Speakers

Professor Paul Kelly

Chief Medical Officer, Australian Government Department of Health

Professor Paul Kelly is currently the Chief Medical Officer at the Australian Government Department of Health. A public health physician and epidemiologist by training, Professor Kelly first joined the Department in March 2019 as the Chief Medical Adviser, Health Products Regulation Group. Prior to these appointments, Professor Kelly spent 8 years as Chief Health Officer for the Australian Capital Territory and Deputy Director-General of Population Health in the ACT Government Health Directorate.

Professor Kelly has previously worked in research, health systems development, post-graduate teaching and as a health service executive including Director of Australia’s field epidemiology program at the Australian National University (ANU), and in the Northern Territory working as a Principal Research Fellow with the Menzies School of Health Research, as well as with the Centre for Disease Control in the NT Department of Health. Professor Kelly has also worked in Malawi, Indonesia, East Timor and the UK.

Professor Kelly has over 30 years research experience and has published over 130 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and public health guidelines. He has supervised or mentored many trainees and post-graduate students and delivered lectures, workshops, seminars and conference talks in Australia and internationally.

Emeritus Professor Malcolm Sim AM

Malcolm Sim is an occupational and environmental physician who is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, Australia.  He established and was Head of the Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health before recently retiring from Monash after 32 years.  His main research and professional interests relate to workplace exposures and chronic diseases, including respiratory diseases and cancer.  Malcolm is the immediate past President of AFOEM and is a Member of the AFOEM Policy and Advocacy Committee.  He was the previous Editor-in-Chief of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a former ICOH Board Member and is longstanding member of the OHS Advisory Committee of Worksafe Victoria.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, Malcolm was a member of several taskforces and advisory groups advising on COVID-19 prevention in many industries.  He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Australian Honours list for significant service to occupational and environmental medicine.

Dr Amandeep Hansra

Dr Amandeep Hansra is a practising GP and an expert in digital health and innovation. Alongside her clinical work, she currently works as a Principal at Main Sequence Ventures (CSIRO’s Innovation Fund) bringing her nearly two decades of clinical experience to her approach in picking great impactful companies for investment in the health sector. Amandeep is also the Program Director for the Australian Clinical Entrepreneur Program (AUSCEP). Amandeep is the Chair of Coviu Global, a board director and council member of AMA NSW, board director of ACHSI, board director of Molemap AU/NZ and is a Digital Health Adviser for the Australian Digital Health Agency.

She was the founder of Creative Careers in Medicine, an organisation with 19,000 members, that supports doctors in navigating careers off the beaten path. Her goal is to ensure we have doctors with the right skill sets for the jobs of the future. She is also a co-founder of Australian Medical Angels, one of the world's largest syndicates of angels in the medical space. She has a Bachelor of Medicine (honours) from the University of Newcastle, a Masters in Public Health and Tropical Medicine from James Cook University and a Global Executive MBA from the University of Sydney. She is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of GPs and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in Biomedical Informatics and Digital Health at the University of Sydney.

Amandeep was awarded a 2021 Brilliant Women in Digital Health Award by Telstra Health and the 2022 National Leadership Award by the University of Newcastle. Amandeep is passionate about innovation in the health sector, clinician wellbeing and job satisfaction, and supporting entrepreneurship in healthcare.

Dr Bruce Hocking

Bruce Hocking has been a consultant in occupational medicine for over 40 years. He is a past president of the Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 

Professor Catherine Jones

Professor Catherine Jones is a subspecialist chest radiologist, specialising in the detection and characterisation of lung diseases on medical imaging. She has contributed to the development of the National Dust Taskforce guidelines produced in 2021, as well as participating in medical advisory boards for several states of Australia. She is the representative of the Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Radiologists for silicosis, is an executive member and occupational lead for the Australia and New Zealand Society of Thoracic Radiologists, and has written peer reviewed journal articles on the appearances of silicosis on medical imaging.

Catherine is adjunct professor of clinical imaging sciences at the University of Sydney and associated professor at Monash University. She has degrees in maths, physics and medicine, and has fellowship in radiology in both Australia and the UK.

Catherine was one of the first Australian radiologists to obtain the B reader qualification and has reported over 80,000 scans for dust disease surveillance over the last 5 years. She is the pre-eminent expert on occupational lung disease imaging in Australia. She is the occupational dust disease lead for I-MED Radiology, Australia’s largest radiology network.

Dr Cath Kelaher

Catherine Kelaher is a fellow of the Australian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and also the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Catherine was the Principal Medical Adviser at the Office of Health Protection at the Department of Health and Aging throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. She is now at Defence as Senior Occupational and Environmental Physician working to optimise the health and well being of Australia’s Defence Force members.

Dr Chris Cunneen

Dr Christopher Cunneen is an experienced and renowned medical practitioner from Brisbane with an impressive thirty-five years of experience in the field of occupational and environmental medicine. He holds a medical degree from University of Queensland and has fellowships in General Practice and Occupational & Environmental Medicine as well as an Associate Fellowship in Medical Administration.

In 2018, he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for services to medicine. Dr Cunneen's dedication to his profession extends beyond his daily practice; he was on the Board of International Advisors for the AMA 6th Edition Guides to Permanent Impairment, a Member of Medical Assessment Tribunal for the QLD Office of Industrial Relations and volunteers his expertise as a Supervisor for AFOEM Registrars and as a RACP/AFOEM and RACGP Examiner. Furthermore, as Director of the Australasian College of Independent Medical Evaluators, he provides training and education courses in Independent Medical Evaluation to the medical, allied health, nursing and legal professionals. 

In addition to all this, Dr Cunneen is an active member of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, where he has served overseas deployments to Middle East, East Timor and Bougainville as a Medical Officer since 1986. Moreover, he volunteers with St John Ambulance Queensland where he has provided medical leadership during emergencies such as 2009 Victorian Bush Fires and 2011 Brisbane floods.

With such remarkable achievements under his belt, it is no surprise that Christopher Cunneen stands out as an illustrious model of professional medical excellence.

Dr Farhan Shahzad

Farhan Shahzad is a highly experienced Consultant Occupational Physician. He is a Fellow of The Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Royal Australasian College of Physicians and also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Ireland.

Dr Shahzad has an extensive range of professional experience, accreditations and qualifications within the industry. He is a lecturer at MEDeducation online.

Dr Graeme Edwards

Dr Edwards is a Fellow, Educational Supervisor of Trainees, and former Chair of the Faculty Policy and Advocacy Committee with the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He balances the legislative, industrial and medico-legal side of his practice with a continuing commitment to general medicine.
In 2018 Dr Edwards brought to the Queensland Government’s attention the emergence of the current epidemic of accelerated silicosis in the building and construction industries. He has presented as an expert in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, New Zealand, and Belgium. Dr Edwards has appeared as an expert in Parliamentary Inquiries in NSW relating to silica dust related diseases. He was appointed to the Australian Government Department of Health’s National Dust Disease Taskforce (2019-2021), chairing its working party that developed its National Guidance for Doctors managing workers exposed to respirable crystalline silica (published February 2022).

In May 2019, he was awarded for the second time, the RACP-AFOEM President’s Award for Policy and Advocacy on behalf of patients, the Faculty and the College. He is the first Faculty member to receive the award twice; the first in 2015 for his work relating to the Health Benefits of Good Work. He represented RACP on the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) – Electro-Magnetic Energy Reference Group; and is currently the spokesperson for the College and Faculty on biotoxins and silicosis.

In October 2011 he was awarded the QCOMP Return to Work Award for an Individual Health Provider in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to improving the return to work for injured workers and ensuring successful outcomes for all”.
Since March 2021, Dr Edwards through his association with KINNECT Pty Ltd has been a Chief Medical Officer for a number of rail industry organisations and serves on the Chief Medical Officer Council supporting the operations of the Rail National Law for rail safety critical workers.

Dr Ilse Stockhoff

MBChB DOHM FAFOEM(RACP) MRO(AMROA)

TPD-SA(AFOEM)

Dr Ilse Stockhoff, an Occupational Physician and Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (FAFOEM), is the National Medical Director for Jobfit, the Corporate Occupational Health Division of Partnered Health Australia and is responsible for overall Clinical Governance for Jobfit. In addition to this, she performs the role of consultant Occupational Physician for various clients of Jobfit and provides assistance to organisations regarding policies, Health Surveillance and Health & Wellbeing Programs

Dr Ilse Stockhoff also holds other national appointments:

1. Accredited Medical Advisor (AMA) under Resource Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ) for the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy in QLD (DNRME), oversighting medicals for Coal Mine and Mineral Mines & Quarry workers;
2. Approved Shell Nominated Occupational Physician for Shell Prelude offshore medicals;
3. Accredited Health Practitioner (AHP)for the Health Assessment of Rail Safety Workers, Medical Review Officer (MRO)
4. OEUK accredited doctor 

Dr Stockhoff has involvement in AFOEM with the following present and past appointments:

• 2022 - present - AFOEM Council
• 2022 - present - AFOEM Faculty Assessment Committee
• 2016 - 2021: Training Program Director for AFOEM SA

 

Dr Stockhoff was also part of the COVID-19 Response Team for Partnered Health through the COVID-19 pandemic, dealing with internal COVID-19 related questions, issues and advice for Partnered Health and all of their subsidary companies .

Dr Stockhoff chaired the Jobfit COVID-19 Doctor's advice committee, which was established to assist employers / clients with their COVID-19 management plans and questions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Stockhoff works closely with the Chief Medical Officer for Medical Centres of Partnered Health to collaborate on numerous issues that affects the business across all divisions.

Jackii Shepherd

Jackii leads the Occupational Hygiene Inspectorate at WorkSafe ACT. She has a degree in Applied Science (Human Biology), post-graduate qualifications in epidemiology and biostatistics, training in medical laboratory science and regulatory toxicology and is Fellow of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists.

Jackii has worked in the public service for over 10 years in a range of worker health protection roles focused on preventing occupational disease and embedding occupational hygiene principles into regulatory practice. She specialises in characterising airborne contaminants and managing workplace exposures. Jackii has been involved in the Government response to silicosis since it re-emerged and has driven positive changes in national model and local legislation and nudged behavioural change through evidence-based communications.

Dr Jeremy Robertson

Jeremy Robertson originally graduated from UNSW in 1998 with a Bachelor of Aviation. He worked as general aviation pilot in the Kimberley, spent nine years flying for Qantas, and completed a Masters of Aerospace Engineering. A diagnosis of type 1 diabetes prompted a career change, and he graduated from The University of Sydney with an MBBS in 2015.

For the last five years Jeremy has combined his interests in flying and aviation medicine by flying himself around NSW once a month to run DAME clinics in a number of country towns. He spent two years working as a medical officer at Virgin Australia, and has recently rejoined Qantas where he will be working in dual roles as an airline pilot and medical officer.  

A/Prof John Schneider

John Schneider is a Fellow of both the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and Irish Faculty of Occupational Medicine.

He has been an Associate Professor at James Cook University and Central Queensland University. He has worked as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Public Health UAE University as well as consulting to the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi and others in the Middle East. He returned to Mackay in 2014 and resumed part-time work in clinical practice, and medical education with James Cook University as an Associate Professor. He is now a Health Educator with MEDeducation online.

Louise Pearce

Louise is a senior physiotherapist at Royal Rehab in Sydney and is also undertaking a PhD within the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on implementing digital interventions in rehabilitation. 

Dr Majid Rahgozar

Dr Majid Rahgozar has been practicing medicine for 30 years and for the last 17 years in the field of occupational and environmental medicine. He completed his training in Occupational Medicine and became a fellow of AFOEM (RACP) in 2014. His day to day work is involved with injury management, rehabilitation and assistance with return to work as well as occupational health surveillance. Since November 2021 Dr Rahgozar has been working with Alfred Hospital Occupational Respiratory clinic with a particular objective of health surveillance of stonemasons and stone benchtop industry workers.

Dr Mark Hurworth

I am an Australian-trained Orthopaedic Surgeon in practice for 17 years. My particular interests are large joint surgery ie hip, knee and shoulder replacement and arthroscopy. I practise in private and public, with research mainly involving precision rehabilitation using Australian-designed equipment. What really interests me is three questions that applicable to orthopaedic surgery where there is a larger “grey zone” perhaps than other areas of surgery:

1. How good can I get without surgery?

2. How best can I prepare for surgery?

3. How can I get better quickly after surgery?

Surprisingly little has been done to standardise answers to these questions. In my view the proper use of technology is to enable patients to be able to do so. 

Dr Mary Wyatt

Mary is an occupational physician who is active in policy development and research through AFOEM and other organisations.  Her interest is in getting research into practice.  Decades of work in injury management has included running an early intervention case management approach across several medium to large employers.  Other work has included IMEs, running RTWMatters.org (a non-profit seeking to share evidence-based practices that support better RTW), research on RTW, teaching via Monash University, work as a treating practitioner, conducting a state-based review of return to work for a regulator and advisory work for various insurers / regulators. 

Mary is the lead Fellow in AFOEM / RACP’s most recent Health Benefits of Good Work policy development – It pays to care: Bringing evidence-informed practice to work injury schemes helps workers and their workplaces.  An imperative for change and call to action.

Melanie Ianssen

Melanie is the Head of Rehabilitation for the Australia Post Group (APG), Australia’s leading logistics and integrated services business. Melanie is responsible for leading a team of in-house workplace rehabilitation providers who provide occupational rehabilitation services to a 35,000 strong workforce nationally. She has been employed APG for the past 14 years working across rehabilitation and workers compensation. Prior to that she has a further 10 years’ experience working in insurance, risk management and occupational rehabilitation. Melanie is a registered Psychologist who is passionate about optimising mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

Peter Gould

Peter has more than 25 years of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) on-the-job experience working with government agencies, volunteer organisations and mining equipment manufacturing industries in front line WHS roles. Professionally Peter is a Registered Nurse with postgraduate specialities in OHS, Disaster & Emergency Management and Psychology.

He proudly provides health, safety and wellbeing business partnering for the Service Delivery Area of Urban Utilities in his Enabling Partner role.

Peter is very proud of the work he has done with the Local Government Work Care WHS Support Unit which supports 65 of Queensland Local Governments who are self-insured for workers compensation with LGMS.

Peter is particularly passionate about his “Safety Coach” role in organisations and thrives on supporting organisations who support our communities.

He is a determined optimist and believes that Health, Safety & Wellbeing can be part of a “normal day at work” if people are considered to be an organisation’s best and most valuable assets.

Sally Kane

Sally’s career in occupational health spans more than 35 years, with her interest sparked in the 1980’s while working at Heathrow Airport in London. Her passion for worker health and preventative health in general has seen her take up roles in a variety of settings including manufacturing, hospitality, and various service industries.

She has held her current position of Environment Health and Safety Manager at Agilent Technologies, a multinational Life Sciences Company in the analytical chemical instrumentation business, for 30 years and has overseen many changes in the way people work and in the management of health and safety.

Sally has worked tirelessly in support of her profession, firstly with the ACOHN (Australian College of Occupational Health Nurses) and with ANZSOM since 2008. She chaired the Victorian / Tasmanian Branch for 8 years and was the convenor of the 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Since 2021 she has taken on the Executive role of Nurse Liaison Officer heading up the Nurse Strategy group. The overseeing of the launch of the OHN Nurse competencies and ANZSOM Nurse recognition program has been her most recent project. When she is not championing Occupational health, Sally sings in a pop choir and heads up the Board of a local 1000 member strong Youth Club championing young women in Gymnastics, Calisthenics and Cheerleading in her local community.

Dr Teri Lillington

Teri is a specialist Occupational and Environmental Physician. She worked in a clinic providing services for workplaces, ExxonMobil in South Australia, and joined Shell in 2003 as Manager for Health in Australia, NZ and the Pacific Islands. In 2012, she moved to the Netherlands to take up the role of Regional Manager, Europe, Russia and CIS, and in 2018 as global Lead for Human Performance and Care. She has a special interest in sleep, fatigue management, resilience, worker welfare and road transport. Teri retired from Shell in late 2019 after returning to Australia. During 2020, Teri contracted to BHP to provide support for their coronavirus response as well as providing fatigue risk management advice and working on further embedding care into the workplace culture. Teri became a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (AFOEM) in 1994 and for over 10 years was an AFOEM National Examiner. Since returning to Australia she has joined the Faculty Policy and Advocacy Committee and represents AFOEM on the national Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance, providing advice and technical expertise to the National Workplace Initiative (NWI). The NWI has received $11.5 million in funding to provide a framework, a platform, interventions and support to Australian workplaces to help workplaces become more mentally healthy. She has won several awards for academic excellence and has been an invited speaker at national and international conferences.

Clinical Associate Professor Vanita Parekh

Clinical Associate Professor Vanita Parekh is the director of the Clinical Forensic Medicine Services. Vanita is a senior staff specialist in sexual health and forensic medicine based at the Canberra Hospital. Vanita was responsible for the development, implementation and ongoing provision of Forensic and Medical Sexual Assault Care(FAMSAC) in 2001. Clinical Forensics ACT (CFACT) in 2006 and the Fitness to Drive Unit (FTDU) in 2014, respectively.

Vanita and her team provide forensic and medical care to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, the provision of forensic medical services to suspects and victims in criminal matters, medical care to those in police custody, attendance at death scenes, medicolegal reporting including toxicology opinion in coronial, criminal and tribunal matters.

Following initiation and implementation, Vanita continues to provide clinical services at the ACT Fitness to Drive Unit. This clinic was established following Vanita’s attendance at several motor vehicle fatalities involving medically impaired drivers and assesses driver licence holders against the medical standards.

Vanita has provides expert evidence training in relation to sexual assault, non-fatal strangulation, fitness to drive, and forensic toxicology.

Vanita has several research interests within the areas of sexual health and clinical forensic medicine. She holds a Clinical Associate Professor position at the Australian National University, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Canberra.

Vanita has been involved in the establishment of professional organisations including, inaugural president and incorporation of FAMSAC Australia in 2004 and Founding Fellow of the Faculty of Clinical Forensic Medicine for the Royal College of Pathologists Australasia in 2014.

Vanita sits on a number of advisory committees covering sexual violence, medicinal cannabis, and road safety.

Vanita was awarded Member of the Order of Australia in 2018 for “Significant service to medicine as a specialist in the fields of sexual health and forensic medicine as an educator and clinician, and to professional organisations.”

Adrienne Tracy

Adrienne is an Occupational Health Nurse and Ergonomist, and proud member of ACOHN/ANZSOM for most of her 35+ year career. As Director of her Brisbane-based consultancy firm, she specialises in Occupational Health and Ergonomic solutions for industry.

A passionate believer in injury prevention, she was recently instrumental in driving a large-scale preventative ergonomics program within the Qld steel manufacturing sector. The mobile WHOW (Work Health on Wheels) initiative - in conjunction with Peter Gould, now provides a unique opportunity to continue to deliver services and solutions to the masses.

When not at work, you’ll find her indulging her love of golf, travel and family.

Amanda Tompson

Amanda Tompson is a registered nurse who has been the occupational health coordinator at the Botany Industrial Park (BIP) for over 15 years. She is responsible for injury management / return to work management, health surveillance activities, and health & wellbeing activities for the four companies on site.

Dr Grant Townsend

Dr Grant Townsend is a Stage C AFOEM Registrar based in Perth primarily working at OccuMED Consulting under his supervisor Dr John Low.

Dr Townsend completed his MBBS at the University of Notre Dame in 2008 as part of the inaugural intake into this new post graduate program. Prior to his medical life he completed his Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy at Curtin University in 2001 before obtaining his Masters of Musculoskeletal Studies at the University of Western Australia in 2003. This formed the foundation of his primary interests in treating work related musculoskeletal injuries. 

Dr Jessica Johnson

Dr Jessica Johnson is an advanced trainee in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. She works in occupational medicine consultancy at Baseline Onsite in Western Australia. 

She graduated from the University of a Western Australia in 2003 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, with Honours. She was awarded fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners in 2015. She obtained her Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety from Curtin University in 2022. She has served as the ANZSOM WA branch registrar representative, and with the support of the ANZSOM History of Occupational Medicine Committee is currently undertaking a research project on the history of the development of the specialty of OEM in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.  Jessica is committed to promoting the health and safety of workers while providing industry clients with high quality, efficient, collaborative and compassionate medical leadership in the occupational health field.

Dr Karina Powers

Dr Karina Powers is an Occupational and Environmental  Physician, Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine- Royal Australasian College of Physicians. She also holds Australasian Medical Review Officer certification, Masters of Public Health and a Post Graduate Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety. She is recognized as an Approved Medical Specialist with WorkCover WA. Her extensive experience includes private occupational health practice, serving both private companies and government agencies / departments, along with work in public health. Her medical oversight has covered Military, Federal and State Police, oil and gas and rail safety critical work. 

Dr Peter Connaughton

Peter works in private practice and has been the consultant occupational physician to Rio Tinto Iron Ore for the past 15 years. He is the honorary Secretary of the International Occupational Medicine Society Collaborative, which now has members from 50 countries. He was president of AFOEM from 2016 to 2018 and he is a member of the "It Pays to Care" working group. Peter initially trained at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh and he has a Master of Business Administration from UWA. His special interests include assessing the value of occupational health interventions for workers, workplaces and employers.

Dr Richie Gun

Retired occupational physician, and member of ANZSOM since 1976.

Former Federal Councillor and examiner of AFOEM.

Research interests include occupational cancer, occupational heat stress, occupational injury prevention and whiplash injury.

Dr Thea Leman

Dr Thea Leman graduated from the University of South Australia in 2005 with a Bachelor of Medical Radiation specializing in Nuclear Medicine. She worked in Western Australia in Nuclear Medicine and Positron Emission Tomography Medical Imaging departments until 2007.

Dr Leman completed post-graduate studies graduating from The University of Notre Dame Fremantle in 2010 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery and winning the prize for the most outstanding student in Ear Nose and Throat Surgery. Following graduation she worked in the Public and Private Hospital sectors across Western Australia undertaking Medical and Surgical terms before focussing on Infectious Diseases.

Dr Leman commenced in Occupational Medicine in 2017 and commenced training in 2018. She has regularly travelled to Rural and Remote Western Australia to conduct on-site Occupational and Environmental Medicine in the Southwest and The Pilbara.

Her key areas of expertise are Mining, Chemical Processing, Refinery, Construction, Oil & Gas and Health-care workers. She has extensive experience in managing workers in underground, strip and open cut mining and the offshore environment.

Dr Leman was the Secretary for the WA Branch of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Occupational Medicine (ANZSOM) for 4 years, the Inaugural Federal ANZSOM AFOEM Trainee Representative and is the current Secretary General Elect- Federal of ANZSOM. She is a member of the Australian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (AFOEM) branch of the Royal Australian College of Physicians.

She completed her Graduate Diploma of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Monash University in 2022.

Dr Leman consults at Baseline Onsite Wembley Office, as well as regularly visiting client sites throughout WA both onshore and offshore.

Frank Evola

Frank Evola is a Clinical Nurse Consultant for Staff Health with Murrumbidgee Local Health District (NSW Health).  He manages a Staff Health Service which provides immunisations, occupational exposure management, and P2/N95 respirator fit testing for approximately 7000 staff in 33 facilities across 125,000km2.  The service is looking at additional ways in which safe work environments can be achieved, including audiometry screening, cytotoxic screening, and skin/hand allergy assessment.

Frank is a leader in the professional development of Staff Health nursing in NSWH.  He is developing process, in conjunction with Staff Health leads across NSWH, to promote consistent Staff Health nursing practices and services to allow for equitable access for all employees of NSWH.

Julie Toseski

• 3M'er for over 4 years - 3Ms PSD Division
• Occupational Hygienist-Application Engineer Specialist
• Main Portfolio:  Passive and Active Hearing
• Industries:  Forestry, Oil and Gas & Mining; underground & open cut coal mining, uranium mining, as well as port operations – Over 16 years
• Career Highlight:  Working with CDC – NIOSH, Cincinnati, US - Assessment of Oil and Gas Worker Exposures to Volatile Organic Compounds.
• Passionate OH, dedicated to empowering workers and workplaces on preventative health and influencing and advocating to ensure workplace exposures and practices do not compromise workers' health.

Matt Burgess

Regional Sales Manager - NSW
3M Personal Safety Division

 

Prof. Karen Walker-Bone

Karen trained as a Specialist in Rheumatology. Her PhD about neck /upper limb disorders in working-aged adults sparked a lifetime passion for health and work research. She migrated to Australia December 2021 to become Professor of Occupational Rheumatology and Director of the Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (SPHPM) at Monash University. Her interests include: promoting musculoskeletal health, older workers, enabling work for people with long-term health conditions and reducing work disability.

Sandra Code

Sandra is an Occupational Health Professional, and proud Occupational Health Nurse for well over 30 years and have held a variety of positions in many large organisations, including Heinz, Boral, Hospira now Pfizer and Transdev.

Sandra is currently employed at Kinetic as a Health and Wellness Manager Southern Region, looking after the health & wellbeing of all employees, including 3,700 bus drivers’, managing all aspects of WorkCover, Injury Management and Return to Work.

Sandra remains an active member of the Australian New Zealand Society of Occupational Health (ANZSOM) and currently enjoys being on the committee for “It Pays to Care” to share xperiences as an Occupational Health Nurse representing ANZSOM in collaboration with all parties assisting injured or ill employees with returning to work.

Nipuni Wijewickrema

Nipuni (Nip) Wijewickrema is one of our country’s most recognisable young social entrepreneurs. The co-founder of GG’s Flowers, she is passionate about empowering and employing people with special needs from all walks of life. Her dedication to innovative social enterprise has been recognised with several awards including the 2016 ACT Young Australian of the Year.

Nip’s future as a social entrepreneur was determined when, at the age of 20, she realised there was a lack of meaningful employment opportunities for people with special needs – specifically, her sister Gayana, who has Down Syndrome. Unable to sit back and let Gayana live a life without purpose, Nip and her family established the floral business, GG's Flowers.

Social enterprises such as GG's Flowers are playing an increasingly important role in communities around the world, providing solutions and innovation in a wide range of fields.