Appointments to senior leadership roles

24 Nov 2025

Two experienced health executives have been appointed to senior leadership roles at the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

Following an extensive recruitment process, Nicole Brady and Helen Townley have been appointed to Executive Director roles reporting to Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner.

'Nicole and Helen bring proven leadership and deep health system expertise to Ahpra. Their appointments will significantly enhance our capacity to deliver meaningful reforms and guide the National Scheme confidently through its next chapter,’ Mr Untersteiner said.

Nicole will lead the Corporate Affairs and Regulatory Governance directorate and joins Ahpra from Victoria’s Department of Health, where she is Deputy Secretary, System Planning. Nicole brings considerable executive experience, managing complex reform initiatives across the Victorian health sector. She played a pivotal role in establishing Safer Care Victoria, and led teams that provided public health advice designed to keep Victorians safe during the COVID pandemic. More recently, she led the development of the Health Services Plan that is guiding the reform of health services in the state. Prior to her decade in health leadership, she was a senior journalist.

Helen will lead the Health Workforce directorate, having held the role in an acting capacity since September. Helen has worked in the National Scheme since 2011 and was most recently National Director of Policy and Accreditation. Helen has a legal and policy background, with degrees in law and psychology. Her early career included roles in administrative law at the Commonwealth level and with NSW Legal Aid. She later transitioned into health policy, initially focusing on public and environmental health before specialising in health workforce and regulation.

Monica Lambley will continue as Acting Executive Director of Health Regulation for the next six months, providing stability while Ahpra reviews its business capabilities and notifications systems in line with the Dawson review recommendations. Alessandra Peck will continue as Acting Executive Director, Corporate Affairs and Regulatory Governance until Nicole joins Ahpra in late January 2026.

Nicole and Helen join a refreshed and energised Ahpra leadership team, ready to shape the next chapter of the National Scheme after a September restructure that introduced three new directorates – Health Workforce, Corporate Affairs and Regulatory Governance and Health Regulation – to recalibrate the agency’s focus.

‘These three new directorates sharpen our focus on the areas that matter most, strengthening our ability to anticipate challenges and respond to the evolving needs of the health system,’ Mr Untersteiner said.

In a rapidly changing landscape, Ahpra continues to prioritise harm prevention and the need to ensure registered health practitioners, in 16 professions across 15 National Boards, meet high standards and the expectations of the public. This extends to emerging technologies and workforce solutions.

The Ahpra annual report, released earlier this month, shows Australia had 959,858 registered practitioners at 30 June – a 4.3 per cent increase on the previous year. There were 69,8800 first-time registrants in 2024/25, including more than 26,000 from overseas, and a record 870,000 renewals.

While Ahpra is proactive in addressing emerging risks, it is also dealing with an increasing number of notifications about practitioners. In 2024/25, Ahpra received 13,327 notifications – a 19.0 per cent increase on the year before, and the largest increase since the National Scheme began in 2010. Despite the record increase, Ahpra is acting on more concerns and the average time taken to finalise matters is at a record low.

Ahpra continues to collaborate with other agencies and regulators and is playing a lead role in health system reforms, through its response to the Kruk review and the Dawson review, National Law changes as well as ongoing internal performance improvement measures.