National Board appointments announced

15 Nov 2018

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and National Boards have welcomed 101 appointments and reappointments to National Boards across the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme).

Australian Health Ministers announced the appointments and reappointments of National Board Chairs, practitioner members and community members to fill vacancies arising across 13 National Boards.

AHPRA received a record number of applications in response to the call for registered health practitioners and members of the community to apply to be appointed to a National Board by Health Ministers. In total, 780 applications were received for the 102 vacancies.

‘It is great to see the huge interest from both practitioners and members of the community in being appointed to National Boards,’ said AHPRA CEO Martin Fletcher.

‘I am also pleased to see that for the first time since the National Scheme began in 2010, we are close to parity between the number of female and male National Board Chairs with eight female chairs and seven male chairs’.

More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are also becoming regulatory decision-makers than ever before: 12 people appointed to six National Boards identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander persons.

‘Having more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander decision-makers will help ensure that the work of regulation is provided in a holistic and culturally safe way,’ Mr Fletcher said. ‘It is such an important step in closing the gap in health outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and other Australians – something we’re actively striving for through our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy’.

Mr Fletcher welcomed the appointment of six new National Board Chairs, all of whom were reappointed as practitioner members for a further term, including:

• Dr Murray Thomas to the Dental Board of Australia
• Emeritus Professor Anne Tonkin to the Medical Board of Australia
• Mr Brett Simmonds to the Pharmacy Board of Australia
• Adjunct Associate Professor Kim Gibson to the Physiotherapy Board of Australia
• Dr Cylie Williams (PhD) to the Podiatry Board of Australia, and
• Ms Rachel Phillips to the Psychology Board of Australia.

He also congratulated the reappointed and continuing Chairs:

• Ms Renee Owen for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia
• Professor Charlie Xue for the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia
• Dr Wayne Minter AM for the Chiropractic Board of Australia
• Dr Lynette Cusack (PhD) for the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
• Ms Julie Brayshaw for the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia
• Mr Ian Bluntish for the Optometry Board of Australia, and
• Dr Nikole Grbin for the Osteopathy Board of Australia.

AHPRA and the National Boards also notes the retiring of six National Board Chairs, who were first appointed as inaugural Chairs and Board members – Dr John Lockwood AM from the Dental Board of Australia, Dr Joanna Flynn AM from the Medical Board of Australia, Mr William Kelly from the Pharmacy Board of Australia, Dr Charles Flynn from the Physiotherapy Board of Australia, Ms Cathy Loughry from the Podiatry Board of Australia, and Professor Brin Grenyer from the Psychology Board of Australia.

‘My gratitude and thanks to the outgoing Board Chairs,’ Mr Fletcher said. ‘Their remarkable dedication to health practitioner regulation has made a very significant contribution to the establishment and work of the National Scheme'.

A full list of appointments is available in the COAG Health Council communique from 6 November 2018.

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