drawing on undergraduate and post graduate qualifications in business, health economics and public health. Julie is experienced in applying future-focussed, innovative and evidence-informed solutions to tackle the many wicked problems that impact the healthcare sector.

Since commencing her career in 2013, Julie has worked across the private sector, state government as well as the policy and advocacy space within non-government organisations. It is through this and many other diverse experiences that Julie has honed her passion for health system reform and developed the unique skillset to drive strategic change and lead high performing teams. Some of Julie’s career achievements include development of the young adult component of the National Mental Health Service Planning Framework, the Queensland Palliative and End-of-Life Care Strategy and the co-design of the Spinal Cord Injury Service Delivery Model for Queensland.

Julie looks forward to continuing to apply her strategic and emphatic approach to improve health outcomes and experiences for all Australians.

George Leipnik is Director of Strategy and System Priorities at the NSW Ministry of Health. His team is leading the implementation of Future Health, the ten-year strategy for NSW Health. This includes key objectives such as supporting the system to embed better value care, and strengthening the state-wide collections of self-reported information from patients, carers, the community and staff.

George has worked for NSW Health for 14 years in a range of roles including service and capital planning, health technology policy, and economic analysis. He has been an advisor at the NSW Department of Planning and Environment and managed operations for a climate change NGO.

His academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce (USYD) and Master of Policy Studies (UNSW).

George is a member of the Australian Centre for Value Based Healthcare Advisory Board.

Susan is a forward-thinking CEO and non-executive director on a mission to make quality healthcare more accessible, safe and patient-centred. Since starting her career as a Registered Nurse, Susan has spent over 40 years working to improve healthcare systems across the public, not-for-profit and private sectors. Susan holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Movement Studies, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Susan’s strategic and values-driven approach inspires creative thinking, bold innovation and a collaborative workplace culture. Susan is also a highly respected thought leader and expert advisor in the delivery of value-based health care. In her current role as CEO of Dental Health Services Victoria, Susan is leading the transformational change required to shift the provision of oral health care from outputs to outcomes and volume to value across the Victorian public health system.

Never one to pull the ladder up behind her, Susan mentors aspiring healthcare leaders and strongly advocates for gender equity, cultural diversity and social justice for all.

She lives by the motto, ‘If not now, when? If not you, Who?’.

Dr Lisa Miller is a Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and Medical Director of the WA Eating Disorders Outreach and Consultation Service. In addition to Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Dr Miller is also a Fellow of the Chapter of Palliative Medicine of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, past-fellow of the Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners and has a Masters in Affective Neuroscience from the University of Maastricht.

With a longstanding passion in caring for youth and adults whose needs sit at the interface of physical and mental health, Lisa is committed to optimising strategic leadership of service reform and clinical governance in keeping with a Value-Based Health Care Approach. She undertook the role of Medical Advisor for Cancer in the Division of Clinical Excellence of WA Health during the development of the 2020-2025 Cancer Plan and has drawn on this experience to championed the need for state-wide investment in eating disorders services for Western Australia in keeping with an integrated continuum of care for over a decade

These collaborative efforts alongside consumers, carers, clinicians, clinical service planners and representatives of the WA Mental Health Commission, culminated in a $31.6 million election commitment from the WA state government in 2021 for a new WA Eating Disorders State-wide Services (WAEDSS) model.

In 2018, Lisa was awarded the ANZAED Distinguished Achievement Award for her promotion of education and training of health professionals to increase safe pathways to care for youth and adults with eating disorders and for leading the establishment of the WA Eating Disorders Outreach and Consultation Service (WAEDOCS) from 2016.

In conjunction with her colleagues WAEDOCS was awarded the Mental Health Commissioner’s Award, West Australian Health Excellence Awards in 2019 for “Optimising Outcomes for Youth & Adults with Eating Disorders” in Western Australia, and the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association National Value-Based Health Care Transformation Award 2024 (for the WA Eating Disorders Specialist Services WAEDSS Collaborative Model).

Dr Susannah Morris is a health consumer advocate and representative with a former professional background as an academic in the field of social policy at London School of Economics. She became a health consumer representative after her own diagnosis with cancer and has had roles with multiple organisations including Health Consumers Council WA, Consumers' Health Forum, Breast Cancer Network Australia, All.Can Australia, All.Can International and the Global Centre for Value Based-Healthcare. Susannah also holds an honorary senior lectureship with the University of Melbourne and sits as a consumer member of Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. She works to bring consumer perspectives to the front and centre in decision-making and ensure that consumers' experiences and outcomes are fundamental considerations in designing and evaluating healthcare and determining value. Susannah has presented consumer perspectives on value-based healthcare to multiple audiences including in a plenary presentation to Singapore's Agency for Care Effectiveness (ACE) Value-Based Health Care Conference in 2024.

Clare joined the WA Health Consumers Council in September 2018. Her background is in change management and communications in the health and social care sector in the UK and Australia. At the WA Department of Health she worked with Health Networks, Activity Based Funding and Management and in the safety and quality team. At the WA Primary Health Alliance she was the Operations Manager for Perth North Primary Health Network. In the UK, she worked on a national frontline leadership program in the National Health Service which brought frontline staff and consumers together to work on improving health services in their local area.

Clare is passionate about creating opportunities for people who use the health system and people who work in the health system to work together to improve health outcomes. She is trained in change management, project management, facilitation and Gestalt therapy.

Christine's career has evolved and broadened in parallel with her love of travel beginning in Ingham, in north Queensland after she graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work. She then expanded her experience working in health services in Melbourne, London and with the United Nations in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Christine has dedicated 20 years to building her expertise in stakeholder engagement, co-design, and partnership development. With post graduate qualifications in public health, and health service innovation, Christine is skilled in designing and implementing collaborative initiatives that drive health system improvements and outcomes.

Christine has led transformative approaches to large- and small-scale health projects applying innovative strategies, tailored to each unique context. She is passionate about partnerships with consumers and communities to influence healthcare improvements.

Christine's achievements include leading the implementation of patient-reported experience measures in a tertiary hospital and coordinating multi-sector partnerships driving progress on health priorities such as chronic disease prevention and youth health. She is keen to share her knowledge and skills in engagement and co-design to inspire others to create sustainable change by connecting people who work in healthcare with those who need healthcare.

Professor Michael Pervan C.F. was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) on 1 February 2023. Prior to this, Michael was Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Communities Tasmania where for nearly a decade he was responsible for the delivery of health, housing and care services as well as designing and implementing major service reforms.

Chief Executive Officer Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority Michael has represented Western Australia and Tasmania at the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council, of which he was elected Chair in 2018. Michael was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1998 and the insights and global network that opportunity provided him can be seen in his consistent contributions to national reform discussions for over 20 years on issues such as service system reform, health workforce and mental health.

Michael’s perspective on strategic and policy issues is informed by considerable operational experience at service and system level where he has led financial governance initiatives, and implemented reform programs across health, human services, child development services, chronic disease management, child protection, out of home care, youth justice and ambulance services in Western Australia and Tasmania.

Dr Candice Oster is a Senior Research Fellow in the Caring Futures Institute and Affiliate Member of the Centre for Social Impact at Flinders University. Her current research explores how social prescribing can be adapted to the Australian context and the importance of considering potential lateral and upstream consequences in social prescribing co-design, implementation, and evaluation.

Caroline is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in health, community development and higher education sectors. Skilled in Change Management, Operational Management, Clinical Research, Customer Service, Business Strategy, and Healthcare Management. Strong professional education with a Master of Business Administration and Master of Health Science. Internationally published, recognised and a key note speaker for service improvement, innovation and community empowerment.

My goal is to influence health policy using high quality research. I am a Professor in the Centre for Health Economics, Monash Business School. Previously, I led health economics research at the Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne. I am an elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, immediate Past President of the Australian Health Economics Society, and was a Board Director of the International Health Economics Association. I have been an ARC Future Fellow and NHMRC Principal Research Fellow.

Ben Thomson is a HepatoPancreaticoBiliary (HPB), general and trauma surgeon at Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He is the inaugural Chief Surgical Advisor to the Victorian Department of Health, a Clinical Professor at The University of Melbourne, the Director of Surgery at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and sits on the boards of the Australian Aotearoa New Zealand HepatoPancreaticoBiliary association (AANZHPBA) and the Asia-Pacific HepatoPancreaticoBiliary Association (A-PHPBA).

Dr Sarah Wenham trained in the UK and moved to Broken Hill in 2012 to become the first Specialist Palliative Care Physician for the Far West Local Health District. Since 2022, she has been the Executive Director of Medical Services and is responsible for developing and sustaining the effective provision of medical services to the 30,000 people that live rurally and remotely in Far West New South Wales, a geographical area of 195,000km2 that makes up the western one third of the State and boarders the three states of Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.

Living and working in outback Australia, Sarah understands the unique challenges of providing (and receiving) healthcare in rural settings. She is passionate about ensuring the provision of evidence-based, high-quality, safe, patient-centred healthcare to the remote community that she calls home, and believes that innovation and partnerships are essential to create reliable and sustainable services. Sarah is a strong advocate for the healthcare needs of rural and remote Australians, and desires to see that those living in rural and remote NSW have equitable access to high-quality healthcare as close to home as possible.

Colonel Whitworth commenced his military service as an Aerospace Engineer in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1993 before taking up graduate medical sponsorship with Army in 2001. On completion of residency at Toowoomba Hospital in 2007, his military junior medical officer positions involved providing pre-hospital and primary care to military personnel in armoured, infantry and combat support units, as well as the Army’s deployable hospital unit. He has had many Senior Medical officer appointments in health units, the Army School of Health, Headquarters 2^nd Division (Army’s Reserve Division), 17^th Combat Service Support Brigade, and was the inaugural Senior Medical Officer of Army’s newly raised Health Brigade.

As a qualified general practitioner, Colonel Whitworth worked as a GP supervisor and CASA Designated Aviation Medical Examiner in Port Macquarie from 2013 to 2020. During this time he was also credentialed as a surgical assistant at Port Macquarie Private hospital, provided locum CMO services in Glen Innes hospital and was an examiner and clinical tutor in general practice and clinical emergency simulation with University of NSW Rural Clinical School.

Colonel Whitworth’s operational experience includes deployments to Afghanistan in 2010, and 2012 with mentoring Task Groups. During both of these deployments, Colonel Whitworth was the senior Australian medical officer in Tarin Kowt. where he regularly provided advice to commanders within Combined Team Uruzgan and Headquarters Regional Command South, as well as having a clinical role. Colonel Whitworth deployed to the Middle East Region again from May 2018 to March 2019 as the Senior Health planner in Headquarters Joint Task Force 633 and in December 2019 he was assigned to Operation Bushfire Assist 19/20 as the Joint Task Force senior health planner. Subsequently, Colonel Whitworth was the Joint Task Force senior health planner for Operation COVID-19 Assist from March 2020 to October 2021, providing targeted enterprise-level health outcomes in the Defence contribution to, and leadership of, a series of national crises.

Colonel Whitworth’s medical qualifications include Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery, Masters of Public Health, Fellowship of Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Associate Fellowship of Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators and Graduate Certificates in Clinical Education, and Global Health/Health Engagement. Colonel Whitworth is currently the senior health adviser to Commander Joint Operations, and Director Health within Support Branch of Joint Operations Command. His responsibilities include the health support arrangements and technical oversight of deployed Defence clinicians for all joint operations, both domestically and overseas. This has included supporting recent Defence responses to Op Vanuatu Assist 24, and natural disasters in Australia such as North Queensland floods.