Speakers

The Governor of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser

Professor David de Kretser was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and migrated to Australia in 1949.

He was educated at Camberwell Grammar School and Melbourne and Monash Universities.

His academic career bridged medicine and anatomy having held positions at Monash University as Professor and Chairman of Anatomy, Founding Director of the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development  and Associate Dean for Biotechnology Development.

His research into reproductive biology, infertility and endocrinology has been recognised nationally and internationally. With support from the Federal Government, he initiated a highly successful program of community and professional education in male reproductive health called Andrology Australia.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2001 and a Companion in the Order of Australia in 2006, and received the Centenary Medal in 2003.

Professor de Kretser and his wife Jan have four sons, and five grandchildren.  Professor de Kretser assumed office as the 28th Governor of Victoria on April 7th, 2006.

Dr Kathy Alexander
CEO City of Melbourne

As CEO at the City of Melbourne, Kathy heads up an organisation responsible for the workings of a dynamic and cosmopolitan 24-hour city that consistently rates top or near top of international surveys on liveability.  Since taking up the position in April 2008, Kathy has focused on improving the City of Melbourne’s operational efficiency through implementing a program of Lean Thinking and developing a comprehensive customer focus strategy.  She has also launched CoM Green, a staff-lead sustainability initiative, and concluded the Future Melbourne Community Plan to 2020 which saw 15,000 individuals contribute to the vision for Melbourne as a bold, inspirational and sustainable city. 

Fortunately Kathy has a long history in running highly complex organisations.  Prior to her appointment at the Council, Kathy ran her own consultancy and was well known as the former CEO of Women’s and Children’s Health, which governed Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital and Royal Women’s Hospital.

Chris Baggoley
Chief Executive, Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care

Professor Chris Baggoley was appointed as Chief Executive of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care on 21 December 2007.  Prior to this appointment he was Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director of Public Health and Clinical Coordination in the South Australian Department of Health.

His other medical positions were Professor/Director of Emergency Medicine at Royal Adelaide Hospital, Executive Director, Medical Services and Director of Emergency Services at ACHA Health SA and Director of Emergency Medicine at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide.

Professor Baggoley’s other key roles in health have been President of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Chair of the Committee of Presidents of Medical Colleges, and Chair of the Board of the National Institute of Clinical Studies.

Professor Paul Barach
Project Leader, NSW Trauma Collaborative Senior Research Fellow, University of Utrecht, Netherlands Associate Professor, University of South Florida

Paul Barach, B.Sc.(hon), MD (hon), MPH (hon), is a practicing board-certified Anesthesiologist, with fellowship training in Cardiac Anesthesia, Critical Care medicine and Human Factors, at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School where he trained and practiced. He founded the Center for Patient Safety and Simulation at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he was Medical Director for Quality and Associate Dean for Patient Safety. He has published over 100 peer review papers and been awarded over $10 million in federal research monies in the US, EU and Australia. He is Chief Investigator on NHMRC grant looking at the role of human factors in pediatric cardiac surgery.

Hon. Catherine Branson QC
President of the Australian Human Rights Commission and Human Rights Commissioner

The Hon. Catherine Branson QC is the current President of the Australian Human Rights Commission. She is also the Australian Human Rights Commissioner. She has previously held the positions of judge of the Federal Court of Australia, Crown Solicitor of South Australia and CEO of the South Australian Attorney-General’s Department.

David M. Davis, MP
Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Member for Southern Metropolitan Region, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing, Shadow Minister Responsible for Scrutiny of Government

David M. Davis is Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council.  He represents Southern Metropolitan Region in the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Victoria.

Currently, Mr Davis holds the portfolio of Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing and is Shadow Minister responsible for Scrutiny of Government.

He is Deputy Chair of the Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee and was previously Chair of the Select Committee on Public Land Development.

He was first elected as the Member for East Yarra Province in March 1996 and has previously held a variety of Shadow portfolios including Health, Environment, Planning, Industry and State Development, Major Projects, Manufacturing and Exports and Small Business.

Mr Davis’ academic background includes a Bachelor of Applied Science, a Bachelor of Arts and a Graduate Diploma in Arts.

Dr Sally Fawkes
Health Promoting Hospitals Coordinator, School of Public Health, La Trobe University, VIC

Dr Sally Fawkes is Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow in the School of Public Health at La Trobe University. Her research activities have been primarily with WHO WPRO focussed around the themes of people centred health care, health leadership development and national capacity mapping in the Asia-Pacific context. Sally recently completed a PhD on the use of futures studies in health policy making. She is convenor of the Victorian Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services Network, which was approved by the relevant WHO Collaborating Centre in 2009 as the Regional Coordinating Institution for HPH. Sally serves on the Governance Board of the International Network for HPH.

Sherene Hassan
Vice President, Islamic Council of Victoria

Sherene Hassan is the vice-president of the Islamic Council of Victoria. To this date she has conducted over  500 information sessions on Islam to diverse audiences ranging from the Flying Fruit Fly Circus School to the Australian Federal Police.  She is heavily involved in interfaith dialogue and is one of the media spokespeople for the Islamic Council of Victoria.

In 2005 she was elected chairperson of the Jewish Christian Muslim Association Conference Committee

In December  2007, Sherene was selected by the Age newspaper as one of Melbourne’s 100 Most Influential people

In July 2010 Sherene was appointed by  Premier John Brumby to serve on the Australia Day Committee (Victoria)

Formerly a chemistry and physics teacher, Sherene is married with four children

Gavin Mooney
DSocSc (hc) Cape Town, WA Honorary Professor, University of Sydney Professor of Health Economics, University of Cape Town Visiting Professor, Aarhus University and the University of New South Wales

Gavin Mooney is a health economist and professor at the Universities of Sydney, Cape Town, Aarhus and New South Wales. He has over 250 publications including 20 books (most recently Challenging Health Economics). He is an advocate for “Citizens’ Juries” to establish what critically informed citizens want from health care.