2021 Organising Committee

Jenny Campbell, Chief Allied Health Officer at Department of Health (WA Health)

Jenny Campbell is currently the A/Executive Director of Clinical Leadership and Reform in the Clinical Excellence Division at the Department of Health WA. Her substantive role is the Chief Allied Health Officer at the Department of Health WA.

She has a clinical background in Occupational Therapy and has extensive experience in health as an allied health practitioner and leader.  She successfully championed the reestablishment of the Chief Allied Health Office in WA  and is passionate about the positive influence Allied Health and Health Science professions can have on system reform. Jenny is a skilled and motivated Strategic Leader in the public health space with proven success in embedding sustainable change.  Jenny is passionate about improving the capability and capacity of Allied Health researchers and is the current chair of the National Allied Health Research Network.

Claire Hewat, Chief Executive Officer, Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA)

Claire joined AHPA in 2018 after previously holding the role of CEO of the Dietitians Association of Australia for 14 years and prior to that as a Director of Community and Allied Health in South Western Sydney. Claire has significant governance experience having held directorships on the Boards of DAA, AHPA and NASRHP. Claire has also had many years of experience as an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian in clinical, food service, community and public health nutrition, diabetes education and private practice and in various aspects of health service management mostly in rural areas. Claire currently represents AHPA on a number of high level national committees.

Mary Joyce is the Head of Department of Social Work, for the Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group in Western Australia.

She holds a Masters of Business Administration and has held clinical, strategic planning and management roles in the health sector. Mary has a strong commitment to optimising the delivery of social work services, particularly to the most vulnerable, by research, advanced learning and supervision.

Mary has a keen interest in Information technology, she is the Chairperson of the “Allied Health System” used in metropolitan WA and is a representative on state and national bodies regarding allied health data collection.

Dr Ingrid Lensink has worked in health for thirty years, having initially started her career as a medical scientist in the major teaching hospitals in South Australia and completed her PhD at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide. She has also supervised multidisciplinary students and mentored junior staff and students at the University of Adelaide.

More recently Dr Lensink has held senior policy positions involved in the development of national health policy initiatives around education and training of the future health workforce.  She has also led the Better Placed Clinical Placement Unit in the Department for Health and Wellbeing in South Australia as the Director. She chairs several senior committees and is the current chair of the Department’s Aboriginal Reconciliation Working Group.

Currently Acting Chief Allied and Scientific Health Officer for SA Health, Dr Lensink has published numerous papers in clinical research as well as more recently in the area of valuing health professional students as an asset in clinical care.

Heather Malcolm is the Chief Allied Health Advisor for NT Health. An experienced Physiotherapist, Heather has lived in Darwin since 1993 and commenced in Health in 2012. Heather has held roles in strategic policy, clinical quality and clinician engagement areas, as well as managing diverse medical portfolios including genomics, health technology and cancer care, before moving to the Allied Health leadership role in 2019. In 2020, Heather also became the Functional Lead for the implementation of the NT Health Virtual Care Strategy. She undertakes national accreditation work for the Australian Physiotherapy Council and is a panel member for Ahpra.

Cath has a background in physiotherapy with over 25 years of clinical experience prior to moving into health service management roles. Cath has worked in public sector, private and non-government settings including running her own practice, delivering allied health services across central and southern NSW. Cath completed a Master of Science in Medicine (Pain Management), is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and Women and Leadership Australia. Over the past 12 years Cath has held leadership and management positions in state and Commonwealth government and with a remote Aboriginal Community-Controlled organisation, and served 6 years on the Board of a rurally-based Primary Health Network. Cath is now the CEO of SARRAH, a role she has held since April 2019.

[ultimate_heading main_heading=”Charmaine Manewell” alignment=”left”]Organising Committee[/ultimate_heading]

Charmaine has worked in Queensland Government for over 17 years, previously for Queensland Transport and Main Roads and currently for Queensland Health. She has a varied health background, with a Bachelor in Behavioural Science from Griffith University and previous work experience as a dental assistant and dispensing optician.

Charmaine has previously managed the Health Practitioner Research Capacity Building Program and its associated bodies of work, and is currently supporting the work underpinning the Allied Health Clinical Education and Workforce Training Plan 2020-2029 on behalf of the Allied Health Professions’ Office of Queensland. She is a member of the NAHC2021 Organising Committee as the representative from the NAHC2019 Organising Committee.

[ultimate_heading main_heading=”Mark Petrich” alignment=”left”]Organising Committee[/ultimate_heading]

Mark Petrich is the Principal Allied Health Advisor for the WA Department of Health. Since late 2019, Mark has been acting as WA’s Chief Allied Health Officer, responsible for health interface portfolios including disability, homelessness and justice health. From a physiotherapy background, Mark has worked in Director roles for the WA Department of Health in Community Services and System Clinical Support & Innovation. With a passion for innovations including community-based service models, Mark is a former Lecturer in Health Policy and Management at Curtin University, and holds a Bachelor of Science, a Master’s in Public Health, and a Doctor of Philosophy.

[ultimate_heading main_heading=”Rachel Resuggan” alignment=”left”]Organising Committee[/ultimate_heading]

Rachel Resuggan is a renowned leader in Allied Health with extensive expertise in governance within the field. Working for St John of God Health Care as the National Manager Allied Health, she is building strong foundations to provide Allied Health professionals with optimum environments in which to enable deliver excellent care. Her passion for Allied Health governance comes from years of leading Allied Health services, including the North Metropolitan Area Health Service in Western Australia. Rachel is the inaugural Chairperson for the Catholic Health Australia Allied Health committee.