Mr Peter Allen, Chairperson
Mr Allen is Chair of the Agency Management Committee, and has been since March 2009. He was reappointed in September 2012 for a period of one year.
Mr Allen is Deputy Dean of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG), and Victoria’s Public Sector Standards Commissioner. He joined ANZSOG after more than 20 years in the Victorian Public Service (VPS) during which time he held several positions including Under Secretary in the Department of Human Services; Victoria’s Chief Drug Strategy Officer; Secretary of the Department of Tourism, Sport and the Commonwealth Games; Secretary of the Department of Education; Director of Schools; and Deputy Secretary, Community Services.
Between 2001 and 2003, Mr Allen was a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and prior to joining the public service, he was Director of Social Policy and Research at The Brotherhood of St Laurence.
Mr Allen holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma in Journalism and was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2001.
Ms Karen Crawshaw PSM
Ms Crawshaw was appointed to the Agency Management Committee in September 2012 as a member with expertise in health business and administration. She has been appointed for a period of three years.
Ms Crawshaw of NSW Health holds Bachelor degrees in Arts and Law and was admitted to the NSW Supreme Court in 1979 and subsequently to the High Court. She holds an unrestricted practising certificate from the Law Society of NSW. Ms Crawshaw held legal positions in the State Crown Solicitor’s Office and the Premier’s Department prior to joining the NSW Department of Health’s Legal Branch. In 2007, Ms Crawshaw was appointed Deputy Director-General, Health System Support. Following the implementation of the Governance Review in late 2011, Ms Crawshaw was reappointed as Deputy Director-General with responsibility for the Division of Governance, Workforce and Corporate Services. Her areas of accountability cover health workforce planning and industrial relations, business and asset services, communications, corporate governance, and legal and regulatory services.
Ms Crawshaw was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2012 for her significant contributions to the public sector.
Mr Michael Gorton AM
Michael Gorton was appointed to the Agency Management Committee in March 2009 as a member with business and administrative expertise. He was reappointed in September 2012 for a period of three years.
Mr Gorton is a commercial lawyer with considerable experience providing legal advice on medical registration, training, education and administrative practice. As a principal of Russell Kennedy Solicitors, he has significant experience in business management and administration. He is a Board member of Melbourne Health (Royal Melbourne Hospital). He is a former Chair of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and former Chair of the Code of Conduct Committee of Medicines Australia. Mr Gorton is the Chair of the Patient Review Panel (Victoria) and chairs the Minister’s Expert Panel to review health complaints legislation in Victoria. He has extensive experience in governance for a wide range of organisations including health and ethics committees. Mr Gorton holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce. In 2004, Mr Gorton received the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for community service.
Professor Genevieve Gray
Professor Gray was appointed to the Agency Management Committee in March 2009 as a member with expertise in health, education and training. She was reappointed in September 2012 for a period of one year.
Professor Gray is Professor of Nursing and Scholar in Residence at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Professor Emeritus University of Alberta. In recent years she has been a Nurse Scholar for the World Health Organization, Geneva, and worked in Canada as a Professor of Nursing, Dean & Director, WHO Collaborating Centre in Nursing & Mental Health for the University of Alberta and the World Health Organization. She is currently Director of QUT’s Vietnam Nursing Capacity Building Program.
Professor Gray was previously Inaugural Chair of the International Academic Nursing Alliance, a member of the Multidisciplinary Board of the International Council of Women’s Health Issues and member of the Deans Council, General Faculties Committee and Health Sciences Council of the University of Alberta.
Professor Gray has a General Nursing Certificate, Midwifery Certificate, diplomas in Nursing Education and Advanced Nursing Studies, a Master of Science (Nursing) and a Distinguished Life Fellowship from the Royal College of Nursing Australia, and honorary Professorship for Hanoi Medical University, Vietnam.
Professor Constantine (Con ) Michael AO
Professor Michael was appointed to the Agency Management Committee in March 2009 as a member with expertise in health, education and training. He was reappointed in September 2012 for a period of three years.
Professor Michael is the Principal Adviser of Medical Workforce for the Western Australia Health Department, Consultant Medical Adviser for St John of God Health Care Inc. and Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Western Australia (UWA). Professor Michael is the current Chair of the Western Australian Board of the Medical Board of Australia, Director of the Australian Medical Council, a member of various state and national medical committees and Chair of the St John of God National Ethics Committee and Chair of the Reproductive Technology Council of Western Australia. He is a Director and Governor of the University of Notre Dame Australia and Chair of its Advisory Board of the School of Medicine Fremantle.
Professor Michael holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (UWA), Doctor of Medicine (UWA) and Diploma of Diagnostic Ultrasound. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (a past President) and Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London (a previous Sims Black Professor). Among his numerous awards, Professor Michael was named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2001 for service to medicine, particularly in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, as a contributor to the administration of the profession nationally and internationally, and medical education.
Mr Ian Smith
Mr Smith was appointed to the Agency Management Committee in September 2012 as a member with expertise in health, business and administration. He has been appointed for a period of three years.
Mr Smith is an experienced senior health official with a strong track record in delivering the full range of integrated health care services – acute care in hospitals, acute psychiatric mental health, community mental health, public health, community and allied health and aged care. During the past 17 years he had held various senior executive leadership roles in the Pilbara, Kimberley, South West and the Great Southern Regions of Western Australia. In January 2011 he was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the WA Country Health Service which is responsible for delivering the State Government funded public health services throughout rural and remote Western Australia.
Professor Merrilyn Walton
Professor Walton was appointed to the Agency Management Committee in March 2009 as a member with business and administrative expertise. She was reappointed in September 2012 for a period of two years.
Professor Walton is Professor of Medical Education (Patient Safety), Sydney School of Public Health and Associate Dean International, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney. She is a leading patient safety academic who works nationally and internationally in the field. For the last four years she has been a lead writer and editor for the WHO patient safety curricula guides for multi professionals and medical schools. Professor Walton is currently assisting universities in Vietnam, Timor Leste and China to build capacity in patient safety and curriculum development. She is the author of two books and co-authored her latest, Safety and Ethics in Health Care, with Professors Runciman and Merry.