New appointments to National Boards

13 Dec 2024

Five new Board chairs announced

Health Ministers, as the Ministerial Council for the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme, have announced 46 new appointments of Chairs and Board members to fill vacancies on 13 National Boards.

In total, 85 appointments were made, including re-appointments to Boards.

An extensive recruitment process was undertaken that saw 375 applications received for advertised vacancies across National Boards. The vacancies were mainly the result of Chairs, practitioner members and community members reaching the scheduled expiry of their three-year terms.

Of the 375 applications, 269 were for practitioner member vacancies and 106 were for community member vacancies. The vacancies were advertised in national metropolitan newspapers and on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and respective National Board websites.

Five new Board Chairs have been appointed. They are:

• Dr Susan O’Dwyer, Chair of the Medical Board of Australia
• Dr Cameron Phillips, Chair of the Pharmacy Board of Australia
• Dr Simon Shanahan, Chair of the Dental Board of Australia
• Dr Paula Harding, Chair of the Physiotherapy Board of Australia
• Dr Kristy Robson, Chair of the Podiatry Board of Australia

They replace retiring National Board Chairs, Dr Anne Tonkin AO (Medical Board of Australia), Mr Brett Simmonds (Pharmacy Board of Australia), Dr Murray Thomas (Dental Board of Australia), Ms Kim Gibson (Physiotherapy Board of Australia) and Professor Cylie Williams (Podiatry Board of Australia).

All of the retiring Board Chairs were first appointed as Chairs in 2018 and have come to the end of their terms.

Ahpra CEO Martin Fletcher congratulated the new Board Chairs and new Board members and acknowledged the contribution of the retiring Board chairs and members.

‘The contribution from our retiring Board Chairs has been impactful and profound,’ he said.

‘Their leadership, their experience, their knowledge of the regulatory and practitioner environments and their on-going dedication to improving the regulatory system working in partnership with the community and the professions leaves a strong foundation on which to build.

‘I am confident that the incoming chairs, all of whom are eminently qualified and experienced will make significant contributions to professional regulation and continued improvements to the National Scheme in the public interest.

‘I am particularly pleased we have four new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members on Boards who can provide us valuable Indigenous perspectives and lived experiences in decision-making on Board matters fostering self-determination.’

For a full list of the appointments, please visit the Health Ministers’ Meeting Communique

Contact us

• Media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200 or media@ahpra.gov.au